Interlude

Pencil and watercolor on paper

12 x 9

2010

Model: Iara Pires

$130 USD

Turquoise

Pencil and watercolor on paper
9 x 12
2010

Model: Lynette Shelley

$130 USD

Espèrance (Hope)

Espèrance (Hope)

Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on board

6 x 6

$60

I spent most of my day preparing this painting. it is a hispaniolan trogon, the national bird of Haiti. CafePress is accepting donations of designs for a store they set up just to help Haiti, and I made the painting with that in mind. painting a sweet symbol like this cute bird helped to fill up my heart with love and send it to the brothers and sisters in Haiti, who are passing through that terrible probation. everywhere people are mobilizing to help in every possible way. the world is becoming more fraternal, in spite of some idiots that still insist in sowing intolerance and hate. thinking about it I wrote the word "hope" in many idioms around the painting to compose the design.

here's the design. I hope they select it for the store.

  the original painting is for sale. money will be sent to one of the organizations that are providing relief to Haiti.

The Veil

Watercolor, gouache and pencil on board
9 x 14
2009

Model: Kambriel

$220


To decipher woman's mystery of Death-Life - who would dare to do it?
That magic of being a veil between two worlds
To bring the light of consciousness from the depths of a sea of universal memories and shadows...
Who would dare to do it, without fear?

Serpentarium

Watercolor and gouache on paper,
9 x 12
2009
NFS

Origins

Watercolor and pencil on board.
11 x 14
2009

$280

Model: Adhara Batul

Life came from many seas. Seas of deep blue and secrets unknown that keep myriads of bacteria and beginnings. Seas of wombs and their sacred silence. Seas of past and forgetfulness, alive in the depths of our souls, dark and mysterious.

The Peacock

Watercolor, gouache and pencil on board,
11 x 14
2009

$250

Model: Kambriel

One of my latest passions is the symbolism of the peacock, and how it has been associated to immortality and renewal. His feathers were used as talismans and protection against evil spirits. In the Eastern traditions it has been seen as symbols of wisdom, benevolence, compassion and kind-heartedness. The "eye" in the peacock feather is associated to the pineal gland, making of it a sacred symbol. Through the development of the pineal gland one can awake the Kundalini and achieve understanding of the spiritual world.

The Calling

Watercolor, gouache and pencil on board,
11 x 14
2009

$280


The heart has a voice and a music, the same ones your spirit have recognized for many ages. The voice of your heart is the voice of freedom. Through it you'll be able to find yourself and find your inner God. Let that voice be heard, recognize yourself as the creator of your own reality. Put aside all the masks they have made you wear in order to belong to the illusions they created. Don't waste your life living them. Be what you are born to be.

a new hope

have not heard from the cafe people in a while, so I'm assuming that the show is not going to happen - or it's not going to happen so soon. to tell he truth I am a little alleviated since I'm in a middle of an artistic crisis and feeling nauseous every time I look to one of my pieces. pieces I loved so much and had so much pleasure doing. I don't know what happens to me from times to times, really. my husband says that I am too much of a perfectionist, and he is not wrong. what I know is that I feel this urge of taking my work to a next level, of doing different things and doing it now. this is not a negative thing per se, but when you look at most of your old work with a certain despise something is not ok. I feel so lost and suffer to a point of losing my sleep at night trying to find solutions, looking for answers in other artists' artworks and all sort of inspiring images, until eyes and back cry for rest. seriously.

I have an artistic ideal very clear in my mind. the problem is to achieve this ideal when you hand simply doesn't obey your mind. well, I am passionate about Japanese/Chinese art, and my goal is to get the closest possible to its elegance and simplicity. I love the empty spaces, the limited palette, the sensation of calm and peace. but when my hands touch the brushes, dude... it's like a volcano of color erupting from inside myself spilling its vibrant lava all over the board. I cannot help it. I get crazy with the paints before me. so many colors - why to save them? I don't know if this has something to do with my Brazilian cultural background, all that sun and heat and colors ingrained in my DNA. and I thought I was not a typical Latin American girl.

but anyway... today I decided to calm down and experiment. I used a small piece of board and drew the profile of my friend and honorary model Iara, and working with watercolors in an aleatory manner.

