a break from the Tree + good news

sometimes working in a large, detailed piece like the Tree of Life becomes a little overwhelming. your eyes get sort of tired from continuously looking at the same stuff and end up needing a little refreshment.

The Puppeteer, work in progress. mixed media on illustration board.

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I was invited to collaborate with 3 illustrations for Liquid Dreams, a project by California poet Ricardo Blancas. along with Blanca's beautiful poems, the book will bring color illustrations from different artists, ranging from pencil to oils works. all the earnings from the book sales go to charity. I'm pretty proud to be part of this project and sure that the final result will be a pearl of beauty. have seen the other artist's illustrations and got in awe by their talent and sensitivity.

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also proud to let you know that 14 of my works will be published in a 2011 calendar by a Spanish publisher. this is specially important to me since it will be my first time in a publication featuring exclusively my artwork. and in Spain, land of my ancestors - although born in Brazil, I am of Spanish heritage. some of my relatives of old may have done something from the other plane.

Tree of Life - close shots and insights

I'm very pleased with my new camera. although is not a professional one, I think it works fine enough for my needs. I have to learn how to deal with it though; it has more features than my deceived one. I'm happy for being now able to show details of my stuff.

the Tree of Life is starting to show its truth and my ideas are flowing more freely with the progress of the work. now I know what's that all about: organicity, sperm, fecundation. it's about contacting the Divine through pleasure, celebration of the body, fire and transmutation. the idea of placing a peacock on the tree is an old insight of mine, which later found some synchronicity with the ideas of a friend. the feathers started to resemble sperm to me. and that's just beautiful.

the end of the peacock tale represents a womb. this is all about fecundation. the peacock as a symbol of renewal is here also linked to the idea that we are born again when we generate life.

detail of the hand of the "tree". the three women intertwined represent the cycles of life, or the triple aspect of the Goddess - Maiden, Mother and Crone.

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this morning I was notified that my work Flourish will be part of the 2010 Art Wanted Calendar. happy happy.

more Tree of Life shots

I was taking some reference pictures for future works when my daughter knocked down the tripod and the camera hit the floor. needless to say I no longer have a camera, but another one was already ordered and its on its way. while the new one doesn't arrive, please enjoy my last progress shots of my Tree of Life.

in progress: Tree of Life

so far, so good. 25 x 20 inches, and using white pastel for the highlights instead of colored pencil. I am really enjoying to work in a bigger format.

Tree of Life: third attempt

guess what: I rejected the second attempt of the Tree of Life.for some reason I found the background a little too messy and thought that the figures should occupy more space in the picture.

here's my new sketch, subject to further improvements:

 

I didn't pay too much attention to the size of the sketch, and it ended up too large for the boards I have available around here. had to order larger ones. that will be the largest painting I ever made so far (20 x 30 approximately.) hope I don't screw up again.

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an almost act of impulsiveness made me open a basic store on Ebay. the first and only experience I had with them was not very positive, but since I am a persistent girl, I decided to give it another try. no auctions his time, though. it's hard to compete with artists that are practically selling themselves out.

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mandalas are now my new thing. I have always enjoyed them very much, and got to run a few workshops in Brazil in geometrical mandala making. however, my experience with them was purely intellectual. but since I decided to try it in a more emotional level, so to speak, they have been pretty much intriguing me and I decided to start a production of mandalas. it's just the beginning and we'll see if they keep my excitement going like my regular art does.

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speaking about mandalas: I'll be very soon running an online workshop joining astrology and mandala making. first edition will be experimental and free of charge. space will be very limited (only 12 persons), so stick around for new announcements!