tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65937795205032561102024-03-11T13:21:02.132+00:00Inner tourIdeas with peopleRita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.comBlogger237125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-55627235844985665262024-03-07T19:27:00.002+00:002024-03-07T20:25:26.141+00:00Paulo Curado's images of freedom<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1034" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhATS0JiEXgp9WD3kE7LOA4-oWlrcF_5PBfe5iQy0v1lURu9ztRnh-oU6NLAsSeGJfe0Ck2L4ODNYiAccaNZyKR7rSlkynhnOzREgzh08G3xIY36CqJfYdBGhl2YYSrln_aIXjCx2Eptb4R8yfSavUOktRKoFuduECuj9Jz59xFGocv1SY2eANg3yN9SnY/w414-h640/Paulo%20Curado%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="414" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paulo Curado © Rita Draper Frazão 2014</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The news of Paulo Curado's passing (1960-2024), yesterday, were a slap in the face. A big hug to his family, friends and the music community in Portugal, which got poorer.</p><p>What a great musician and a wonderful person he was!</p><p>The sensitivity, sense of observation and the enigma that distinguished him, turned special the music he's done and the human relationships he had. I had the feeling that Paulo lived in limbo between a fragile height and a strong depth. And now that I think about it, I believe that all the drawings I made of him convey, in a certain way, that tone.</p><p>He expressed himself musically through the saxophone, flute, composition, sound design and improvisation. Besides music itself, he's worked in the film, animation, television, theater, dance and visual art areas. In this scope, we both had long conversations about the relationship between image and sound.</p><p>There was a poetry in Paulo that made me dream and fly whenever I heard him play.</p><p>Luckily, I had the chance to draw him several times. Here's one of my portraits that Paulo really liked: it was his profile picture on his Facebook page for many years. Here, he was playing saxophone at the Mia Festival in 2014. You can see more about this <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2014/06/ahahahaha-mimimimimi-miahahahau-uuhuhuhu.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>Another drawing from him available online, is the one I've made of him in 2015, at ZDB. You can see it and read more about that subject <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2015/12/a-festival-of-personalities.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>Besides liking music and visual arts, we had other things in common. Regarding the fact that, way back, I studied flute, Paulo told me how starting to play this instrument, had been a lucky strike in his life, in a day he'd found a forgotten flute, picked it up and started to learn how to play it. </p><p>At one point we were neighbors. It wasn't Paulo's style to brag himself, but one day, slipping through the cracks at my place, he told me about the times he played with his cousin, José Peixoto, with Janita Salomé, José Mário Branco or Carlos Paredes. Legends of Portuguese music from whom we have a lot to learn from. As we do from him too.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8RGJaAsh4efNe9-6qava_Z88eBipYWE2BWEGN1xYQk6Hlv363th4xH0TEllAKHNYwMOuZYknBBXJnpdYKjMpVqHNeojCQkIgw4ImvdQuXrOazTaucoZuCgL0CNyA5qMWA1q0euIaORfEXHLUvCocxBnqUfg4aSIa9oN53lQYEahY2wMXJ0JyJ-MXxGG4/s824/1%20Eclipse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="824" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8RGJaAsh4efNe9-6qava_Z88eBipYWE2BWEGN1xYQk6Hlv363th4xH0TEllAKHNYwMOuZYknBBXJnpdYKjMpVqHNeojCQkIgw4ImvdQuXrOazTaucoZuCgL0CNyA5qMWA1q0euIaORfEXHLUvCocxBnqUfg4aSIa9oN53lQYEahY2wMXJ0JyJ-MXxGG4/w320-h224/1%20Eclipse.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eclipse for Paulo Curado © Rita Draper Frazão 2015</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><br /></p>I liked Paulo so much that, at one point, I offered him this original drawing that I've especially made for him. The image was the cover of an <a href="https://jazz.pt/artigos/sao-pequeninos-passos" target="_blank">article</a> published at Jazz.pt and here <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2015/10/an-eclipse-weekend.html" target="_blank">on my blog</a> Innertour. Yet only now I'm sharing with you the dedication I wrote on its back and its purpose: to thank him for everything he'd given me. Due to the respect I had towards him, I'm kind of embarrassed to say this, but Paulo told me he was a fan of mine. Which explains what I wrote in the dedication, on the back of the drawing:<p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimaelVSPK2ge2EeKeMW0xZa7BT2PStAsf90CbadzVY6Un_mYNUSKBckZmP2jVdxuJIEiSvbG6nStUxG5OC3WWz71Hk6xqOiiTLZWIm9pwai6bcRggivhSudFqtmrIoalGLSxVpL7J4MWzYGw1lyO7WzxqhPElqJZJ6W0l2H7coASRkc8B0s90alW5H0bw/s2396/Dedicato%CC%81ria%20Eclipse%20para%20Paulo%20Curado.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2396" data-original-width="1681" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimaelVSPK2ge2EeKeMW0xZa7BT2PStAsf90CbadzVY6Un_mYNUSKBckZmP2jVdxuJIEiSvbG6nStUxG5OC3WWz71Hk6xqOiiTLZWIm9pwai6bcRggivhSudFqtmrIoalGLSxVpL7J4MWzYGw1lyO7WzxqhPElqJZJ6W0l2H7coASRkc8B0s90alW5H0bw/w226-h320/Dedicato%CC%81ria%20Eclipse%20para%20Paulo%20Curado.jpeg" width="226" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eclipse backwards for Paulo Curado © Rita Draper Frazão 2015</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><br /></p>"26th of <i>September, 2015</i><p></p><p><i>Dear Paulo,</i></p><p><i>This world is a more beautiful, colorful and certainly more inspiring place with musicians like you. Thank you very much for all the images of freedom and of rare beauty you have given me. I wish you all the colors in the world. It's not just you, I'm your fan too!</i></p><p><i>A kiss from your friend,</i></p><p><i><3 Rita #</i>"</p><p>How lucky was I to be his friend and to have been inspired by Paulo, so many times in my work and, above all, in life.</p><p>You can see some of the drawings and texts I wrote about him, here in my blog. One of the portraits was never published and is well stored to be published in other flights. Fortunately, I managed to show them all while he was still alive.</p><p>Being in Europe (in a country closer to me), yesterday a childhood friend of mine - who is Lebanese and lives in Beirut - wrote me because he remembered myself. Considering that this conversation took place on the day I received the sad news of Paulo's passing, this message was a symbolic reminder of how life goes by fast and how important it is to take care of each other and value friendship, sometimes with a simple message as this one. شكرا صلاح!</p><p>In today's world, where we're pulled in a thousand directions by social media, internet, apps, podcasts, publicity, press, artificial intelligence, etc, it remains in me the rare example of master Paulo: that in order to be heard, loved and remembered, one can also be, at the same time, reservedly remarkable.</p><p>And I'll never forget you, my dear friend. May you follow the light.</p>Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-54272446087581882612023-11-24T15:59:00.018+00:002024-01-12T13:33:18.088+00:00Gualdino Barros, the master of ceremonies<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnDfTkfgE1okeoTZb_CeLxGN73UYCgoQdB5GLUaQNsoXgJ44Q_gG55qIXxArSiXwYhQzDVRV0SBpum3gFofQ-V7_WmKS7fAn2Q-Hq-zocBp_RUSaFywE-KY2RXwXmXa1B2K0hQB8usr4tR3B3tU04EOe1IpnKVlc0i2fDt-9CZqB6LgSEjB74EHcvwMs/s1600/Gualdino%20Barros%20%C2%AE%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1138" data-original-width="1600" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnDfTkfgE1okeoTZb_CeLxGN73UYCgoQdB5GLUaQNsoXgJ44Q_gG55qIXxArSiXwYhQzDVRV0SBpum3gFofQ-V7_WmKS7fAn2Q-Hq-zocBp_RUSaFywE-KY2RXwXmXa1B2K0hQB8usr4tR3B3tU04EOe1IpnKVlc0i2fDt-9CZqB6LgSEjB74EHcvwMs/w640-h456/Gualdino%20Barros%20%C2%AE%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gualdino Barros ® Rita Draper Frazão 2004</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My latest article about the drummer Gualdino Barros, that recently passed away, has just been <a href="https://jazz.pt/artigos/gualdino--o-mestre-de-cerimonias" target="_blank">published in Jazz.pt</a> magazine. