What is that silent noise????

The silence on my blog must have been deafening, but I just couldn't find the time nor the peace inside me to blog. I was painting!!

The summer was filled with wonderful projects: mural, drawings, paintings and live painting.

First I was invited to participate in the beautification of Carol City School in Miami Garden aka "Art in the Gardens". This school has fought to make it a safe place for their students in a challenging environment. Part of this project was to bring uplifting art to the students via their walls. 

"Little Winner"

This was my contribution to the project: a reminder that they all have talents, some more obvious than others, but nevertheless. I painted it in the colors of the school.. so my usual red was replaced with a bright orange. And I like it.

I also got the wonderful news that one of my pieces was selected for the Seventh All-Media Juried Biennial at the Art and Culture Center of Hollywood (FL). A huge honor as only some 80+ are selected from over a 1000 entries. 

"Dona Isabel and her Control" in good company at the Biennial.

In the mean time I was also working on 2 commissions:
A little Frida and a piece based on the "Girl interrupted at her music" by Vermeer.

"Little Frida" (2015)
9" x 12"
Acrylics on boxed wood

"Planning a Gourmet" (2015)
30" x 30"
Acrylics on canvas

And this was not  all... but I know that breaking the silence with too much noise is never a good idea... so I will keep the other projects for the next blog... See you soon.

ITTY BITTY KITTY SHOW

Last night ( February 18, 2013) was the official opening of the online cat-related art show ITTY BITTY KITTY SHOW, featuring more than 50 works by 23 painters, illustrators, photographers and sculptors.

Itty Bitty Kitty Show curators Lil Red Buttons and PBJ

This show is put together by 2 Feline curators aka Lil Red Buttons and PBJ. They were assisted by Colleen Dougher who is the author of Arterpillar: a blog about South Florida art and the people who create it.

Click HERE and enjoy the show...

Back to work...

After being idiotic busy with other things I am getting back on track by continuing existing projects and starting new ones. I am really excited about the Sincerity Project 2013 - curated by Jill Slaughter - in an effort to call attention to kids that age out of the Foster Care System at the age of 18.

As the Sincerity Project has "HOME" as its theme this year, a temporary house will be build at Gallery 18 in Pembroke Pines with 20 panels of 4' x 8' as it walls. Artist were asked to create an artwork on one of these panels which relates to the theme of this year or to aging out. The panels will be auctioned at the openings reception on June 7th. And I am honored to be one of the artists invited to create his/her vision on such a panel.

Having no real clue what 4' x 8' looks like, I went to Home Depot to check a panel of this size.... I imagine it was probably one of the first times anybody was laughing at wooden panels, as I did when I saw it: it's biiig.

Anyway... started to write down some ideas for the panel... made some rough sketches... and then last week the actual panel was delivered... and it came with a hole!!!

Panel after 1 sanding and 1 coat of gesso

I had a window panel and I knew that I had to literally throw all my ideas "out of the window" - every pun intended - because my initial ideas were for a horizontal piece and obviously one without a window. But after a hour or so staring at the panel - did I tell you it is biiig - new ideas started to bubble up inside me... and I went from OMG to Oh YEAH!!

And in the meantime I started and finished a super small painting, because you need to keep some sort of balance, on a 3.5" x 5" wood floor sample. It is one of my disturbed children, only less disturbed and it is called "Little Heat".

Inspired by RED

A few weeks ago I received a phone call with the question "You do have some pieces in red, don't you?" I looked around my work space... while pretty much being covered in red paint as I just had finished my piece with the Dachshund. 

Long story short, after some pictures back and forth, and pieces in other shows, I decided to create a new piece - inspired by Red - for this exposition and 2 days ago I finished a cat close-up on 36" x 36" (90 x 90 cm). And today I took it over to the Gallery together with other pieces in red.

This Saturday the openings reception will take place at Mano Fine Art Project Space in the heart of Bird Road Art District in Miami.

SEVENTEEN at ART BASEL

Xavier Cortada created 17 drawings on carbon paper, as a metaphor for the impact (or "carbon footprint”) that humans have had on these species, even across the boundaries of protected nature preserves. Cortada's original drawings of the seventeen species -- including the Wood Stork, the Key Largo Rat, and the Smalltooth Sawfish-- will be on display at his studio.  

