I am someone who works in concerts, in the shower, before bedtime... pretty much everywhere. This also means that my world's personal lenses are influenced by that restless nature of mine. And not that I stopped drawing (none of that!), but, for several reasons, it was not possible to publish here new stuff.
For those who are not familiar with MIA, this is an improvised music encounter where musicians (and not only) from all over the world get together in order to experiment music as a mean of communication, if I may put it that way.
This year, the festival's organization, also asked me to write a few lines about MIA. I had fun picturing a story that could embrace my vision of it, as a Tower of Babel. You can read my testimony and others
here.
So far, I never went to a festival like this, and I was longing for this moment, since last year's edition! The truth is, there is no other like it. It's Fields of gold for me: Participants became friends, friends became family and family smells like home. I mean a comfortable realm, not exactly a physical place. And, I wonder where else can you be y-o-u-r-s-e-l-f, than somewhere you feel like home. That sets the tone for sharing and inspiration. And here, following, are mine.
In St Joseph's Church
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| Mark Alban Lotz |
This was the first drawing made in this festival, and it's the flutist
Mark Alban Lotz.
The concert took place in
St Joseph's Church, a Baroque monument, from 1747. The background tones of the drawing were inspired by the stunning colors of the church's altar. You can see it
here, and know a bit more about this place
here.
Refurbished in 2012, its plan is octagonal (8, the infinity number) and its vibe is simply beautiful. It is, nowadays, used for cultural and religious purposes. If you ever go to
Atouguia da Baleia, this is a place you should definitely visit!
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| Robert Worley, The Bones of Character |
At the same church, took place the concert of the group
Breathing Space. This is the portrait of one of its participants, the artist
Robert Worley.
The Bones of Character is my personal approach on how their story version, of the last Neanderthal, was performed.
Our
current pencils are made out of a mixture of graphite and argil, involved in wood.
Those elements, linked me to trees, nature, planet earth, mines, ground, and stones, and stones had a metaphorical major role in this show.
I consider graphite a primordial importance material, as far drawing is regarded. I'd call it, elementary, basic, or even primitive.
Therefore, in this drawing, graphite pencil seemed to me the adequate and natural material of choice.
Stacked, towards gradually more affirmative stones (gradual color), they, finally, shape into a
Homo Sapiens. Where did we come from, what do we know and what are we made of? Those are the key issues in
The Bones of Character.
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| Ayis Kelpekis |
This one is
Ayis Kelpekis and was made in a concert also in St. Joseph Church. And, I'm glad we were in a religious place because, indeed, this was kind of a holy experience to me.
Here's the poem I wrote for this drawing, during the concert:
Esculpido de uma rocha
trazia uma temperatura do sol
no vento de areia
trânsito Africano
paisagem intermitente
na filigrana consequente.
Carved out of a rock
brought a temperature of the sun
in the wind of sand
African transit
intermittent landscape
in the consequent filigree.
If I'd close my eyes, while he was playing, I'd travel far away, through distant landscapes, Eastern destinies or just some sort of a visual trance with sand, rocks, wind and heat in it.
I did think of
Mount Rushmore's sculptured faces, when I did this portrait. I thought of Ayis as a President - not of a government but of this event - now carved in a earthly color line in my sketch book.
An alive
Phidias sculpture, right in my front, who brought us moments of joy and poetry, full of colors and flavors. He rocked it. Literally.
The After-hours
After the official concerts, it was about time for the official jam sessions in Armazém dos tubos! It's to exclaim and not to simply affirm, because it was also here that happened really exciting things in the festival!
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| Francisco Andrade |
And this was the first drawing I made in one of those jams.
It is the saxophonist
Francisco Andrade caught in a moment of an absolute frenzy. Unstoppable and unforgettable that session! The drawing was made to the music's speed and the colors chosen regard the intensity of the moment.
Last year I did a completely different portrait of Francisco, take a look at it
here!
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| 友人への頌歌 / Ode to a friend - Ryoko Imai |
友人への頌歌 / Ode to a friend is a drawing I made with
Ryoko Imai's hand.
