my first promo postcard

I've spent almost all day (and when I say "all day" I mean the time I reserve for working, between my usual domestic chores) working on my promo postcard. as I said before, I chose my piece Ascension to the front of the card. I think that piece is very representative of my style - colorful, theatrical, and it has lots of abstract shapes, along with the strongly spiritual concept. I know that maybe it's a little early to make a promo postcard, but I wanted to take advantage of the printing service free shipping with limited time and went ahead. :P

here's the front of the card:




for the back, which will be printed in b&w, I used the detail of "The Scream" that I liked best. I liked the result pretty much.



I hope the result in print come out just like the expected. if I like the final product, I'll surely spread the word. :)

about "The Scream"

i explained in this post a little of what lead me to make The Scream. it's basically a piece about violence against women, a subject that really sensitizes me not only for being a woman, but also for being human and for dreaming and working for a better world based on respect and equality.

my first certainty about this work, in my brainstorm, was that I didn't want a piece that was oppressing or showed only the pain of the violence or abuse. I wanted something that could have a "voice", that could help people to reflect about how to change things.

I first envisioned a monochromatic piece, in brown tones, with some hints of red. but once more I couldn't help myself and distributed warm colors all over. they ended up contributing for the dynamism and strength of the piece.

the symbolism of the piece is quite simple and direct. there's a dual figure in the center. it might be the same woman in two different attitudes, if you like. the red-haired one is scared and in pain. she holds her bleeding heart and wears a mask to keep herself hidden from judgment or other losses. she might be the one who was raped in a party after drinking too much, the one who was abused for a family member but preferred to hide in order to do not cause disturbances in the family, the one who was beaten for her husband but kept silent for fear of losing her children. she might be one of the Congo women. she might be me, or you.

the black-haired woman doesn't wear a mask. she is screaming - although sometimes I think that she is in fact singing. what she releases from within herself is a bird, red as life. is the desire for freedom from a world conquered by force, not love. she screams her right to be treated as a human being instead of a second-class citizen, as a partner instead of a subordinate. her right to express her own ideas and have their own attitudes without being demonized for them.

there are also masks at the bottom, a pile of masks without faces behind them. they once belonged to women who decided to scream instead of keep silent and anonymous. that decided to stop pretending that that's how the world is and there's nothing that can be done to change it. but there's so much one can do just by having a voice... to demand political and social responsibilities. to educate the new generations toward respect and non-perpetuation of old habits that put men in a privileged position. in other words, to demand respect for being human.

the scream

here it is. description later!

the scream is finished... but not totally here yet

I finally finished The Scream today. as I was not able to scan it, I'm posting the last pics from the process. 









I really liked the way the top of the picture came out. the red stripe with white flowers in the black hair, on a warm colors background (not visible in details here) sort of look like Japanese art, which I enjoy very much. that was not my intention tough, but probably I'll start doing more things in the same style.

changes.

taking advantage of a weird cold + baby's fever to change the blog's layout. in general I prefer clean and minimal layouts, mainly when it's a blog containing so much visual information, but I liked this one. :)

ascension

Ascension was finally finished today, after some days of deserved rest - and even a little frustration. I had loads of problems with the background, but I think that I managed to fix them. I got so happy with the final result that I'm seriously thinking about using this image in my promo postcard.

Ascension was painted and repainted a couple times in watercolor paper before I get to this version. I had initially planned something more ethereal and soft for the deeply spiritual concept, but the colors started to explode on the board almost uncontrollably and I decided to go with the flow. in the end I realized that that was the spirit. Ascension is about love and its power and it is everything but subtle and smooth.