I totally liked the result, and could have stopped if I had not thought that something was missing at the top. I also missed my usual abstracts filling up the hair. in the end I thought that a butterfly would make a charming addition, but the watercolor effect at the top didn't really match the one I did. I messed up the job. but nothing that an exacto knife couldn't fix.

I've been trying to work more on my pencil drawing, to make it more realistic. I love the combination colors/monochrome and really want to continue in this path. this little work ended up cheering me up and making me think that nothing is lost... I now have the spark I needed to keep creating.

Persephone

Watercolor and pencil on illustration board,
10 x 8
2009
s o l d

Model: Adhara Batul

In Greek mythology, Persephone was the goddess of the underwold and of the Spring growth. Daughter of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, she was abducted by Hades and taken to the land of the dead. By a determination of the Fates, she was forced to stay for two seasons each year after eating pomegranates seeds, thus becoming consort of Hades and queen of the underworld. The painting depicts her sorrow after having the seeds.

Tree of Life - how a painting is born, part 4

now my sketch is pretty much ready to receive its first watercolor wash. so let's start with an underpainting on the background, which works very well to help me define a pallete for my piece. it's easy to get crazy with so many colors in front of you and wanting to experiment and mix and create a color extravaganza, but better take it easy. I try to limit my pallette the most possible so I won't get overwhelmed and get into more problems to solve.

this panel is all about life, fertility, joy. is intended to be "springy" and vivid, so I choose warm and jovial colors that will work as a basis for the work: dioxazine violet, rose madder and cadmium yellow. I start applying pure water on the area I want to fill, with just a little bit of pigment so I can see where the water is going. then I aplly each one of the three chosen colors freely with the bamboo brush and a flat brush, letting the pigments run with the water and mix.


this is how it looks like after the wash is done and still fresh (please forgive my lamp light reflecting on the wet surface.) I love to move the board while it's still wet and make the colors migrate across it and blend with the others, creating all kinds of dreamy effects.

now it's time to wash my dishes and grab a coffee and let the painting gets dry.

the Zodiaque series - Scorpio

Watercolor and pencil on paper,
9 x 12
2009
$100

the zodiaque series - Gemini

Watercolor and pencil on paper,
9 x 12
2009
$100

La Sirena

Watercolor and pencil on paper,
11 x 9
2009

Model: Iara Pires

$120

Tranquility

Watercolor and pencil on paper,
9 x 12
2009

$120

The Waterman: Ignis Aeris

Ignis Aeris
(Second panel of "The Waterman" triptych)
Watercolor and pencil on illustration board,
15 x 20
2009
$480

Portrait of Regina

Watercolor and colored pencil on paper,
8.5 x 12
2009

Portrait of Sharon

Watercolor, pencil and colored pencil on paper,
8.5 x 12
2009

The Waterman: Unio Mystica

Watercolor on illustration board,
15 x 20
2009
$480

Middle panel of The Waterman triptych.


I can see the King coming.
Naked and bright, like all the truths should be.
Simple and strong, with stars in his eyes,
and heart of petals, bathing the ground.

I can see the King coming,
and he comes barefoot, hair in the wind,
with no jewels or swords,
like a simple man,
bringing drinking water on his shoulders.
His hands carry the roses that blossom in the cross,
and his crown is a thousand petals lotus.
The King smiles, he is beautiful
and from his mouth lilies sprout,
and all the elements dance at his feet.
In his words the god of me rises,
and fingers my soul with the colors of a whole Universe.
The golden serpent rises,
and I, the free Fool, grow wings,
and dance at the edge of a cliff of dreams.

I can see the King coming
bringing many Graals
that are given freely, in the hands of the rich and the poor,
in the hands of the sane and the ill,
and of the children in backyards.
His kingdom is not of this world, even being so close
that we almost can touch it.
And it's in it that I see him, in red sunny afternoons,
smiling like it was the beginning of the world,
spinning the stars of Aquarius
and telling me secrets.

anemonae

watercolor and pencil on watercolor paper,
12 x 8.5
2009
S100 USD