It was one of the first drawings I did in this festival, and one of the last to finish. I started it at the first Jam Session in Armazéns dos Tubos and finshed it at the MIA Post Jam, in Desterro.
Normally the title of a painting is the last thing I think about (if there is even a one) but, in this case, the whole drawing started by the title and her hand. The rest of the ideas unfolded while the festival went on. And, of course, she also helped me with the title spelling and translation in Japanese!
This process is not so common in my work, since, when I draw live, almost always I already know how I want to paint it and how my texts about them are going to be like, even though, recurrently, I do that afterwards. Ultimately, the concert is, itself, my zenith moment of inspiration.
Regardless, I was lucky my life crossed with this amazing Japanese percussionist and human being.
This drawing is not about the musician, it's about the person she is: lively, dynamic and sensitive to the others. Beyond her sometimes shy appearance (grey background) , there are so many colors I see in her (in her hand), proper to the force of nature that I think she is.
Here's a funny detail I found we have in common between my brushes and her sticks:
I had made
other portraits of her, one of them as a musician, but this time I was mesmerized with the beauty and delicacy of her hands.
She has creativity bubbling on her veins, and an immense potential that can make a difference.
I remembered the
Good Will Hunting movie, because I think her and Will Hunting (Matt Damon's character) share something in common: geniality and the lack of awareness of the importance and impact they can have on others and in the world.
"O valor das coisas não está no tempo que elas duram, mas na intensidade com que acontecem. Por isso existem momentos inesquecíveis, coisas inexplicáveis e pessoas incomparáveis"
“The value of things is not the time they last, but the intensity with which they occur. That is why there are unforgettable moments and incomparable people.”
I think Ryoko is one of them.
In the Main Auditorium
Discordantly with other editions, this year the rain kept pouring down, most of the time. Although we had to bundle up in garments, I think none of that was keeping us from having a blast. Instead, the feeling I had, was that we were all so happy to be together.
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| Noel Taylor |
In the drawing above, one could think that the black stains could be rainy inspired. But they were not. This image is my portrait of the clarinetist
Noel Taylor and the black stains started out to be an accident. On the previous page of my drawing book, I had done a painting with a loaded black ink, and a little bit passed through the paper.
I didn't consider it a drawback, on the contrary, it was the perfect metaphor for what I felt when I was listening to Noel: the blue sky, the birds, black stars and the clearness of thought of Taylor. Just beautiful.
All this, established the mood for the present color palette: light blue, white, black and silver.
A reminder that, in every dark cloud there is a silver lining.
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| Sandra Giura Longo |
I wanted this portrait to be pretty graphic.
She was playing flute when I did this drawing and, along the festival, she sang too.
Besides the musical playing, this improviser, currently living in Paris, has done work in the areas of writing and performing arts. Actually, I wonder how isn't she doing painting or design too, since she seemed to me a person with such an esthetic sensitivity.
She once lived in
Azores, and I was amazed with her Portuguese. A nice surprise!
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| Desmarte - João Desmarques |
The portrait above, is the Portuguese guitar player
João Desmarques - an active member of the band
dUAS sEMIcOLCHEIAS iNVERTIDAS,
ATR (
Associação Terapêutica do Ruído), and also of
Zaratan.
Desmarques is a slangy word, that comes from the Portuguese verb
Desmarcar. It means deselect, cancel, dismiss... In this case, signifies the several dismisses or no shows.
I think it's a rather original and funny nickname. João is, indeed, the only
Desmarques I know!
The result of this moment (concert) to me, was the pun
Desmarte. A mixture of
Desmarque with the words,
Marte (
Mars, the action and battle planet in ancient mythology) and
Arte (Art).
In the meantime, while listening and seeing him, Desmarques made me travel throughout
Namek, and those lazy late mornings with the company of
Dragon Ball Z's (DBZ) cartoons. A generation stopped to see those mighty
Manga characters and so did I, to see, listen and draw him here.
It was his funny, intergalactic, no where-everywhere sense that made me tune in to this Japanese series.