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUTAR5Ylmb4lViOEQ9EFvvCkvLVPrvbsTHlDgqHc2NRUrj2pPMt9PWC8TOBOSYIR4eY1FGbN7-Vx2Ueivpc8qt7mES94Dx3kjd6aBJuKOo1TRxr4XspbidlSd59CUJP3x52s8H24d4URFaidJeZgs8DPjHQv22m2LmC5PW4sQd8ukO9QIVpf2rvJ5LUY/s1106/Captura%20de%20ecra%CC%83%202023-11-24,%20a%CC%80s%2013.23.51.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1090" data-original-width="1106" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAUTAR5Ylmb4lViOEQ9EFvvCkvLVPrvbsTHlDgqHc2NRUrj2pPMt9PWC8TOBOSYIR4eY1FGbN7-Vx2Ueivpc8qt7mES94Dx3kjd6aBJuKOo1TRxr4XspbidlSd59CUJP3x52s8H24d4URFaidJeZgs8DPjHQv22m2LmC5PW4sQd8ukO9QIVpf2rvJ5LUY/s320/Captura%20de%20ecra%CC%83%202023-11-24,%20a%CC%80s%2013.23.51.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">For those who don't speak Portuguese, here is my English adaptation of it:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><h2 style="clear: both;">Gualdino Barros, the master of ceremonies</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The drummer Gualdino Barros passed away on November the 21st. My heartfelt condolences to his family, all his friends and the many fans I know he had out there.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I have to confess that something broke inside of me when I heard about the news. <i>Nito</i>, <i>Gualdin</i> or <i>Gualdinex</i> as he was called by many, was 85 years old.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I don't know exactly when I met Gualdino, but I was a teenager and he was almost 50 years older than me. It might, even, sound strange to make friendships under such circumstances, but not is this case. Gualdino was a magnet for the younger generations. Regardless of his physical age, he must've been the most youthful spirit I have ever met. Those who liked music, learning and having fun, had an open door to his universe. Therefore, it was easy to like him.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In a context in which in Portugal, in his generation, there was still no official and organized education specifically aimed at jazz, Gualdino was a self-taught drummer. Through his curious and entrepreneurial spirit, restless soul and desire to learn, he listened and saw his musical idols play and, thus, learned to play. The drummer Luís Sangareau (who I still had the pleasure to meet) was one of those who, in Portugal, greatly inspired him.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The self-taught drummer, who was a Portugal's history of jazz milestone, had a very unique “sound of his own” (the cymbals and solos!) and a sense of style that never faded. Small in stature, anyone who might think he had ever gone unnoticed, would be mistaken. Chatty, Gualdino was the life of the party, loved eccentric clothes, wore rings and had a huge collection of hats, caps and berets, that became his iconic trade mark.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This musician was an old-school type of gentleman. He always treated me with the utmost deference and politeness. I also recognize a certain candidness in him. He had an enormous spontaneity, liked to take risks, was sharp as a tack and had an enviable ability to get away with things and improvise, both in life and in music.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Those characteristics made him feel touched and promote what was new and beautiful. He was proud to have launched a bunch of new Portuguese talents. Jorge Palma, Bernardo Sassetti, the Moreira brothers, Francisco Rebelo, Filipe Melo, Joana Espadinha, Rita Maria... all of them played with him at the beginning of their professional lives.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I can't help to mention the fascination he had with singers. Whenever we met Gualdino, his enthusiastic conversation, invariably, started with the new vocal talent he had just discovered with whom he was playing with. Regardless of the art we dedicated ourselves to (which contradicts the idea that he's only helped musicians and I am living proof of that), during a certain phase, when one was starting to enter the jazz scene in Lisbon, it was almost an initiatory ritual to the activity, to work with him. And what a master of ceremonies he was for us all.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I took and developed this photo of him in 2004, when we were on tour out there. By his invitation, I drew and photographed, he played the drums and managed it all. His degree of generosity went to the point he'd gave up his own cachet in favor of other artists, something I know he did to other people and that he also did to me. He had an unwavering faith in us and didn't abdicate our presence.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">On this tour I took several photographs, one of which was published in the magazine “Grande Reportagem (see <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cz_VKHdKE5g/?img_index=1" target="_blank">here</a>)”. The photograph that goes along with this text, is another one and was special to him. According to what he told me, it would be the only portrait he had, in this position with the drums. His musical instrument of choice was a symbol of his complicity with music and the means by which he expressed the love of his life: jazz.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We are left with Gualdino's teachings, his sense of humor, his enormous generosity but... how not to mention the gigantic repertoire of stories he had to tell? Besides being a drummer, he was Portuguese with roots in Angola where he lived, as well as in Germany, France and, of course, Portugal. He was a sacristan, played for Sporting de Braga Football Club, worked on construction sites, spoke several languages, was a good friend, brother (of percussionist Quim M'Jojo), uncle, engineer and so many other things...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">His incredible life experiences deservedly inspired at least three cinematographic works: <i>Inner Urge</i> by Isabel Cardeira (2003) (in which I also participated), <i>Um Mundo Catita</i> by Filipe Melo (2007) and <i>The ninth life of Gualdino</i> by Filipe Araújo (2014). The last two movies were shown on Portuguese television, on RTP 2.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I was part of this huge class of friends of which Gualdino was the master. We stopped to listen to him, when he told us about his personal and artistic experiences with people like Nina Simone, Chet Baker, Max Roach, Bud Powell, Mickey Rooney, Amália Rodrigues, Jorge Palma, Fernando Girão or Duo Ouro Negro.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Here I remember one night, when the Hot Clube of Portugal (Jazz Club) had already closed its doors to the public and only a small group of regulars remained, who Fernando Mendes, affectionately, put up with behind closed doors, until late hours. We were all partying hard in jam session mode, when Gualdino jumped on stage, not straight to the drums, but to the microphone. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Solemn moment. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">To everyone's surprise, he started singing “Autumn Leaves” in French. Who was also there and remembers this?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">His life had great ups and downs. Between cold-blooded tonsil surgeries in Africa, sleeping under the bridge Neuf in Paris, severe burns on the hand, alligator attacks in the USA, overthrown addictions, strokes and countless challenges that he overcame from childhood until the end of his life, I believe that all these experiences made him the exceptional individual he was.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8vtR0hzeNBICI3BypO_twqoF0BTjuP6S_iS99U4M1BqvXREb8_5QCx2alvwi2eWBs3_L2xlZrxjfCnRr-56iYbU8I-QJOEOobgRJ3ktpREwLc7rhSjjaDW4qJZ2cqm3fjAnzO8Hrmc_tkuahy_g64ywsWszh4zLbpXGMNz6tuzgkTCLHEN_-ju4qDSoU/s3620/Po%CC%81%20e%20sombra%20%C2%AE%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3620" data-original-width="2219" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8vtR0hzeNBICI3BypO_twqoF0BTjuP6S_iS99U4M1BqvXREb8_5QCx2alvwi2eWBs3_L2xlZrxjfCnRr-56iYbU8I-QJOEOobgRJ3ktpREwLc7rhSjjaDW4qJZ2cqm3fjAnzO8Hrmc_tkuahy_g64ywsWszh4zLbpXGMNz6tuzgkTCLHEN_-ju4qDSoU/w392-h640/Po%CC%81%20e%20sombra%20%C2%AE%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o.jpg" width="392" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Powder and Shadow ® Rita Draper Frazão 2005</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In his twilight years, when he was already very ill, his friends' mobilization to help him was massive and moving. Above is one of the drawings I made on tour with him that documents his great friendship with the pianist Rui Caetano. It was drawn with my left and right hands. I chose to do so, not only because of the ambidextrous nature of those who play piano and drums, but also due the complementarity of the two musicians. Like shadow to light and powders to magic. Therefore, it is titled “Powder and Shadow”.