I did this one a few weeks ago, I hadn't posted it because, quite frankly, I wasn't sure I wanted to get political in this setting. I'm not writing this blog out of ideology, but out of love for art. That being said, something happenned yesterday that made it impossible for me not to talk about this particular piece.
I spoke to an old friend from high school yesterday who still lives in Caracas, Venezuela. Sadly, my country is going through a very rough couple of decades and things have gotten worse under the present administration (trying not to get too political, here...), a common practice in the last few years is what they call the "Express Abduction". Where hey pretty much abduct you or a member of your family for a few hours, while they take you to the bank, your house, etc to rob you of everything they can. As it turns out, my friend's baby brother (whom I've known since he was in 3rd grade) was almost abducted the night before last, as he was coming home from University. My friends (his sisters, their mother and their husbands) were upstairs in the apartment, and they heard everything. They didn't take him, but they did kidnap a neighbor, who was released later that night.
This story and many more far worse than this repeat themselves in my country every day, ever night, hundreds of times a day. Kidnappings, robberies, murder...and the sad part is that we've gotten used to it. No one in the government is doing anything, except deny the hundreds of murders that occur each weekend (they've actually forbidden relatives of the victims to give statements to the press). The only response of people when something like this happens is "well, at least they didn't kill you" (unless of course they did, in which case, you become another cautionary tale of what not to do or which places to avoid).
I'm so angry. Nobody should have to live like this!!!. So there you go, that's the story behind this painting. So, next time you area able to come safely home at whatever time of night you like and hug your family, remember to thank God (or the Powers that Be) for that privilege, and if you find it in your heart, say a prayer for the people of Venezuela, living in an undeclared war with no end in sight.
Well...where do I begin?. This piece started as a creativity exercise. I wanted to paint something using hardware brushes (car detailing brushes, stuff like that). So, I started playing with the paint, very slowly. Once the background was done, I started looking through my drawings (yes, the ones I still haven't categorized, photographed or touched), and I found a pose very similar to this one, so I started developing, the shape, using a lot of paint and water. Finally, I used charcoal to give her a more defined outline (and features). The result is very surprising to me, because when I use this technique, I usually end up doing "nightscapes", but this time, this image appeared in my mind and slowly started to flow on the paper. I named her "Andante", because that's what it felt like while I painted her,very slow, peaceful, meditative... I guess this is a risk one runs when painting to music, right?. But I like it, because it loosens me up and helps me drown that silly little voice that keeps telling me I'm not good enough.
"Under the gypsy moon
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