WorkArt & Culture

Summer in the City: Artist paints the happiness we feel when the sun shines

Something magical happens when the sun shines. We become a little happier. Perhaps a little more patient and compassionate. Our very bones feel better for the warmth. Walking through my home city of Manchester on a sunny day, and it's clear to see that summer makes us all smile. This is the exact sentiment that drips from every painting that Spanish artist Reyes De La Flor creates.

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Sunny street scene with pedestrians crossing a zebra crossing past shop fronts, a green traffic light and a scooter vendor on the left, painted in soft watercolour tones

She celebrates the positive side of humanity, picking out what might be construed as ordinary but is actually quite special. Friends enjoying each other's company, sat on some steps outside a city library – laughing and joking. People happily wandering through the streets, window shopping. Older couples enjoying a late afternoon drink outside a bar, watching the world go by. Every painting gives us that immediate holiday feeling.

She explains: "Finding out the treasure behind ordinary life, I develop my pictorial work from situations I watch around me. Interested in human being sight. Inspired by life. The most bewitching are the others."

Discover more of her beautiful work on Behance.

Via Behance

A figure in red and blue stands with a bicycle against a teal arched doorway on a sun-dappled street with ochre-coloured base panels
Cafe interior with arched doorway framing a sunny urban street scene with colourful buildings and pedestrians beyond
Two people sitting outside Cerveceria Giralda, a white-walled bar with wooden shutters, a blackboard menu and potted plants, with a parked car visible on the street
A young woman in a blue shirt stands alone on a sunny waterfront promenade, shielding her eyes, while other visitors walk and socialise nearby beneath a clear blue sky
Group of people gathering under a large tree in a sunny courtyard, smiling and socialising together on a warm day
People gather in a sunny urban plaza outside a modern building, with a person walking a dog in the foreground and groups socialising on stepped seating areas
Five people sit together on a turquoise pool deck beside an escalator in a painting by Reyes De La Flor
Four young women sit on blue steps, chatting and laughing together on a sunny day, with a Lay's crisps packet visible between them
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