Anahata is the chakra located in the heart region. it has 12 petals and it is connected to the capacity of loving deeply and also to the feelings of compassion and empathy. it is generally depicted in the color green, but in my mind it appeared in luminous yellow with hints of red. it is through the anahata chakra that we can achieve universal love. it is the main point of contact to the so-called "inner Christ" and the upper planes, and this is why the general depictions of Jesus and Mary carry a flaming heart.

other symbols I used to represent the same concept are the water, running upward in a straight blue stripe across the picture, and the fish. the fish is connected to the Pisces sign and also to the primitive Christianity message. both symbols are related to universal love and compassion. the skull is there to say that loves transcends even death, and that it leads to a deep transformation - put here the meaning of the XIII arcane, Death. things that die to give place to other ones. yep, love is a profoundly alchemical force.

the upper figure is representative of a state of ecstasy and bliss conduced by deeply spiritual experiences. when we are able to achieve a full state of love, even for brief moments, we feel like we are connected to something bigger and higher. in our average level of evolution we can only realize a small part of this. only rarely our love is not attached of some kind of selfish intention. experiencing love is also a totally libertarian thing, which I wanted to show through the hawk with open wings emerging from all that violet at the top. it's absolutely amazing to get rid of feelings like hate, vengeance, jealousy, prejudice and all the things we read everyday in the news and that make our world so miserable. love feels like you can be everything and do everything. and it's only through love that we can transcend our material condition and achieve perfect happiness and fulfillment.

in progress: spirits + the scream

in the skin.

last week I received by email a photo that made me feel very flattered.

yep, it's one of my works, The Chemistry. it was picked by sweet Michelle, an inspired artist from California, to become a tatoo. she told me that she saw herself "reflected in the piece", and that for me is really really rewarding. in fact, inspiring people with my work is the main reason why I do it. it's priceless to see that somebody felt so touched at the point of registering it in her own skin.

the tatoo is not yet finished in the pic, but I'll have new photos of the work done pretty soon. thank you, Michelle! hope your tatoo brings you lots of good things.

Ascension and The Scream.

I've been able to accomplish more than I expected these last days and I'm happy. sometimes I think there's some kind of magic around here that makes me able to do so much and being a mother at the same time.

"Ascension" is almost done. it lacks only a few details now.

I decided to cut off some inches of board at the sides since I wanted to "lighten up" the figures and all that blue and violet in their hair. I committed the mistake of using too much warm colors like yellow and brown in the surroundings, and that kind of stole the attention from the middle.

I've also started working in my next project, which I've been calling "The Scream":







for the ones who've been visiting this blog for a while, this is the picture I planned to make about violence against women. I brainstormed the concept for several days and came to the conclusion that I should express something more dynamic than simply portraying the sadness and despair of the violence victims. I wanted to show solutions and hope. I then decided to "blend" two women: one in attitude of despair and another in attitude of rebelliousness and of breaking of the silence. because I believe that women must stop keeping their mouths shut, for fear, shame or even love. I understand the difficulty of all this. I myself had been a victim of such situations of abuse and this piece is my very own scream... and I wish it could be a scream for other women too, an invitation to put their "masks" aside and rebel. please DO NOT ACCEPT BEING ABUSED. you are a human being, and many times so full of love that you are unable to react. and for the authorities and society in general, I wish more understanding and compassion. I wish you could think in more ways to protect and support the victims of abuse and help them restart their lives with dignity. being a woman has to be a reason for pride and celebration, not to be fearful or feel humiliated.

when this piece is completed, I'd like to offer the rights of reproduction to pro-women rights groups, in case of interest to use it in items that can help maintain them or any other useful purpose. please contact me if you have interest or know somebody that may have.

back to walk.

the days pass by and the pain gets minimized. what is fear becomes hope, and while the bad remembrances go fading we become more confident. my little one is recovering amazingly well, I must say. in the days that followed the accident she was already full of life, playing and running around the house - and making us crazy with fear that something bad could happen again. I spent almost one week with uncomfortable, unpleasant kind of post traumatic stress emotions.

but today I grabbed my brushes to try to complete Ascension - which is not being an easy task. I also managed to make a logo for the studio and to organize my to-do lists and projects. tomorrow I must give the last retouches in a portraiture project. yes, it's life and normalcy smiling to me again, and I'm very thankful.

Image: Corbis