We are Islands
I recently launched a new set of soft pastels — the Teide set.
Inspiration doesn’t always come from the studio. Inspiration feeds on many different things, from the simplest to the most complex. Sometimes, it rises from silence, from the wind, from the raw contrast between earth and sea. That’s how these two new sets of 40 colours were born — a dual palette that breathes the volcanic and luminous essence of the Canary Islands, especially Lanzarote and La Graciosa.
Charco de los Clicos, Lanzarote 2025, ©photo by Alain Bañon
The Canary Islands are a volcanic archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, part of Spain, made up of seven main islands: Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro, and La Graciosa.
Each island is unique and overflows with unspoiled nature, paradisiacal beaches, deserts, spectacular landscapes, volcanoes, breathtaking views, and countless other wonders.
A road leading to Yaiza, Lanzarote 2025. ©photo by Alain Bañon
Old door, colors of Lanzarote, Spain 2025, ©photo by Alain Bañon
The Atlantic Ocean, Canary Islands, Spain, ©photo by Alain Bañon 2025
My experience on the islands was deeply personal and, to a great extent, introspective.
One travels to certain places to look outward — to observe, learn, and take in — only to end up finding oneself. That’s more or less what happened to me in Lanzarote and La Graciosa.
I rediscovered sensations I hadn’t felt in years: the excitement of the new and unknown, the awe before the indescribable — and at the same time, the quiet magic of reconnecting with myself in the “solitude” of an almost Martian landscape.
A view of the vineyards on Lanzarote, La Geria 2025
I also reconnected with photography, which I had set aside for quite some time. I traveled with a medium-format camera — a Pentax 6x7 film camera — and experienced moments of pure, intense happiness before more than one overwhelming landscape.
La Geria, Lanzarote 2025, ©photo by Alain Bañon
Green and black, the magic of the Lanzarote wine yards, ©photo by Alain Bañon 2025
The islands revealed their colours through a torn, rugged terrain — with all the harshness that the earth can express when it breaks, cracks, and tears itself apart.
A landscape so fierce, yet so peaceful and serene. In many areas, it has been shaped by the hands of its inhabitants over generations, through work, effort, and patience. Stone by stone. Like a natural giant landscape sculpture.
So silent. So defiant.
“White Tabaiba” growing on the rocky soil ©photo by Alain Bañon
The dark blacks and greys of volcanic lava, the unique black of Rofe stone, the electric blue of the Atlantic, the vivid green of Charco de los Clicos, the greens of native plants like the bejeque del malpaís with its pale grey-green tone, or the rich greens of the succulents; the lilac and pastel shades of the Salinas de Janubio…
Lanzarote is a constant contrast of colours — a perfect and balanced palette.
Landscape view of Caldero de Chozas, Lanzarote 2025, ©photo by Alain Bañon
Lush greens, Lanzarote 2025, ©photo by Alain Bañon
Montaña Bermeja (Also called Red Mountain), Yaiza, Lanzarote 2025, ©photo by Alain Bañon
César Manrique once said he was deeply impressed by the colours of Lanzarote, especially by its salt flats. They struck him “for their linear beauty and dazzling colour. The entire site is framed within the compositional coordinates of Mondrian.”
The islands leave you with an intense sense of emptiness — and yet they fill that void with their magic: vast landscapes and a chromatic range of muted greens, greenish greys, deep blacks, reddish earth tones, and the profound blue of the sea.
With the white of limewashed houses accompanying you along the way — like luminous splashes on a dark, almost monochromatic canvas.
Near Soo, Lanzarote 2025, ©photo by Alain Bañon
Crack in a rock formation, Lanzarote 2025, ©photo by Alain Bañon
Selfportrait, Lanzarote 2025, ©photo by Alain Bañon
Colors of a worn door, Lanzarote 2025, ©photo by Alain Bañon
Lanzarote is a journey into colour — into a very specific and profound palette that leaves a lasting mark.
A mark alike to the one left by silence, which allows us to listen to ourselves.
Because, deep down, we are all an island.