For Art Basel seventeen local artists were invited to reinterpret Xavier Cortada's "80.15 W" carbon paper drawings.

The seventeen invitees are: Vince Herrera, Ernesto Kunde, Alex Yanes, Kazilla, Sean Ritchwood, Diana Contreras, Eleazar Delgado, BMD, Anthony Burks, TMNK, Kid, Courtney Rutter, Clay Frye, Yoko Sigiura, Sri Prabha, Alexandra Seda, and me. 

I was lucky enough to get the Piping Plover as my subject, the little bird at the beach that seems to have a love-hate relationship with the tides. Below is my interpretation and it will be for sale at the exposition.

 

The Openings Reception is on Thursday December 1 at 6:30 pm till 9:30 pm at the Gallery at Cortada Studio

104 SW 9th Street, Ground level | Eastside, Suite B, 

Miami, FL

Darkness in Pompano Beach

Last night I received the confirmation that my 3 entries are juried into the group show "Darkness" at the Rossetti Fine Art Gallery in Pompano Beach. 

Pretty Pretty Flower

Artists were encouraged to enter works with dark themes and imagery. In other words for the artists to tap into their darker side. I chose to stay with one of my favorite subjects - children - and painted 3 fictional portraits (12" x 12"), using ink, charcoal and 4 colours of Acrylics (White, Red, Grey and Payne's Grey). I did not feel that full colour would do justice to the subjects and chose to stick with a limited palette.

I was aiming for a slightly subtle level of darkness and I was surprised that it was actually hard to restrain myself from going into a"SAW" kind of blood filled darkness, while setting up the portraits.

I am really pleased with the result and of course that I am juried in. The exposition will be open for public October 24th and the opening reception will take place on Thursday 27th from 8 pm - 10 pm at Rossetti Fine Art Gallery in Pompano Beach.

Mona, Mona, Mona.....

Several weeks ago I received an invitation from MANO Fine Art to create my interpretation of one of the world's most famous paintings: The Mona Lisa.

Talk about a creative challenge and a very inspiring one indeed for me. Leonardo da Vinci was the artist that wanted me to paint as a little child. My father came home with a book about Da Vinci's work and I was in awe with every picture in that book. By the time my father sat down to look in the book himself, my little fingerprints were all over every page.

I made a triptych (3 canvasses of 12x12") like a little story board and put Mona Lisa in a different background and not as the pretty little model with the mysterious smile, but an active young woman . I named the triptych "Mona Lisa Rules".

And here is my little teaser for this exposition: a small strip of one of the canvasses.

If you want to see the rest of this painting and all the other interpretations, you should come to

MANO Fine Art Project Space

4225 SW 75 Avenue

Miami, FL

Opening Reception will be on Saturday,  September 17 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm.

Visit the facebook page for more information. 

Out of Context

Galerie Jenner in Fort Lauderdale came up with another creative idea for a show: Buy a paint-by-numbers-kit and get inspired. Anything goes as long as it is OUT OF CONTEXT! 

So a couple of weeks ago I went to the art supply store and stood in front of all the "paint-by-numbers-kits" section, trying to figure out which one to choose and what to do with it.
I choose the kit numbered "PJS49" and that is also the title of the painting.

I worked with the subject and let myself be inspired by this kit. It was for me a complete out of context experience and I had a lot of fun with it and I think that it shows in this work. For now I only show you a little piece of the whole painting (30 x 40"). 

If you want to see the whole painting and all the other creations based on painting-by-numbers-kits, come to Galerie Jenner.

Two expositions in February!!!

Once upon a time there were two "call for artists". I entered my work for both the events... Yes I was feeling gutsy and you never know, right? 

And then I was juried into both events...

Tonight is the opening of the first event. It is the Cheesecake Pinup exposition and I have two small male nudes showing there (yes, MALE nudes.... why should all pin ups be female?). 

The show is at Galerie Jenner in Fort Lauderdale and will continue until March 31.

The second event I was juried into is the "River of Art"; an annual event organized by Life is Art here in Miami. The event is only one evening and every year 7 or 8 artists are selected to show one painting at the event. And there is my painting on the poster.... the third one from the right bottom row.

Meanwhile I am working on a new painting ...

Life is just wonderful...