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After 2016 Euro's Portuguese football team's victory and the football player Eder having shared the importance that his mental coach had had in this process, a greater public awareness began to raise in Portugal, of the importance that such a tool could have in someone's life, in the evolution of a team or in the history of a country. But twenty or thirty years ago, nobody spoke about coaching in Portugal. Gualdino was an absolute visionary in this and was the best coach that an entire generation of artists here could've ever asked for. I think it's safe to say he left his mark in all of us.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In his own way, Gualdino was a philosophical and spiritual person. Without being something he talked much about, he confessed me that he was a Catholic and showed me the crucifix he wore under his clothes. Religions aside, I have no doubt that his faith in life was the biggest lesson he gave me. An example to never forget. A person from forever to forever.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Thank you for everything!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLIqpzzqj6Qlv1iNN-K37B1gupjKUqhOUDIEUOuLD8dQi0iVrVYsGYyayhE-jrKvZ_D2rs2zWrxTR3emFBoVMRimkxb_d3oSZQ1AUDBxR-AWKfKPvJGQsiu-M7rzt2WkID6SRVemexwQ/s1600/IMGP1276.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-47094761913840588182023-05-03T19:44:00.004+01:002024-01-12T13:36:00.256+00:00 Fernando Alvim<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58DcylvP9ANO_VbHlwvYRWdMLm_X4-HV4SpoP6NZXfvPfGGfm8K7OlrX2ND2NBhkTvPY9XNjc3x9c6oV5UKwms4Lh0I2sI4holmJytNWQwRm9BRIOYox570R2dvv-OFKV133uB6j-p2Vocv-91L_MYWPPX_-878cvlWvdYF6WvQMN-OnoCNDhdPl_/s2430/Fernando%20Alvim%20%C2%A9%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o%202019%20-%2065.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2430" data-original-width="1731" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58DcylvP9ANO_VbHlwvYRWdMLm_X4-HV4SpoP6NZXfvPfGGfm8K7OlrX2ND2NBhkTvPY9XNjc3x9c6oV5UKwms4Lh0I2sI4holmJytNWQwRm9BRIOYox570R2dvv-OFKV133uB6j-p2Vocv-91L_MYWPPX_-878cvlWvdYF6WvQMN-OnoCNDhdPl_/w456-h640/Fernando%20Alvim%20%C2%A9%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o%202019%20-%2065.jpg" width="456" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fernando Alvim © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Some time ago, I started a project called Radio Series. It's something I had in mind for years, and it's about portraying my favorite Radio Hosts. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Today's the birthday of one of them, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/fernando_alvim/" target="_blank">Fernando Alvim</a>, whom I drew at Antena 3 Radio, during his <i><a href="https://www.rtp.pt/programa/radio/p1070" target="_blank">Prova Oral</a></i> program. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Prova Oral is a talk radio show where he interviews a myriad of people. Alvim's been working in radio for 38 years and does this program, over 20! But creating and hosting this show is just one of the many things he did and does. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Fernando wrote several books and articles, hosted many tv shows, created the festival <i>Termómetro</i> (Emergent music festival/contest), the magazine <i>365</i>, or the <i>Monstros do Ano</i> (an event where the most uncanny situations of the year are awarded), just to name a few.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I started to listen this show, since its beginning, in 2002. Being broadcasted from Monday to Friday at 7 pm GMT, <i>Prova oral</i> was my perfect match, going home from the beach, when I was in vacation in a southern Portuguese location where, at the time, I had no tv and could access just a few national radios. Nowadays, with the new possibilities provided by the podcasts era, I listen to the show many times in different schedules. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">The portrait</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">First of all, I think never ending curiosity about the world could be Fernando Alvim's middle name. But other layers of his persona inspired me here, too.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I thought about the colorful part in the drawing as a mouth laughing, a heart or a window to another view (aiming his curiosity). Inside of it, a bright new day arises (yellow sun rays) over a sensitive liquid <i>sea-tongue</i> (light blue). Imagination and seemingly non sense ideas had to be here, too!</div><div style="text-align: center;">In my view, a portrait of Fernando had to consider his cheerful (hence the primary colors), romantic (red lips and heart) and funny character (laughter). </div><div><div style="text-align: center;">The presence of the headphones and the colorful mouth are a referral to communication as well - listening (to music or in a conversation) and talking.* Basic traits of his craft. </div></div><div style="text-align: center;">The quick graphite strokes in this portrait, allude to his mental agility and a kind of spontaneous and childish (primary colors) type of expression. </div><div style="text-align: center;">I find there is also something very deep, intense and melancholic about Fernando. Something the black and white part of this work can relate to as well.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">May life grant you as much happiness, as I am sure your work did with so many people over the years. Happy Birthday Alvim! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Speaking about music, and as I footnote, would like to share with you that, while writing this, my soundtrack was PJ Harvey's <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pY8n7uYT0mM" target="_blank">We float</a></i>, a song I also drew in the past and that you can see <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2016/02/from-chaos-to-dancing-star.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-74203526027792089272023-03-24T21:03:00.000+00:002023-03-24T21:03:25.586+00:00Clara<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh19dto9oMhfFgnghHaTAFeEhisGWcPVmuUFRJCD-H4ltl7nlPNG_iHuBIBMFX4R2d__kWHM1PFIu4B7iCETUjifs59vTVDYfdZJvpEJpLDtcVXz8s2jW0VlyZ88SCoQTAIEfj4tRJecdgCOJm7hj-o3YQbtF-RC-jGQCi29rFmRgxtha7cR_L_M21y/s4000/24.3.2023%20Clara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh19dto9oMhfFgnghHaTAFeEhisGWcPVmuUFRJCD-H4ltl7nlPNG_iHuBIBMFX4R2d__kWHM1PFIu4B7iCETUjifs59vTVDYfdZJvpEJpLDtcVXz8s2jW0VlyZ88SCoQTAIEfj4tRJecdgCOJm7hj-o3YQbtF-RC-jGQCi29rFmRgxtha7cR_L_M21y/w480-h640/24.3.2023%20Clara.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clara</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>According to the United Nations, today's the International day for the Right to the Truth day concerning gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims.</p><p>In what this matter is regarded, there is still a long way ahead of us, specially in what women are concerned. More clarity in this subject is required.</p><p>"Clara" is its title and it was named after a strong female friend of mine, in whom I got inspired while I did this work. In Portuguese, Clara, also means clearness, clarity. </p><p>Done with many layers, colors and materials, the mixed media technique used in this portrait, mimics to the complexity of the emotional scars and courage required for the victims to speak up. </p><p>May ethics and justice win. Let's allow the truth in. It's about time.</p><div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div>Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-85010235272198049692023-02-14T12:01:00.006+00:002023-02-15T17:49:58.926+00:00The gift of love<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsR1BjimX3Nz59HlkXsuF4dNyRFdZjCxsAswr92bkw69Flow47RiRODgnLlicYsnVieIlJCU5oCLihktBu8I2vbGnkrjQxWyRXUavCSGzfEl_h6DxMDazBu7EcUae1lV7nBIZsWuKRKCIWHlmf8FvJlpSljSQK_D33-s44mTmhD-RjdUyyCtYbY7Te/s3526/20220608_193216.