I could feel his struggle (present in a different way in DBZ too), his dreamy and far away cloud (could it be like the
Flying Nimbus), and his dashed trajectory in the noise of the earthly experience.
Between
Namek's planet and Sun Ra's
Space is the place, there is a subtleness and sensitiveness, a material absence, that was, at the same time, a beige, blue and black omnipresent spirit. All that was, ultimately, summed in the message of the
art of the encounter through its medium, music.
It could be after a long travel by the planets and the stars, facing
Adamastors and
Titans, that one could find his true and valuable content. Or, in other words, here I present to you, The art of
Desmarques,
Desmarte.
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| Carlos Canão |
Scanning drawings can sometimes be a little bit ungrateful, specially when metallic or fluorescent colors are involved. This is exactly the case, so I took some extra pictures for you guys, to see better these, golden and silvery colors.
It's
Carlos Canão, who was playing gong, while I did this drawing. He plays bass and tibetan bowls too.
Being a Yoga teacher and an Osteopath as well, Carlos is an outstanding healer. He's helped many persons and he's helped me too in a way I won't forget. The funny thing is, that you can feel his healing abilities through his music as well. Sweet!
In this MIA series, this was the one portrait that took me longer to finish.
As in music can sometimes be hard to find the right pitch, here finding the right shade of colors was the hardest part of this portrait. So, I buckled down making my own colors for it!
Firstly it was the gong that inspired me to use a metallic tone of gold. In here, you can easily perceive that this color is made of many different shades. I used 5 color layers until I reached the tone wanted.
In here, a similar thing. The difference was that I mixed silver with other plain colors layers. In this case, I used white, black and blue.
This drawing contains very different colors (hot and cold) linked by the thin black drawing line that is Carlos. We talked about it, and I also felt he's got a flashy side (strong gold) and, at the same time, a more discreet side (light silver), both represented here. The image of a sunset at the beach crossed my mind too.
And by the way... While doing this one, and specifically regarding the landscape I envisioned here, I thought a lot about
Anett Krase's master
thesis. She's a German graphic designer and her work, as a researcher, is an aesthetics treaty! Philosophy in written painting, if I can call it that way. It was a big influence here, so inspiring, I couldn't finish this text without mentioning her.
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| Antoine Gilleron |
This drawing was made in one of the most theatrical moments of the festival. It was the last concert of MIA, and Antoine was playing along with the MIA Ensemble, conducted by
Fernando Simões. As the concert went on, things started to get exciting when he started to send - one by one - the musicians out of the stage. Unexpected by all, and with a surprising end, all the musicians answered back in unison. A real hoopla!
The drawing was exactly in the middle, when Fernando sent Antoine out of the stage. In this case, that is the reason why his body is not there. Afterwards, I painted it with Antoine's t-shirt color, and, I'm actually happy the course of events influenced my drawing. It makes all this more true!
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| Paulo Galão - The time is now |
The drawing above, is the Portuguese clarinetist
Paulo Galão. This portrait started off with the light blue and the greens. The black drawing was the last thing I did here. There was a rapid movement sensation that I wanted to pass on, and I also wanted to invert, a little bit, my natural order of doing things, which would be to leave colors for last.
I thought about that inversion, also because, firstly, I focused my eyes on his watch that, unconsciously, reminded me of space and time equations, or of a motto as
the time is now.
Which, by the way, fit here as well, since rhythm and pause (visual kinesthesia and white), presence and silence (figure and blank background), noise and listening (scribble and observation) are notions that made part of my construction here.
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| In the verge of the Vortex - Marialuisa Capurso |
The following text, is a tale I wrote, to
In the Verge of the vortex portrait and for the Italian singer
Marialuisa Capurso.
Once upon a time there was a princess called Bellona. She lived by night, wore feathers, and lived high in the hill, to reach the clouds, and avoid the asphalt.
From her most pinnacled castle tower, there was a foggy bridge: a link to the unknown, with unusual flowers, delicate perfumes, and sugar traps.
Once, she went there for a stroll, and picked a flower to smell it.
