“No human being, however great, or powerful, was ever so free as a fish.”
— John Ruskin
Painting is like standing in a river waving a stick. Most of the time you won’t catch anything. Either the image is not clear in your head or the inspiration just won’t come, no matter how long you face the blank screen — it’s ebb time.
.
You decide it’s time for bed and just before passing out, the flow comes with all its strength, flooding your mind with colorful living creatures. And the dream starts.
“Follow Me”
Watercolor, 50x34cm. Sold.
Swarms are entrancing. I could spend hours just watching birds or fishes moving around. Particles moving together as they would be one single entity. At some moments you kind of notice a clear leader, or influencer, to use a more modern term. And I ask myself whether we too, as followers, don’t act the same way sometimes, moving around, getting into trends and conceptions. In our world, some influencers get followers by triggering the fear of losing what they don’t even have and fear is the base of hatred, as we know. But true leaders just show the light and make your understand that you are actually following your best possible self. What leader, trend or idea have you been following lately?
I love when the difuse sunlight shines on watercolor paintings, specially on yellows. This one has a classic note. It is inspired by the colors of Michelangelo’s Lybian Sibyl — the Sistine Chapel has always fascinated me.
“All Blues”
Watercolor, 70x50cm. Not for sale.
Facing a new lockdown, now we might know a bit better about the nature of the virus, we are a bit more educated than we were at first. Maybe this is something to remember that there is no going back to the old normality. Hopefully we might be learning that the new normal means adapting and realizing how much we need to care about each other. That’s how we stick together, even when that means being temporarily apart.
“Biologists say that life originated in water, from the primordial soup of amino acids and proteins that mixed together to form increasingly complex forms of life, eventually leading to mammals and, among them, humans. This weird creature immediately felt the need to beat a drum, dance, and express itself.
Our existence is not just about life; it is also about symbolism. We recognize ourselves as humans by our values, our language, and, more specifically, our languages. Among them, art is the greatest because it brings to life things that do not exist.
The beginning of life is there, in the fish that swim with and against the flow and their desires. If I may modify the old adage from Genesis: "For you are water, and to water you shall return." (Walter Hupsel)
Up the stream. They know exactly what to do and where to go. No matter the risk of being caught by a hungry bear. Insane? Stubborn? There is no barrier when you are resolved.
“Meditation”
Watercolor, 52x52cm. Sold.
We stare at nature, looking for patterns. The brain is constantly trying to organize random forms into familiar shapes. The reverse exercise can be very interesting: you look at a rigid pattern and then try to find whatever is involuntary, not exactly fitting. Little imperfections, the ink escaping the intended order, those unpredictable details are the spice that makes life a unique experience.
“Milagre”
Watercolor, 120x72cm. Sold!
Miracles happen all the time: a flock of birds dancing in the sky, the entrancing smile of a baby, the happy particles of the wine in your palate. If you can look around and empty your busy thoughts, you might notice your heart beat, the flow of energy through your body. You might feel that silence is a whole mechanism of events. You might notice that the biggest miracle is the experience of being and knowing that everything is in harmonious connection. Can you silence your mind for a second? A minute?
“One Note Samba”
Watercolor, 70x50cm. Sold.
Available as fine art print here.
Water makes life possible. As species we all come from water. Water is so rich in meaning — our fascination with sea life comes from something we have deep inside, much beyond consciousness. The fishes definitely know things we can only dream about and hardly explain.
“Blue Bossa”
Watercolor, 70x50cm. Sold (available as fine art print here).
How does the title influence the perception of the artwork? In this series the titles are song names, tunes that I love and know by heart. You might disagree with the title. Maybe you hear another song while looking at the pictures. What do you hear?
“Something”
Watercolor, 36x25cm. Sold.
Every drawing, every painting carries a lesson. This one made me think that with hindsight, everyone is super smart but in reality every process has a bit of a drama and a point where you overcome and can enjoy the results. Ultra perfectionism might add stress and close the door for poetry. Often what you need is to keep track of your emotions and not let negative thoughts take over. Things will happen on the way, and something that hasn’t had a perfect start will look like you had everything planned from the very beginning.
How far does your perfectionism go? How able are you to surrender when the need for control proves useless?
“Summertime”
Watercolor, 52x52cm. Sold.
“Summertime and the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high
Your daddy's rich and your ma is good lookin'
So hush, little baby, baby, don't you cry.”
The summer is gone. Things change and move the whole time. We need to let things in as well as we need to let them out. That’s the breath of nature. We talk about nature as we would be out of it. We need to keep in mind that we are nature.
“Autumn Leaves”
Watercolor, 70x50cm. Sold.
With watercolors, one needs to learn to let go of control. Very often, the water will follow its own rules, and there's not much you can do. With time you will learn to let the water do its thing, and if you are lucky, you might be able to make some adjustments.