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3526" data-original-width="2974" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsR1BjimX3Nz59HlkXsuF4dNyRFdZjCxsAswr92bkw69Flow47RiRODgnLlicYsnVieIlJCU5oCLihktBu8I2vbGnkrjQxWyRXUavCSGzfEl_h6DxMDazBu7EcUae1lV7nBIZsWuKRKCIWHlmf8FvJlpSljSQK_D33-s44mTmhD-RjdUyyCtYbY7Te/w540-h640/20220608_193216.jpg" width="540" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">On this Valentine's day, I present you <i>A Dádiva </i>(The Gift).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-style: italic;">A Dádiva</i><i> </i>(The Gift)<span style="text-align: left;"> was commissioned by a dear couple of mine, for their Catholic wedding. I was invited to create an object to carry their wedding rings to the altar. And also to carry A Dádiva and their wedding rings in the religious celebration. An absolute first for me. </span><span style="text-align: left;">Follow me and get to know all about it!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">How to subvert a briefing</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><div><br /></div><div>The first briefing was to do a painted plate with their names and the date of the wedding. </div><div>Realizing the importance that day may have in one's life, I listened but I also knew, right away, that I wanted to do more than that. I just didn't know yet how to turn that idea upside down without forgetting its function. </div><div>My restless soul and my designer education surfaced and I was determined not to take my mind off it until I'd find a solution to this. </div><div>For a couple of days I was thinking about it in the shower, cooking, eating, sleeping... </div><div>And, literally, one day I woke up and I had a vision of this piece. I knew I was on to something.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have never made a sculpture like this before. So I had to study and make several trials until I reached what you can see. I believe learning and evolving may come from stepping out of your comfort zone and taking risks. I was down for it and they trusted me. What else could I ask?</div><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGqPCDc8xYJuh-_Kje9tuqYs6kCFqZqYjkqHcD68rDdx3HhXAJoBbIwkzuLxLk-elKNmpKpRmv4X_lXa0ORyfivDnYf9ayPQllFA3q4CIgVd5vy7kLUsTv9vaXZMHfm-32GHkgK6O8wSeCZi6on-EwvG8i8ZYFppXaoIUMfi8NBoy2lr106RnsTaKT/s3906/20220609_150048.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3906" data-original-width="2682" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGqPCDc8xYJuh-_Kje9tuqYs6kCFqZqYjkqHcD68rDdx3HhXAJoBbIwkzuLxLk-elKNmpKpRmv4X_lXa0ORyfivDnYf9ayPQllFA3q4CIgVd5vy7kLUsTv9vaXZMHfm-32GHkgK6O8wSeCZi6on-EwvG8i8ZYFppXaoIUMfi8NBoy2lr106RnsTaKT/w440-h640/20220609_150048.jpg" width="440" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;">The great symbolism of hands</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This piece is a sculpture I made from my hands, one of my main tools in my work and also the part of the body we use to gesture while communicating with each other.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzM8BidT_gYvvemCI-chl9XCAujHPNUSXfeomHidSHfSfb3sIoIw7STGuEkMUQFk_hBwaIRXgrl646oy8g23JGBK1imFEGc5YKLnm0X8pm4KcrXaA0IM4e6tUMKa2SyR89mZbD5X_fOUDQJ8fyaA9YsZEzK-XWPVqAJPX_78F9vyijjVptC9bguS1a/s3800/20220609_150727.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3800" data-original-width="3000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzM8BidT_gYvvemCI-chl9XCAujHPNUSXfeomHidSHfSfb3sIoIw7STGuEkMUQFk_hBwaIRXgrl646oy8g23JGBK1imFEGc5YKLnm0X8pm4KcrXaA0IM4e6tUMKa2SyR89mZbD5X_fOUDQJ8fyaA9YsZEzK-XWPVqAJPX_78F9vyijjVptC9bguS1a/w506-h640/20220609_150727.jpg" width="506" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Not just in art's history, but in other areas such as linguistics, advertising, theater, the military, religions, psychology, and sociology, the meaning of certain hand positions is vast. This subject alone could provide material for a PhD thesis!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgDjADG2F9qW-PetTLnvWApPsPZ5HxFPnVnmgy-tBE-EH7q4rk1gTS7Vo50kpdo5ba1_e7UdkdBOhIGI0aalZDfadcBiw_ExaLyE_8pZD5AVj9jS8eqVNYvELltPuBlDd8GoHOBWj-gy-WIWyJmktWpZ3Qz-RqsQvlZMYzRiERkI7BoFNgMEP4dwjl/s3773/20220608_193321.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3773" data-original-width="2842" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgDjADG2F9qW-PetTLnvWApPsPZ5HxFPnVnmgy-tBE-EH7q4rk1gTS7Vo50kpdo5ba1_e7UdkdBOhIGI0aalZDfadcBiw_ExaLyE_8pZD5AVj9jS8eqVNYvELltPuBlDd8GoHOBWj-gy-WIWyJmktWpZ3Qz-RqsQvlZMYzRiERkI7BoFNgMEP4dwjl/w482-h640/20220608_193321.jpg" width="482" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cupped hands can receive, be used to drink water, protect the eyes, and they can give. I wanted both hands to be present, respecting the number of love and marriage: two.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhon6Xk9RYtvnh-1wPw-rSj1Mtk2d6CzBu8zrbP_fE9lDxv83fjFK6GGtaEzjAwwvQ0nyDerlPFYHiD7l56uUu6KoRA_phG4IEdXXCt9aWbU3DcSM7lrMxSYxCXH88an32uzX81HOp4UXqA_118dDDuaKyPQ4H0MRq1hjcZiry2RV8WIHLgotXeDO_R/s3957/20220608_193915.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="3957" data-original-width="2884" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhon6Xk9RYtvnh-1wPw-rSj1Mtk2d6CzBu8zrbP_fE9lDxv83fjFK6GGtaEzjAwwvQ0nyDerlPFYHiD7l56uUu6KoRA_phG4IEdXXCt9aWbU3DcSM7lrMxSYxCXH88an32uzX81HOp4UXqA_118dDDuaKyPQ4H0MRq1hjcZiry2RV8WIHLgotXeDO_R/w466-h640/20220608_193915.jpg" width="466" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Shells and particularly Scallops, are the symbol of baptism in Christianity. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Having in mind those traditional silver shells often used at Christian baptisms, and sometimes at weddings as well, the cupped shape of these hands is a reinterpretation of that and alludes also to the concept of protection.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3EzoXOLaehV3NGcZuZrqe9P-XxKkwoxfleoW7gW4FwAN43YN0rWG1sM0cDr3U7EM560YdAw64_GBLNPSiz-D2A3aKLT_bqlh3HLZr9QXkaXJ4pxqtrsPS7X7xb4ocqedavOXsKqSfxjAMCRewdPL0NYTy_XvYRyp68m1-b1tWDWl2jTOgD50al2og/s3890/20220608_193332.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2658" data-original-width="3890" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3EzoXOLaehV3NGcZuZrqe9P-XxKkwoxfleoW7gW4FwAN43YN0rWG1sM0cDr3U7EM560YdAw64_GBLNPSiz-D2A3aKLT_bqlh3HLZr9QXkaXJ4pxqtrsPS7X7xb4ocqedavOXsKqSfxjAMCRewdPL0NYTy_XvYRyp68m1-b1tWDWl2jTOgD50al2og/w640-h438/20220608_193332.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giving hands as the union of two souls</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This piece also refers to the idea of the union of two hands, of two wedding rings in this piece, of two souls in life, as a gift.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;"> Perspective lies in the eyes of the beholder*</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A Dádiva</i><i> </i>(The Gift) can be viewed and placed in various positions, completely changing the way it's read.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiMaQsSygEjvbjh5WQ6gibOFsBJJQXTU2Bk97iX1nCXLOJS8BP89nbgMaA9eyG8r_m_KCbXaXMKcUR4VCo8jUqI67jrptSpkOQXYQEhf04sXKRBII5vxRFkWjj5l1Y51BZ9bPzX4k-aJn4tk-qLQnGj6gvNBhuTYSg04SKMBAHAss3kxqEkgcvIVoH/s3857/20220608_193543.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3857" data-original-width="2992" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiMaQsSygEjvbjh5WQ6gibOFsBJJQXTU2Bk97iX1nCXLOJS8BP89nbgMaA9eyG8r_m_KCbXaXMKcUR4VCo8jUqI67jrptSpkOQXYQEhf04sXKRBII5vxRFkWjj5l1Y51BZ9bPzX4k-aJn4tk-qLQnGj6gvNBhuTYSg04SKMBAHAss3kxqEkgcvIVoH/w496-h640/20220608_193543.jpg" width="496" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top view of A Dádiva (The gift)</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7YpyNwTwJX4w6sjErpepanIf0ubI2yCtdYy7jCqqTiY6Bbo4mNtY7jtSVBFCBNEaRXCLhaQiCoF4hTUriWyCwCIrHP2pdgc8t6k4ff3-DhU5GYdd45KvaQpPvaSUI48ajJE8hJGQRV7vKKxcSzwqH0XzNDmdJA2BoTWiwprRJU_e36BUzCU1ZEzhx/s3951/20220608_194003.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2881" data-original-width="3951" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7YpyNwTwJX4w6sjErpepanIf0ubI2yCtdYy7jCqqTiY6Bbo4mNtY7jtSVBFCBNEaRXCLhaQiCoF4hTUriWyCwCIrHP2pdgc8t6k4ff3-DhU5GYdd45KvaQpPvaSUI48ajJE8hJGQRV7vKKxcSzwqH0XzNDmdJA2BoTWiwprRJU_e36BUzCU1ZEzhx/w640-h466/20220608_194003.