It was a reality bubble. At the same time she smelled, the bubble bursted.
She shook, and felt the verge of the vortex.
But, to my great surprise, I not only did portraits from the musicians, as I was portrayed by a participant of the MIA Festival, as well.
In the middle of the event, sitting in the public,
Marialuisa asked me my drawing book, closed her eyes, and, in 5 minutes drew me. The result is above!
(*Rita la dulce meninha : Rita the sweet girl)
The drawing is, here, used with the permission of the authoress.
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| The city of Carmine And White - Jesus Asenjo |
This portrait tells the story of the mordant Carmine, who wanders in curves, angles and lines, drawing two blue trees on the floor, reflecting the water around.
Thereafter, a pair of sandy streets, united to walk, formed a thought - which road to take?
It was, only, in the next morning, afterwards a glorious coffee, that Carmine met White, shaping its inhabitant and his place in space: an inner city, su ciutat (his city).
Shapes and colors are the main theme here and, this is about the Spanish accordionist,
Jesus Asenjo. Brown, beige and
Yves Klein blue were, indeed, there. I added the white and carmine red, which added a higher color contrast, and inspired me to write a story about it.
His feet are trees, his legs streets, and his upper body, coffee. The surroundings (carmine) and his instrument (white) and how they both met in the person of Jesus.
Afterwords I finished it, I thought about Nikias Skapinakis' amazing paintings. He's one of my heroes and, a big reference in Portuguese painting. If you're not familiar with his work, you can read more about him
here and see some of his work
here.
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| Playing a wave, surfing a guitar - Paulo Leal Duarte |
It's been a while since I wanted to portray
Paulo Leal Duarte. This Portuguese guitar player, plays with projects like
P.R.E.C., and also
paints.
Perhaps because I grew up with Surf, I always loved the
sport and the culture around it: its
rituals,
dreamy feel,
symbol, typography and magazines
graphic design,
movies, looks,
jargon,
music, and
guitarists too!!
And the trigger for this drawing above, were his fresh and observant
Surf pictures, that never ceased to amaze me.
While playing, there is some kind of a hypnotic state he enters in, that I wanted to be symbolically present here too (closed eyes). The bluish strokes and lines movement were sea wave inspired. They involve his figure, almost as if he'd be playing a wave and surfing a guitar.
But his mind-blowing photos have wider themes than just Surf. You can navigate through some of them,
here.
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| André Tasso |
I witnessed two significant debuts of this Portuguese guitarist. One was
André Tasso's first concert (with
Luís Lopes) a while ago, and the other one, was this first time in which he participated in MIA Festival. I kind of feel a special relation towards him, regarding his evolution as a musician, perhaps because I saw it unfolding, from the very start.
There is always something extremely visual when I hear him. He plays and, two seconds after, I already have my mind invaded with images.
This drawing was made when André was playing with one of the raffled MIA groups. It seemed he was cooking a color! I started to draw his head and, the next thing I know, I could see André melting with the music, blending with the environment as watercolors in water.
My process of realizing this, followed the velocity of my drawing. This, became increasingly deconstructed, through a flexible outline of his body, passing through a musical instrument that became an ink blot, until, only pencil strokes were there.
Even though he seemed pretty shy, and was hidden on stage (I could barely see him)
I really liked what I listened.
I'm looking forward to see what's next!
An extra boost
It was sleepy hard working morning in Mia Festival, while these next four drawings were done live, during an extra session at Armazém dos tubos.
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| Nuno Ribeiro |
Here's is my sketch of the Portuguese guitar player,
Nuno Ribeiro.
There's a certain subtleness about him, I particularly like.
The portrait colors were inspired by his guitar and outfit combination. Sensitive and discreet, this drawing is about Nuno slowly puffing his music into
thin air.
Besides playing guitar, he is a really nice photographer, very graphic, with an attentive sense of composition. I need to mention that, because - in the back of my mind - it was a source of inspiration, while listening to him too.
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| Cortez Lamont |
This one is the Portuguese guitar player,
Cortez Lamont, here posing with a black leather jacket.
