The ADAM is perfect for individualists. No Opel has ever offered as many possibilities to personally design a vehicle as the city speedster. It has inspired creativity in countless people. Maria Luisa Engels is one of them. Engels works in finance in Rüsselsheim and likes to paint in her spare time. “Atmospheric light and color compositions have a major influence on my art,” she says. The same goes for her ADAM, which she transformed to give it a unique look. A special wrapping lends it a “jungle green” color completely covered with tropical plants and parrots with colorful feathers.
“One day someone asked me why I – an Opel employee – don’t design a car with one of my own motifs,” reports Engels. I liked the idea, and the parrots are my answer.
Engels says she got the idea for this project from a friend of hers. “I like to print my acrylic paintings onto other objects like jackets, umbrellas, scarves and fabrics,” she says. “One day someone asked me why I – an Opel employee – don’t design a car with one of my own motifs.” Engels liked the idea. She asked Bertram Sabais, Head of Technical Graphics and Service, whether or not this would be possible to put into practice.
“IT COULD ONLY HAPPEN WITH THIS BOLD CAR”
“Bertram Sabais provided a huge amount of support and the plan became more and more detailed,” says Engels today. Using a parrot painting that Engels had already finished, the graphics specialist created the initial computer animation. The draft showed what the jungle motif would look like on a car. “I was immediately impressed with the result,” says Engels. She quickly came to her decision to turn an ADAM into a rolling canvas for her tropical motif. “It could only happen with this bold car.”
WRAPPING EXPERTS COME ON BOARD
Engels turned to Opel Special Vehicles (OSV) to take responsibility for the technical implementation. The Opel subsidiary has worked over the past few years to establish a new business field centered around wrapping. It successfully provides limited edition series and campaign vehicles with a unique, high-quality look. Experts at OSV recommended bringing HR Folientechnik on board for Engels’ individual order. The Steinbach-based company had already worked with Opel before, wrapping vehicles for rallies and presentations at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
NO FEATHERED FRIENDS ON THE DOOR HANDLE
The wrapping experts set about applying Engels’ artistic jungle wrapping to the ADAM. The artist quickly realized the complexity of the process. “It wasn’t done by simply scanning my art and then printing it as a film in the right size.” First of all, it became clear that it wasn’t going to be easy to apply the image in its original format to a vehicle film. As a result, Engels had to paint the picture again. It was then possible to crop the picture to the right size. The idea was to display the family of parrots on the driver’s door without any of their heads disappearing under the door handle. “We invested a lot of time and effort in the precision work. My colleagues really did a great job,” says Engels.
“I LOOK SOUTH WHEN I NEED TO FIND INSPIRATION”
The artistic result on display on the ADAM clearly represents all of the works of art by the Spanish-born artist. “I look south when I need to find inspiration,” says Engels. She loves to paint sunshine and light, but not necessarily in romantic settings. She often paints impressions of Southern European countries she has traveled to. Her paintings have names like “Favela Boys” and “Tango”. She has a keen an eye for detail, image composition, space, and movement, allowing her to capture a place’s character and atmosphere.
Maria Luisa Engels’ children, Jan (9) and Julia (11), can’t get enough of the car. “They love it when I pick them up from school in my ADAM,” says the artist.
The 44-year-old comes from the Spanish city of Oviedo. “I loved to draw when I was a kid,” she says. “I got into painting for the first time when I was 20. My mother gave me an easel and some oil paints.” Engels says that “because of the career prospects,” she decided to study economics and later business administration in Saragossa, Maastricht, and Dortmund. After her studies, her career and family took top priority.
THE FIRST PREVIEWS OF HER EXHIBITION WERE VERY SUCCESSFUL
But there was always something else lurking deep down inside her. It remained hidden until her 40th birthday, when she decided to get back into it. She now takes out her easel, paints, and brushes and paints in the evening when the children are in bed, in addition to at least one day on the weekend. She has created a remarkable series of pictures that’s attracting an increasing amount of attention on the art scene. The first previews of her exhibition were very successful, and she is set to exhibit in Sulzbach and Wiesbaden next.
Rediscovering her artistic side has made her very happy. “I think we should all think about the things we loved to do as kids. It’s a great way to rediscover your special talent.”
Maria Luisa Engels has her own website that she uses to display her art. She will exhibit her latest collection in the fall. Art enthusiasts can check out her exhibition at Herrenhaus (Cretzschmarstraße 6) in Sulzbach/Taunus; the exhibition will be on display for one month starting on Thursday, November 6. Another exhibition will take place at the 2014 Latin America Fair at the Marktkeller in Wiesbaden (Marktplatz 2-4) from Friday, November 28 to Sunday, November 30.