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Right lateral view of A Dádiva (The gift)</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIRMQHMrBy1zLW_oOCf0BMK_f0cJ_LCBcdL3Rb_PCUkBdAO66TRRmTQrfbV4WM2vvELPjywIyptglBPGnwZPMhVWkViTmyma9xRYkSe6rPJ4Vk1Ih0FsFCuApGICtSZ2GgAfW6uEEMZxpMC5SyhJ1r0V749eisg288sSmG7rjOB3PZm_r3oj4LS4zC/s3862/20220608_193405.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3862" data-original-width="2661" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIRMQHMrBy1zLW_oOCf0BMK_f0cJ_LCBcdL3Rb_PCUkBdAO66TRRmTQrfbV4WM2vvELPjywIyptglBPGnwZPMhVWkViTmyma9xRYkSe6rPJ4Vk1Ih0FsFCuApGICtSZ2GgAfW6uEEMZxpMC5SyhJ1r0V749eisg288sSmG7rjOB3PZm_r3oj4LS4zC/w440-h640/20220608_193405.jpg" width="440" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bottom view of A Dádiva (The gift)</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> Whoever positions it, chooses. And this choice will change the result, making the chooser an active part of this sculpture.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(inspired by Kant's quote: <i>Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder</i>)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">The color code</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Initially I had thought of the piece all in white, symbolizing a blank page, the beginning and also one of the colors associated with Catholic marriage.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYiY8Zmzla5koPKjLtpt3UptYP2DlDP2nTo0zmUa2gh2LM0-A_Yhv7WYgdKGxtozYMy0HaLCXNpU6mTAKqQQz-beBoKgf9NZomaAvedPeYYEdmSlc_0zraIxT734jeOqDhlwGvU4DwGTz42OZUL97cRYwvyx8Dx5waHIumOa8gaARjbhDeoPHEukBE/s320/20220608_193749.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="240" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYiY8Zmzla5koPKjLtpt3UptYP2DlDP2nTo0zmUa2gh2LM0-A_Yhv7WYgdKGxtozYMy0HaLCXNpU6mTAKqQQz-beBoKgf9NZomaAvedPeYYEdmSlc_0zraIxT734jeOqDhlwGvU4DwGTz42OZUL97cRYwvyx8Dx5waHIumOa8gaARjbhDeoPHEukBE/w240-h320/20220608_193749.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Number 3</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">But then something curious happened: when I finished this piece, I looked at its base (near the area of the wrists), and I saw the shape of the number 3 slightly suggested.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I thought it was a coincidence, and I thought that, yes, love can start with two, but then, regardless of having kids or not, a new life together emerges - a third element that takes me back to the perfection of the equilateral triangle and the holy trinity.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Therefore, I felt like highlighting this part of the piece, as if its interior were suddenly golden (the most divine color) and its outline were white (the purest color), ethereal, luminous and light reflective (hence the glossy coating which also provides a greater protection).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidoVLNUKon_iafD6Lr4vWy2kO9zSGSx_BjLIu66sVvcj4TjNqb6h_zJEei9zq0IuyV35SzO_yDXFq35ncYDfm6HITn4DZ9cnfPqKwO0L7tZsW6N8bHDRwwUqF4bhjJ6fWxuQyVT9ta-oe4VsJ958gjXMLdnW2TLq1s1ujKe3qeX0rBa95hANFU8Atm/s4000/20220608_193717.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidoVLNUKon_iafD6Lr4vWy2kO9zSGSx_BjLIu66sVvcj4TjNqb6h_zJEei9zq0IuyV35SzO_yDXFq35ncYDfm6HITn4DZ9cnfPqKwO0L7tZsW6N8bHDRwwUqF4bhjJ6fWxuQyVT9ta-oe4VsJ958gjXMLdnW2TLq1s1ujKe3qeX0rBa95hANFU8Atm/s320/20220608_193717.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The shades of gold</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Thinking of Pantones and inks, there are many shades of gold: old gold (more greenish), yellow gold, pink gold, etc. The shade of gold that I chose here is, on purpose, more orangey.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">According to some experts in colors' history, in ancient Greece, Dionysus' clothes - who was, among other things, the God of fertility and the pleasures of life - were orange. This could explain why the orange tree has been associated with fertility since ancient times and also why many brides wear orange flowers in their wreath. </div><div style="text-align: center;">In Asia it's the color of transformation and fertility. In Buddhism and Hinduism, orange is the most sacred color and symbolizes the purifying power of fire.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Being an energetic color, orange combines light and warmth.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Gold is one of the most valuable metals on planet earth and has always been linked to wealth. Real gold never oxidizes. In addition to its material value, this is also why wedding rings are traditionally made in this metal. It relates to eternity.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">In Ancient Egypt, the color code was strict and artists were only allowed to use gold in the representation of the Pharaohs. Among Kings, Saints, high dignitaries or champions this is, until nowadays, the color that rewards excellence.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Therefore, the choice of not using a pure orange but a golden hue aims to bring greater distinction and a sense of importance to this work.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In color theory and in the spiritual world, the combination of all the shades I have chosen here symbolize plenitude and enlightenment. In this day to celebrate love, that's what I wish for this couple and for you!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Solid Fragile</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A Dádiva</i><i> </i>(The Gift) has a solid weight (around 1.5 kgs / 3,307 lb) and at the same time, since it was made out of plaster it can, also, be fragile. Somehow a metaphor for marriage, with its need for daily maintenance and desirable consistency.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Bearing in mind the challenging contexts that a marriage and a love relationship may imply, another purpose of this piece was to remind the importance of a couple giving their best, to each other, without expecting anything in return.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">My greatest gift</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The wedding rings in the photos are my parent's: the persons that gave me life, my greatest gift.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-f2tD-p7QBy6svVjH0MvlHTzHimgYnOT1jcKuPxrQHqtJZdisU_uAf4flpNIOht3p2DKHA0ohgDPgRkBI5_VRIG8Zkc6labvSMZYnA1XDFbLk4ijLrlLwHl7KmMuePGrrDLVhXTPbe6G1GALLy7JipU5BPfJfa30F1NVtm6oxeNvj9brD3f_S119O/s3889/20220609_150022.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2781" data-original-width="3889" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-f2tD-p7QBy6svVjH0MvlHTzHimgYnOT1jcKuPxrQHqtJZdisU_uAf4flpNIOht3p2DKHA0ohgDPgRkBI5_VRIG8Zkc6labvSMZYnA1XDFbLk4ijLrlLwHl7KmMuePGrrDLVhXTPbe6G1GALLy7JipU5BPfJfa30F1NVtm6oxeNvj9brD3f_S119O/w640-h458/20220609_150022.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The meaningful wedding bands.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div>I certainly tried to give the best of me is in this work. May the energy in <i>A Dádiva</i> (The gift) inspire you all. Ultimately, it all comes down to that special feeling we all crave for. </div><div><br /></div><div>As in the song, <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7xMfIp-irg" target="_blank">All you need is love</a></i>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Happy Valentine's day!</div></div></div>Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-44595433701035187862022-05-15T20:45:00.041+01:002024-01-12T13:58:14.216+00:00My German friemily<div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYDp54tNI3WlrUo6cNw8QrsLXUxIvq1Ni29enoVcKCYZFwI2JbR1s5rLrNmJu-Z2yHY6-x9fTZi-ISMaRxICBpACAMLnBaPPfYEl7g1_d2nj3nAKHaRYBxTk6Xwug6Ls8lbtWsFpbUPfQ_Z7Gwbjc54IYv2ViSyLhLasizIKj_GM0icD3Yw26eo0JQ/s2458/2017%20Hannelore%20Peter%20-%2060.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2458" data-original-width="1667" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYDp54tNI3WlrUo6cNw8QrsLXUxIvq1Ni29enoVcKCYZFwI2JbR1s5rLrNmJu-Z2yHY6-x9fTZi-ISMaRxICBpACAMLnBaPPfYEl7g1_d2nj3nAKHaRYBxTk6Xwug6Ls8lbtWsFpbUPfQ_Z7Gwbjc54IYv2ViSyLhLasizIKj_GM0icD3Yw26eo0JQ/w434-h640/2017%20Hannelore%20Peter%20-%2060.jpg" width="434" /></a></div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">In times of war I feel like family is more important than ever. </div><div dir="ltr">There's the biological family and there's the family one can choose.