Progress & Inspiration

Ok, I have almost finished the paintings I started about 2 months ago. They are 12 paintings, most of them with Portuguese topics..from portraits to still life to near-fantasy. Along with this, I have also achieved ventilation in my room so I can keep all the fumes out without having to open the windows!

A note about "near-fantasy" ...it is 'near-fantasy' only if you have not seen Portugal...
If fairies exist, they live in Portugal. They live in its magical forests and its abundant medieval castles, rich with Romanic and Gothic architecture almost at every step you take. And don't forget the architecture style called "Manuelino", which is typically Portuguese and probably the most beautiful. Portugal is a small country with an intense, rich history over many millenia, including being the origin of one of the largest empires that started in the 1400s, along with Spain and England. Imagine all this history of conquers combined with hard-working people that even gave up their own food (I'll tell you this story later) to help the sailors in their travel. Imagine a country closely linked to the sea, struggling with it every day to survive and grow. It is the combination of power, riches and a passionate personality allowed the creation of exuberant architecture, music and art in a country at the place "where the land ends" (Finis Terra) with unique and varied climates and geography.

Esteva do Algarve

Ok, here's the latest. Inspired again by Portuguese topics. This time, it's a ceramic jar with blue flowers and an "esteva". All my paintings are always a work in progress. Sometimes, I think I'm done and I come back and change something, or add something...perhaps making a shadow more drastic, or light brighter...rounding out what should be round, etc. I am satisfied enough with this one to show it, but I do not know that it is complete...I will sign it when complete :)

This is a quiet scene, or a freshly cut esteva left by the jar on a old wooden shelf.

Again, using Rembrandt soft pastels, Gioconda pastel pencils, charcoal and a workable fixative.

I didn't know about the estevas, after a dear friend from the Algarve region told me about them. Estevas are flowers native to the Mediterranean basin, growing anywhere from Portugal to France. They are used as ornament and sought after for their aroma. Their resin, called "ladano", used in perfume fixatives, is collected from the saliva of goats after letting them graze on the estevas. Curious, huh? :)

Unfinished Work #1

Well, this is the first pastel I am showing to the world in this blog. It is made with Rembrandt pastels and Gioconda pastel pencils, then covered with a workable fixative. I am awaiting self-satisfaction with the painting before applying the final coat for protection from light and time.
I love still life paintings, ...although I prefer portraits. But sometimes, beauty is in little things that do not talk, Still life is, in a way, a portrait..a portrait of life as it surrouds us. Things like bread, some fruit, rosemary, an old book and artisan work. This one depicted is inspired by ceramics from the Algarve region, in Southern Portugal. I will be posting a follow-up finished version of the painting in a few days.
Will love to receive your comments. Add yourself to my page if you feel so inclined. I speak English, Portuguese and Spanish and... I can read and write some French.
Stay tuned and thanks for visiting!! :)

See you tomorrow

I will scan the first artwork today and post it tomorrow morning. It is almost 3 in the afternoon here. Have a good day :)

Artes Vives

Thank you for your visit to Artes Vives. I hope you enjoy your visit and keep coming back as I post art that I am continuously creating.
My love affair with art began in childhood, both music and painting. Most recently, a growing passion for history and culture, particularly those of the Iberian Peninsula, has enriched my ideas. In painting, it evolved from pencil drawing into ever more complex compositions. Today I enjoy pastels, acrylic and oil painting equally. I have never exhibited my art in galleries, but many of my paintings (mostly pastels) have sold through the internet and to people I know and to friends-of-friends.
I have never had formal training and I claim influence by no artist, famous or not, though I admire the impressionists. The only time I tried to learn formally, I was dismissed after the first class because the lady wanted me to start drawing cubes, apples and ceramic pots and I asked her to refine my aims at painting portraits and human figures...for which she said I had to go somewhere else where they specialized in teaching that. Oh well, such is life...Incredibly, I turned to the sciences as a career and later as a job, and I could never crystalize my dream of formal training in the arts.
I do, however, sneak out of my conventional roles into my little hiding place where all my painting supplies sleep during the regular hours. There, in that little room in the back of my house, I travel the world (real and not) and meet characters, places and ideas out of my natural reach, within my imagination. It is, as if all that had been floating in my mind during the day, would gather together in that room...and each day I go back to that room, I visit friends and places yet to be depicted. Little by little, sometimes working on 10-12 paintings at a time, I revisit their appearance to make sure I am portraying them as they are or as the evolve...or perhaps until I get to know each one well...until I get it right, often taking months to finish each one. During those hours, I paint my mind...whether based on real characters, objects and places of history or created completely in my head, each paper or canvas contains idea, a story or perhaps just a feeling. It is that time - when I am painting - when I consider myself truly free.