I chose charcoal to draw, and this portrait has one particularity - it was started in the opposite paper direction. Until, I decided that what I've done so far, was good to be flipped upside down, like in a
gambling card game.
From that referred start, remains what you can see on the left side of the composition. It kind of reminded me some Prehistorical rock engravings, like
this one.
And, in the end, a flipped drawing, a playing card, leather, charcoal, black and white, rock engravings, and his music, all seemed to match.
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| Laura Marques |
What you see above, is a work in progress, my current portrait of
Laura Marques.
I wonder how many Laura's have enchanted the world...surely plenty... in my mind some, like
Ella's,
Ashley's, or
Preminger's... all unique and none alike this one. I really enjoy this free singing bird, pure, natural and beautiful.
It was the second time I drew Laura (you can see the other portrait
here), and hopefully will not be the last one!
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| Pedro Santo |
It was through colorful scribbles and a charcoal drawing that I portrayed the Portuguese drummer,
Pedro Santo.
I had portrayed him before, as the
Wind Sheriff, but this time, I was more focused on the wide range of colors and textures he offered me. One can actually get that feeling if you hear the music of some of the projects that he was involved in. He is the drummer of the band
Peixe Frito and played with groups such as
Inner Spaceways,
The Lost Park,
Bä Mbo and
Farra Fanfarra, just to name a few.
Note his astuteness and observation skills. His groovy and fast pace makes me bounce, and pay attention whenever I hear him. He's such a natural.
Along with his distracting and respectful dreadlocks, there is here a sensibility to be further explored and shown.
Another look
But, not only from musicians is a festival made. Curators, technicians, producers, cooks, designers, photographers, the public, and many others make it possible. This year, I drew two of those persons, that I feel the public should know about, too.
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| José Felix da Costa |
One of them is José Félix da Costa, the official MIA Festival photographer, that has made so many unforgettable
shoots and
videos of so many of us. Therefore, I guess it's more than fair to say, that he is a fundamental piece in this event.
One of the visual moments that, I think over time, has became a ritual, is the wall of his pictures, shown at the entrance of the festival. If you don't know what I'm talking about, see
here.
But he not only documented, as he also created an archive of images with a sense of art. I really like his image framing, and the way he plays with light and colors. Plus, he's someone with a really fun and corrosive sense of humor.
We always need an exterior element, such as a painting, a camera, a mirror, a glass or a water reflexion to get an idea on how we look. And that's why I envisioned this portrait of José Félix da Costa, as being a reflection of his face in a camera lens, and not what, actually, one could see through it. This relates to the intent of the portrait itself - how we percept people, how we transmit that, and how one person sees her or himself.
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| Pat Lugo |
The other person who didn't play at the festival, and of whom I did make a drawing of, was the Italian
Patrizia Lugo. She sat next to me in almost every concert and, without ever bothering me and in first hand, she witnessed the birth of many of the portraits presented here.
Based in Belgium, she's one of the persons involved in
Ex-i-t and a brilliant photographer too. Pat's pictures have lively colors, and a plastic approach, as if things, places and people were her canvas. So inspiring to me.
Her sensitiveness is very visual and the results are incredibly appealing photos that stir one's senses, to say the least! You can see what I'm talking about,
here.
Her creativity ruled her fashion too, and I was mesmerized by her blue shoes. They made me dream. When the stage was pink and red, I looked at her and she was tapping her feet to the sound of music.
All I can say is that, it made a difference to me and to my work, to see all these concerts, with someone like her, by my side. And, for future memory, here remains the visual register of that fact.
The Post-Jam
Two days after the official festival ended, took place the
Post Mia Jam in Desterro.
The vast majority of the musicians participating in this Jam, played in MIA Festival too.
And, therefore, and as a MIA extension, this year, I decided to join hither three drawings I did there.
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| Manuel Guimarães |
From where I was, I could only see
Manuel Guimarães' back, cropped in the middle of the other musicians. On the left side of his cropped figure, one can see, partially, the shape of a double bass.
Manuel is this amazing pianist (who also plays guitar), of exquisite intensity.