</div><div dir="ltr">Today is the International Family Day, and I don't have drawings from my whole biological family to show you guys. But to celebrate the occasion, I will share with you the portraits of elements of a certain family very close to my heart - my German <i>friemily</i>. </div><div dir="ltr">Here, you can also find out a little bit about my connection with Germany, how war is related to my family's history and, the positive things that rose from it. </div><div dir="ltr">Happy family day, whatever it means to you!</div></div></div></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;"><b>The German seed</b></h3>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">I feel like I need to share why my connection with Germany goes way back. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><div dir="ltr">My great grand father was a vice-consul of the United Kingdom and his brother, my great grand uncle, was a vice-consul of Belgium. During World War II, they helped hundreds of Jewish war refugees to escape. They offered their own houses as shelters, helped them to find work, a safe place to live and provided assistance with all the logistics required for the refugees to leave Europe. </div><div dir="ltr">After the war ended, they were dubbed by King George the VI of England and by King Leopold III of Belgium. They are also featured in the museum dedicated to World War II's Jewish Refugees in Portugal, <a href="https://www.centerofportugal.com/entity/vilar-formoso-frontier-of-peace-memorial-of-the-refugees-and-the-consul-aristides-de-sousa-mendes" target="_blank">Vilar Formoso - Frontier of Peace</a>. My family has provided information to the museum, photographs and many letters of some of those refugees thanking them for their help. The stamps help us to realize these people went all over the world. When the Museum formally opened, I was there with the President of the Portuguese Republic to represent my ancestors.</div><div dir="ltr">This vice-consul of England was the father of my maternal grandmother that, due to such, had contact with refugees from all around the world during her teenage years.</div><div dir="ltr">Also during the Second World War, my maternal grandfather was working in England as a surgeon, where he performed many surgeries in war-wounded people. That had a strong impact on him. </div><div dir="ltr">When my grandparents got married and had kids, my grand father - with his Anglo-Saxon free spirit and medical experience - and my grand mother - with her background with refugees - decided to educate their kids having contact with Germans so that they had fewer chances of having preconceptions against them. Also, both of them learned and became fluent in German. </div><div dir="ltr">No matter which side of the war one is, there are always innocent and good people in both sides. This may be a huge lesson nowadays, regarding the present war circumstances. </div></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><b>The beginning of everything</b></h3><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">Due to my grandparents' background and options, my Mum and her siblings were partially raised by several German ladies, but one stood out: Hannelore. She lived with my family only for a year but her impact was such, that our family is still in close contact with her and her family.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-_gs2wuYVtuSj58Kzl1dghiiLg9xDfcneVD9m2eq2CQKz2xwndPiTu7pTIVIL2PokerXnj1x0iL8Fm9mxUH0A8urj-xsanOCJ4kTUSSnv-X9qo4RF0LMcFGrcFIMkvgA4IdCyO4d1u29QUvR7W0WY80Rgok7EIXCn3VM7RoG86wlzuYBUvTwqRIT/s1412/20220514_115022.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1412" data-original-width="1048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir-_gs2wuYVtuSj58Kzl1dghiiLg9xDfcneVD9m2eq2CQKz2xwndPiTu7pTIVIL2PokerXnj1x0iL8Fm9mxUH0A8urj-xsanOCJ4kTUSSnv-X9qo4RF0LMcFGrcFIMkvgA4IdCyO4d1u29QUvR7W0WY80Rgok7EIXCn3VM7RoG86wlzuYBUvTwqRIT/w238-h320/20220514_115022.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my mother's childhood German book, <i>Max and Moritz</i>. <br />She wrote her name on the cover.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6d1dbKvkcplXCkNvvb98mzTonPoO39HmfEii4SZctl_OpVBx6Z1qwTAYWYP7a2efQE8H-JFtWgd6UrCx1_RwLDNiC2wCjudvDroHm1Xy2RaldskSVmZj7ag1v7hvGSqDz6bisJmA3XIwE11_5Pry6lmFA_R928Vp9--lgT7hpM3phNtt1kzvV11Wu/s1021/20220514_115348.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1021" data-original-width="824" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6d1dbKvkcplXCkNvvb98mzTonPoO39HmfEii4SZctl_OpVBx6Z1qwTAYWYP7a2efQE8H-JFtWgd6UrCx1_RwLDNiC2wCjudvDroHm1Xy2RaldskSVmZj7ag1v7hvGSqDz6bisJmA3XIwE11_5Pry6lmFA_R928Vp9--lgT7hpM3phNtt1kzvV11Wu/s320/20220514_115348.jpg" width="258" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More recently she bought in Germany <br />this new version of that classic.</td></tr></tbody></table><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><div dir="ltr">Hannelore's education as a kinder garden teacher must've been a blast for my Mum and her siblings. </div><div dir="ltr">She's taught them German, and did many artistic and ludic activities with them, like taking walks in the nature, doing theatre plays, German story telling, singing or doing the Christmas tree ornaments. </div><div dir="ltr">When I was a kid, my Mum replicated the later with me. I loved it! </div><div dir="ltr">According to my mother, when she was a kid she was bilingual, and thought in German.</div><div dir="ltr">Over the years, Hannelore and her daughter Sabine visited us several times. It was because of one of their visits to Portugal, when I was a child, that I was, since then, obsessed with learning German. I ended up learning a little bit. I love the sound of that language and I'm fascinated with its degree of accuracy.</div><div dir="ltr">When I was a teenager, Hannelore's daughter, Sabine, lived in Portugal for a year in our family place.</div><div dir="ltr">At the time, she already dated Christian, with whom she later got married. They have a beautiful family, with two kids, Felix and Clara. Clara was named after my Mum's name.</div><div dir="ltr">I know those kids since they were babies such as Hannelore and Sabine know me!</div><div dir="ltr">It's amazing how the connection is kept through generations. </div><div dir="ltr">Every time they visit us or we visit them, it just feels like home.</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: center;"><b>A special birthday</b></h3>
<div dir="ltr"><div style="text-align: center;"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">My Mum an I went to Germany to visit them, apropos Hannelore's 80th birthday. It was a surprise for her and for the little Clara. They almost passed out when they saw us entering their living room!</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div><div dir="ltr">Hannelore's brother, Onkel Uwe also joined us for the occasion.</div><div dir="ltr">It's been a while, since I wanted to draw this family. This time, I finally managed to do so. I even drew little Ajuga, the most recent element of the family: a super dog and my new friend too!</div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div></div></div></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwZgw4CkSiwIp10Ckp2Qcpb3d8lhkFcpdV-M3W63PWezyQwgyD_lgk-J3AEkfnDP5buju4r_c9zH6DhrYrdDwOccCFWr-7hTYCawizAz4oc2Xd_MsZonsXnS6C8VO3llyQCekruoi8YRy2XfpDVseDRAvyMeyYNHZZI2xJ1yMVN7hKlZnvd2fHaLJ/s2458/2017%20Hannelore%20Peter%20-%2060.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2458" data-original-width="1667" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwZgw4CkSiwIp10Ckp2Qcpb3d8lhkFcpdV-M3W63PWezyQwgyD_lgk-J3AEkfnDP5buju4r_c9zH6DhrYrdDwOccCFWr-7hTYCawizAz4oc2Xd_MsZonsXnS6C8VO3llyQCekruoi8YRy2XfpDVseDRAvyMeyYNHZZI2xJ1yMVN7hKlZnvd2fHaLJ/w434-h640/2017%20Hannelore%20Peter%20-%2060.jpg" width="434" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hannelore © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr></tbody></table><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">After so many decades of living in Portugal, Hannelore can still say some words and understand a little bit of Portuguese! <i>Oma</i> means granny in German, and I started to call her <i>OmaLore</i>. