PEOPLE'S FACES

Painting faces has always been a daring experience for me. So far I have chosen people who are either close to me or whose faces are a challenge to my skill. Some times I don't reach my goal, but in the process I learn many things, patience and frustration management among them. I am pleased to introduce "my people" to you.

Lucia, a sweet girl, in my own very private eyes

Unknown mouth and nose

Sometimes details tells more than the whole face

A famous look - who knows him? Disguised by himself

Michael in New York enjoying a happy free ride

Atsuko, Michael's high school friend

A New England lady's profile

Michael and mother sleeping peacefully

Virgen de la Esperanza, copy

This is part of a painting by Belgium painter Rogier van der Weyden. The folds in Magdalena's head covering intrigued me (copy)

Native Brazilian

Julie, Michael's high school friend

The tenderness of the moment made me copy this painting by a British artist

My very first attempt, also and, most important, a great friend, Patricia

GIFTS FROM THE SEA

The following are pictures of the gifts that I find when I walk on Crandon Beach. Everyday the sea brings something different, making the one-hour trip unique and full of surprises.

Click on the picture to see it larger.

I never found out what this is, but I named it the Crandon pearl

A jelly-fish that looks like it holds a flower inside

A man-o'war, a jelly fish that comes from the West Africa
coast between the months of September and March

Sea beans, which according to my artist friend Fay, an
expert in sea beans, come from South America

A temporary castle

A blue turtle... maybe jealous of the real ones...

A daring car - driver doesn't know the sea is for boats

Who sent this flower?? I liked it a lot!

A reptile-looking plant

Careful with this one!

Upside down star fish

Twinkle, twinkle, little star fish

Shell with long shadow

Queen star fish - at least it looks like a queen to me

Washed crab

ORION

Orion
Oil on canvas, 30"x30", 2007

Like many people, I believe, I’m fascinated by the stars. When I was a young girl, I used to go to a little farm my parents owned in the interior of the state of São Paulo. There was no electricity in the house or nearby and so it was much easier for us to see the shining stars. I used to spend a long time looking at them, meditating, trying to solve the mystery they held for me. Later, when visiting Monção in northern Portugal, the same thing happened: no lights and the deep blue sky showing off the beauty of the Milky Way. Nowadays, my sky moments come to me very early when I walk, and many times I see what this painting shows. This is what came to my mind when I heard about the theme of the exhibition at my studio this year. At the same time, I remembered a poem by Brazilian poet Olavo Bilac which I show below in Portuguese and English. It contains its own madness, the special madness that artists need to create. And it’s mainly through this creative madness that we express emotions.


Via Lactea, Soneto XIII, de Olavo Bilac

"Ora (direis) ouvir estrelas! Certo
Perdeste o senso!" E eu vos direi, no entanto,
Que, para ouvi-las, muita vez desperto
E abro as janelas, pálido de espanto...

E conversamos toda a noite, enquanto
A via-láctea, como um pálio aberto,
Cintila. E, ao vir do sol, saudoso e em pranto,
Inda as procuro pelo céu deserto.

Direis agora: "Tresloucado amigo!
Que conversas com elas? Que sentido
Tem o que dizem, quando estão contigo?"

E eu vos direi: "Amai para entendê-las!
Pois só quem ama pode ter ouvido
Capaz de ouvir e de entender estrelas".


Milky Way, Sonet XIII, by Olavo Bilac

Come on, you listen to the stars? For sure
You’ve lost your mind! And I’ll tell you, however,
That, to listen to them, many times I wake up
And open the windows, pale, in awe…

And we talk all night, while
the Milky Way, like an open canopy,
shines. And as the sun rises, melancholic and in tears,
I still look for them in the empty sky.

You’ll say now, "Silly friend!
What do you talk about with them? What’s the meaning
of what they say when they are with you?"

And I’ll tell you, "Love, to understand them!
For only those who love can have an ear
Able to listen and to understand the stars."

EARLY SPRING

For the last two weeks, the weather has been wonderful. It made me think of early Spring, which naturally made me think of my flowers on canvas. Here they are...

Victoria Regia

Orchids Pots on Rua Itaquera

Water Lilies in Longwood

Hybiscus

Pink Rose

Daisy

Yellow Rose

Magnolia

Pink and Blue Rose