MY FAVORITE THING

This portrait of my mother, Sofia Torga, is very special. It expresses her conviction and her purpose in life: the search for beauty through love, discipline and work.

It was painted by a friend of my grand-parents called Pedro Bueno-one of the society painters of the time-and I imagine that she must have been around 35 to 37 years old. My mother was born in Seville and lived most of her life in Andalusia. She was brought up in a very particular world-surrounded by culture and creativity-and this, together with her enormous sensitivity and perception, made her a very special person. She was the one who transmitted to me the pleasure of reading, music and a curiosity for beauty. I’m convinced that it was in her parents’ house in Ronda, Malaga, that the seed of my future as a gardener must have been planted. She was much loved and admired in her work- she did a great job as a fashion director for 35 years-and those who followed always recognized her as a role model. She had that elegance that comes from within, that is innate, not learned, and it made her a luminous person.

Her children and grandchildren remember her as a very authentic woman-honest and firm in her values-but never forcing anything.

That’s why this painting presided over one of the rooms of my studio. I always feel very much accompanied by her presence. In the end, the portrait is a from of landscape, and landscape is the purest expression of the human soul.