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">Hannelore is a force of nature, and in this day, she was the life of the party! Regarding that, I felt like using in her portrait, some elements of the party decor. They also add shine, fun and color to the composition. Besides being a kinder garden teacher, I feel like Hannelore has a deep creative and artistic side. She's the type of person that knows what she wants and I admire her strength (translated into the contrasted black pen on white paper) and how she takes care of herself with great pride. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">I can see it in the way she talks, how she dresses, on her hairdo, or in her way of walking. She is also a very affective and joyful person, one that is just so easy to connect to. No wonder we love her so much!</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBEmYWyrk8jWcnrpbUWhIVugYgt77DreYYigJui66hQLpOyIxcSnPXsTA8koBzk11FF39quxXSLAvhPCq8bn2SKaC1Bpb3-JKMoL7v4AT8s_KJW-ZjUKboNDce5OdWXwqig7QvvChtXjkeqrZAlXZQ5TRtK2thAyPHOk51Tsh_MAKXDITjn8T1g_hp/s2449/2017%20Oncle%20Uwe%20Peter%20-%2060.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2449" data-original-width="1611" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBEmYWyrk8jWcnrpbUWhIVugYgt77DreYYigJui66hQLpOyIxcSnPXsTA8koBzk11FF39quxXSLAvhPCq8bn2SKaC1Bpb3-JKMoL7v4AT8s_KJW-ZjUKboNDce5OdWXwqig7QvvChtXjkeqrZAlXZQ5TRtK2thAyPHOk51Tsh_MAKXDITjn8T1g_hp/w422-h640/2017%20Oncle%20Uwe%20Peter%20-%2060.jpg" width="422" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Onkel Uwe © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">Even though my Mum had met him decades ago, I have only met Uncle Uwe on this trip. I absolute adored him! Such a sweet, and thoughtful human being. I was moved with the siblings connection and how he traveled the country to join his sister on her special day. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiicH5LlKO0q-JePYedsn3H8xrMVWLbUgc6QK0mXIVS4K3zwBYLuX7dMO4tIZYG1W7NobpssxCgI3zTxAyMYQzTnwWipUfOBX50dEP0M9pDEl8jMc31tDJi8AZIrqk5BF0U9gBIRXiwnI20qTkvo3bJyKMq94Ks_euHprJeLfLIJgjHJBhh0eCq2-An/s2470/2017%20Sabine%20Frey%20-%2060.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2470" data-original-width="1698" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiicH5LlKO0q-JePYedsn3H8xrMVWLbUgc6QK0mXIVS4K3zwBYLuX7dMO4tIZYG1W7NobpssxCgI3zTxAyMYQzTnwWipUfOBX50dEP0M9pDEl8jMc31tDJi8AZIrqk5BF0U9gBIRXiwnI20qTkvo3bJyKMq94Ks_euHprJeLfLIJgjHJBhh0eCq2-An/w440-h640/2017%20Sabine%20Frey%20-%2060.jpg" width="440" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sabine © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr></tbody></table><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">Sabine is the most devoted person to her family I have ever met! Every time I hang around her I am always so impressed with the efforts she does to provide happiness to her family. Generally a caring person, I see that trait of hers in small details too. The way she organized this whole surprise for her Mother, how she cooked, how she decorated the living room for the party and even the wrapping papers she used. I could feel and see how much love she's put into everything, including how she and her family welcomed us. I feel like, in her own way, she also has some arts & crafts skills, so the portrait I've made from her, has a collage made out of one of her wrapping papers. I then painted her silhouette on top of with in a light shade. Sabine might very well be the fairy that does white magic happen without anyone noticing how she pulled it off!</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtY-GYHl8-zm7tvUaNMqqOZW-d2ghzUQvAs195DfWExqVjShRhCqCNss8xFUBxT8FChMbht1LmEyJ0ynLtxKwqBKquReNthZ2P7xFXSDi8_qHxK0uIN9lMaTyR0WtT6PdjimU2S9L98lag9ez3O0MpfyySYqN9qmYwgaAAeLZxtMi44r9n2zf89yqr/s2463/2017%20Christian%20Frey%20-%2060.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2463" data-original-width="1597" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtY-GYHl8-zm7tvUaNMqqOZW-d2ghzUQvAs195DfWExqVjShRhCqCNss8xFUBxT8FChMbht1LmEyJ0ynLtxKwqBKquReNthZ2P7xFXSDi8_qHxK0uIN9lMaTyR0WtT6PdjimU2S9L98lag9ez3O0MpfyySYqN9qmYwgaAAeLZxtMi44r9n2zf89yqr/w414-h640/2017%20Christian%20Frey%20-%2060.jpg" width="414" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christian © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr></tbody></table><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><div dir="ltr">When I was drawing Christian, I had the sensation it might've been a little off for Christian's to pose for me. I know, that often happens in people that are used to be the observer and not the observed. This includes me too! Christian is a great photographer, with a curious open mind about other people, cultures and places. This portrait relates to his broad vision of the world. </div><div dir="ltr">I picked the color of his eyes to transmute them into circular particles in the air. I also thought of this as a way to convey other characteristics of his: lightness and sensibility, and love for nature (green).</div></div>
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<br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4WdFbPpqebwtoSSE2avhTBZbws69aJM4iXERaaTo0qx8bggkjii5fxhkqHevo8BHKeBCNjTkegpgouWpyPH21cuA8mIpc_B8kZhXU8MlpQ0y0G_qHsHCTSw2mYPkCsiyilrwMreW54wigP5oHRI4CIxjx85_j7kMPyMAny7gNSSj8D5QdycfydVcr/s2428/2017%20Felix%20Frey%20-%2060.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2428" data-original-width="1658" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4WdFbPpqebwtoSSE2avhTBZbws69aJM4iXERaaTo0qx8bggkjii5fxhkqHevo8BHKeBCNjTkegpgouWpyPH21cuA8mIpc_B8kZhXU8MlpQ0y0G_qHsHCTSw2mYPkCsiyilrwMreW54wigP5oHRI4CIxjx85_j7kMPyMAny7gNSSj8D5QdycfydVcr/w438-h640/2017%20Felix%20Frey%20-%2060.jpg" width="438" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Felix © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr></tbody></table><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><div dir="ltr">Felix has piercing blue eyes! I admire his strength, adventurous spirit and entrepreneur atitude. I feel like he has a lot of energy and his fast mind is straight to the point. I believe he is one of those persons that has the world and a life ahead to conquer! The gray is actually silver and I thought of metal, coins, money and medals. Also when drawing his profile, I thought of it as if it could be in a medal or coin too! </div><div dir="ltr"><br /></div></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxH79MziVcsOolkAgyx61yocYgFWrLCiXTQYJJR-JtE3cOhmIz5i_Af-uWO-KqmCvxpKEwuAsQ3QAU1r1sEo64dSyoV6WV6r1D2iigm7WT5dL6P4DMBDAFml50zmnuLSrHDA5Q4Vl6Aq3Ubi4zD6gimbohrDFsJp5b8vI_fP6qewPaSvch6hDdpLIg/s2475/2017%20Clara%20Frey%20-%2060.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2475" data-original-width="1669" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxH79MziVcsOolkAgyx61yocYgFWrLCiXTQYJJR-JtE3cOhmIz5i_Af-uWO-KqmCvxpKEwuAsQ3QAU1r1sEo64dSyoV6WV6r1D2iigm7WT5dL6P4DMBDAFml50zmnuLSrHDA5Q4Vl6Aq3Ubi4zD6gimbohrDFsJp5b8vI_fP6qewPaSvch6hDdpLIg/w432-h640/2017%20Clara%20Frey%20-%2060.jpg" width="432" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prinzessin Clara © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr></tbody></table><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><div dir="ltr">When Clara was a little kid, she reached out to me because I work as an artist. She likes to dance and she was my first drawing student (You guys can't imagine how hilarious was this art class where she didn't speak English and I spoke very little German! Fortunately drawing is a universal Language!) </div><div dir="ltr">I feel like she is a very feminine girl, hence the bow and the title, little Princess Clara.</div></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKprCA-QEs9HUTu6ri3YJFQkRB0mJGIm1_x5HJbFHXLDOgjeUP3ZEm-TqfqnKXzjxPbJ43JqdxZcsqWANCmzhbMaLQqFH-VJTTiM1VPRT2Te99C-bb21u_BxfrowPL5j1nV-UQaBvV3U6hVF96j-EVl6OldyaD-5CPJKVozG2OfN0DIR4a4FnUyjvT/s2442/2017%20Ajuga%20-%2060.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2442" data-original-width="1643" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKprCA-QEs9HUTu6ri3YJFQkRB0mJGIm1_x5HJbFHXLDOgjeUP3ZEm-TqfqnKXzjxPbJ43JqdxZcsqWANCmzhbMaLQqFH-VJTTiM1VPRT2Te99C-bb21u_BxfrowPL5j1nV-UQaBvV3U6hVF96j-EVl6OldyaD-5CPJKVozG2OfN0DIR4a4FnUyjvT/w430-h640/2017%20Ajuga%20-%2060.jpg" width="430" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ajuga © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">My encounter with Ajuga was very special. There is a time in my life before and after I met Ajuga. Before I was afraid of dogs and, afterwards I met him, I no longer am. I did hypnosis to heal my fear and that worked, at least to be able to be indoors with a dog. But what I sure didn't expect was how this dog is. I am pretty sure I've never came across with such a polite pet in my life! Ajuga is the most loving dog I have ever met and sure deserved not only a proper portrait as a mountain of hearts.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: center;">I left Germany happy, and reassured that love in whatever form - within the family, in a love relationship, with friends, animals, nature or whatever - is what matters the most.</div>