Murk is there, and his language spins deep, and that is what the black background full of lines is about.
Different line thicknesses for unexpected and sudden mood changes - very high (thinner lines) and very deep (thicker lines). Both, exhaled with great steam - as if it was no big deal (or como se não fosse nada com ele, as we say here) - under the leafy shades (discreet green) of a hidden forest (the inner one). Profound and fresh!
This is a one-of-a-kind artist.
Worth the time to dive in his work and pay him the deserved attention.
See, also, my last year's version of him,
here.
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| Luiz Rocha |
Part of us stayed at the
Villa Hostel, a nice place with a really helpful hostess, Sofia Tavares. She cooked every morning for us, and always made sure everything was fine. Loved it!
It was
Luiz Rocha's birthday and, as our breakfasts, there, turned out to be a really nice moment of conviviality; I woke up, went to the kitchen and we sang happy birthday to him.
I started to write this poem for him, as a gift. I stamped the text that same morning, and that was the kick start for this portrait - finished afterwards at the Post MIA Jam. The poem says:
Poema de Luiz
E do que traduz
Círculo absoluto
Em porta resoluta,
Cor no caminho,
Sopro de mansinho,
Suspiro de liberdade,
Vida de curiosidade.
Largueza na dança,
Canção da esperança.
Poem of Luiz
Whereof sparkles
And whereof translates
Absolute circle
On resolute door,
Color on the way,
Gently blow,
Sigh of freedom,
Life of curiosity.
Wideness in the dance,
Song of the hope.
It is a birthday present, so I wanted the colors to be light, and the life theme to be present!
Some time ago, Luiz Rocha thankfully reminded me and some other persons, of
Eric Dolphy's
Jitterbug Waltz. Since then, every time I listen to this tune, I think of this bass clarinetist. I am referring it, because I think this would be a perfect soundtrack for this text, drawing, and most of all, for this luminous person (and hence the yellow).
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| Lorenzo Lustri |
This one is the Italian artist Lorenzo Lustri and, was the last drawing I have made in this series.
Lorenzo's work is extended to several areas such as
music,
performance,
cinema and
theatre. Particularly in music, he expresses himself through several instruments - flute, harmonica, guitar and others.
I was sitting right next to the small stage. And while listening to the bare, dysmorphic sounds; in a certain moment, I caught a glimpse of Lorenzo, drew him, and immediatly wrote this text, on the back of the portrait.
Qualcosa di mauve,
qualcosa argillosa
persa, cercando
nera, brillante
scompassata, affetivamente atenta
stridentemente silenziosa.
Lorenzo.
Something mauve,
something clayey
lost, searching
black, bright
out of rhythm, affectively attempt
stridently silent.
Lorenzo.
Afterwards, I came up with the exact typography I wanted the text to have, and wrote it down as you can see it now. I wanted it to look poetic, spontaneous and a bit chaotic, too. A
character with contrast (different thickness of the line) and visual flow. Furthermore, black and white gave here the extra
drama I pursued.
Wondering about the several meanings of character and drama, I figure they are keywords here. In this specific case, character in the sense of personality and alphabet letters; and drama, comprising the theatre scope and intense circumstances.
This leads me to the matter of the language as a sound and of the plasticity of the expression through writing, acting and music. And, in the end, all of that sums up the theatrical dimension I think Lorenzo has.
After more than 25 paintings in four days, I called it a day.
Fields of Gold
Always with sound around us, these days were, definitely, very intense and full of strong emotions!
I have to thank both curators,
Fernando Simões and
Paulo Chagas, that changed their calendar so I could participate in this event, this year, and, and most of all, to thank them for organizing something much greater than just a music festival.
As a matter of fact, I kind of feel, all this is about Art, Life and Love (my Fields of Gold). And what better inspiration could I ever ask for?
I thank the Universe, for allowing me to meet such incredible people, apprehend different personalities, learn with them and witness so much talent around me.
It's a privilege.
This article is dedicated to Ana Maria Lopes e Manuela Sousa Cardoso.