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Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-10985926805935811482022-05-10T12:37:00.002+01:002022-05-10T12:58:48.064+01:00Mixed media Painting<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmCENrelFIC7tW93rl5k-97Nwvts0KaLSfSGRedNqFLpeKu_QrJCgwiEGODMSJkFhC91zZCoh5k6_Jq27LG6k6sC09NsVEjFAfIYCeEK9bp0tAlNDv-yquqsH0Z7VkTL8X6Jt1Mq-Lhg6fiHhP9AcnFbPy2RVSANpqsmZHoDI7snBecz-C7LZjDUHt/s1582/14%20Sep%202013%20%C2%A9%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o%202013.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1108" data-original-width="1582" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmCENrelFIC7tW93rl5k-97Nwvts0KaLSfSGRedNqFLpeKu_QrJCgwiEGODMSJkFhC91zZCoh5k6_Jq27LG6k6sC09NsVEjFAfIYCeEK9bp0tAlNDv-yquqsH0Z7VkTL8X6Jt1Mq-Lhg6fiHhP9AcnFbPy2RVSANpqsmZHoDI7snBecz-C7LZjDUHt/w640-h448/14%20Sep%202013%20%C2%A9%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o%202013.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj22keHCSAh8-gdefGzuT0XluvkyOU-vPtg2kZgdrgGg3VJHuyOIn0Rt04vsAEjAvViVYpxlhqdhKLC3g1eYnSzUvAhfMrCQqjXYBbTlu_S-Tyqtrru4M18OsEIbTQ4mw9zE_A_nk1qZa6lvJ7AeXu5kM10XjA6BGkoJoJ6XQXHXlnIhq_Cy7ysgzI8/s2015/14%20Sep%202013%20Detalhe%204%20%C2%A9%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o%202013.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1532" data-original-width="2015" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj22keHCSAh8-gdefGzuT0XluvkyOU-vPtg2kZgdrgGg3VJHuyOIn0Rt04vsAEjAvViVYpxlhqdhKLC3g1eYnSzUvAhfMrCQqjXYBbTlu_S-Tyqtrru4M18OsEIbTQ4mw9zE_A_nk1qZa6lvJ7AeXu5kM10XjA6BGkoJoJ6XQXHXlnIhq_Cy7ysgzI8/w640-h486/14%20Sep%202013%20Detalhe%204%20%C2%A9%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o%202013.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK3H77baXYNtfkTNf0pUTf6Yct4ejKM8yyqNGQdeh-JOva7JU6n8iYHQtjW5AqNvQn9c6XELS-7XeN1IMZj0lsh-uCslU4Q3cuGCNbagMfmtftZtNXU4kBE-Xe8EG15Ytck9az5orUSMyX9g27csCgkudRwwgb81s_drtZWrVLIhLMrerHMAYfD4TQ/s1951/14%20Sep%202013%20Detalhe%203%20%C2%A9%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o%202013.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1425" data-original-width="1951" height="469" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK3H77baXYNtfkTNf0pUTf6Yct4ejKM8yyqNGQdeh-JOva7JU6n8iYHQtjW5AqNvQn9c6XELS-7XeN1IMZj0lsh-uCslU4Q3cuGCNbagMfmtftZtNXU4kBE-Xe8EG15Ytck9az5orUSMyX9g27csCgkudRwwgb81s_drtZWrVLIhLMrerHMAYfD4TQ/w640-h469/14%20Sep%202013%20Detalhe%203%20%C2%A9%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o%202013.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkeKW13O1jAEQCohV4tQI_Hz86C6gT4RA0K4qIRSC5T-cMIaOy1iak_2ldjktsF0EBkngk12GKhS-atUg70MN4I0NIYiftRBUU0oQJz9TC-VVP9fqF0VD0DWfa5wDq48ZOPCysW_99XMyxWT6WqODoHhH-sIRovcEX8Ji1vlITvQhIaAVkrjYaplZ9/s2041/14%20Sep%202013%20%20Detalhe%202%20%C2%A9%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o%202013.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1494" data-original-width="2041" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkeKW13O1jAEQCohV4tQI_Hz86C6gT4RA0K4qIRSC5T-cMIaOy1iak_2ldjktsF0EBkngk12GKhS-atUg70MN4I0NIYiftRBUU0oQJz9TC-VVP9fqF0VD0DWfa5wDq48ZOPCysW_99XMyxWT6WqODoHhH-sIRovcEX8Ji1vlITvQhIaAVkrjYaplZ9/w640-h468/14%20Sep%202013%20%20Detalhe%202%20%C2%A9%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o%202013.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9-drrwGBJPjoZBaaI_abSBxmL44nFTeqnI_6IR0CIMgVHVg-zsykQguKUxpQZo2uDO8pRLW8ZrNvhI9KLBBNEOWPs_nt0n0KOX3VmmhSL1ZPMgAbUo_dXjP74wvXnU0uf_wWW_-qJjpf7uBhdvmG-ZFvPiHDI0XojVdVIdHloCfypGCYI-dV4XIH/s1982/14%20Sep%202013%20%20Detalhe%201%20%C2%A9%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o%202013.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1450" data-original-width="1982" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9-drrwGBJPjoZBaaI_abSBxmL44nFTeqnI_6IR0CIMgVHVg-zsykQguKUxpQZo2uDO8pRLW8ZrNvhI9KLBBNEOWPs_nt0n0KOX3VmmhSL1ZPMgAbUo_dXjP74wvXnU0uf_wWW_-qJjpf7uBhdvmG-ZFvPiHDI0XojVdVIdHloCfypGCYI-dV4XIH/w640-h468/14%20Sep%202013%20%20Detalhe%201%20%C2%A9%20Rita%20Draper%20Fraza%CC%83o%202013.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div>May this inspire you to have a colorful day!</div><div><br /></div><div>This painting of mine is in a private art collection.</div><div><br /></div><div>For commissioned work & inquiries please send me a message.</div></div>Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-91855538439934854872022-05-06T11:47:00.005+01:002022-05-06T13:16:58.206+01:00A bitter sweet symphony<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjelRbRpTce3edAQRpkd9Ick40N7Yt5obl0x-y67xVXE60fpi15hZEx3TExBH_7kIFw6r2-7zjW-8k6x4V8RL4Bx96V8WKSa66aWiHeCuDsRk9rOBpiouCwddyIskgz7u0CvK7mUyr0QtnC94ypRXVdzzm4984eG1IUBpKLtxNNZAlp1rwo7RyOim1B/s2458/It's%20a%20Bitter%20Sweet%20Symphony%202006%20-%2034.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="2458" data-original-width="1697" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjelRbRpTce3edAQRpkd9Ick40N7Yt5obl0x-y67xVXE60fpi15hZEx3TExBH_7kIFw6r2-7zjW-8k6x4V8RL4Bx96V8WKSa66aWiHeCuDsRk9rOBpiouCwddyIskgz7u0CvK7mUyr0QtnC94ypRXVdzzm4984eG1IUBpKLtxNNZAlp1rwo7RyOim1B/w442-h640/It's%20a%20Bitter%20Sweet%20Symphony%202006%20-%2034.jpg" width="442" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Back in a hot summer, a blue scented candle stood over a mesh standing over a ream of papers in my working desk. One day I arrived and the candle had melted with the heat. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">When I looked to the paper that was at the bottom of this stack of things, I saw and heard music in it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It was the Verve's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lyu1KKwC74" target="_blank">Bitter Sweet Symphony</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I then wrote "it's a bitter sweet symphony" on top of it, and magic happened. The ink mixed with the wax and the paper into a blur. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Many of the things Richard Ashcroft sings about in this music are metaphorically here: the bitter sweet (the rough texture and the sweet scent it still has), the change of state (from solid into melted wax), the mold (the mesh), being a slave to the money (the shape of the mold as a cage or grid) and being down (descending direction of the typography and the color blue - having the blues type of mood). In my mind, the "<i>million different people"</i> in the lyrics of that song became different mediums fused here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There are some interesting facts, with many twists and turns about this song. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The original music was written by The Staple Singers in 1956 and can be heard in “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1jGF-6bFpI" target="_blank">This May Be The Last Time</a>”. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In 1965, the Rolling Stones made a cover from it, called "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdFQtbXAWdc" target="_blank">The Last Time</a>". In that same year, their manager and record producer, Andrew Loog Oldham, recorded another version of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp2VcS1WSvE" target="_blank">The Last Time</a>. David Whitaker was the author of the symphonic arrangements in it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Those are the ones that, in 1997, were sampled with the record label's (Decca) permission by the English band Verve. Richard Ashcroft's wrote the lyrics. Verve's song was a huge success in Europe and in the USA.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Seems the bittersweet mentioned in the lyrics became even truer since it turns out that, besides all the success this hit had, the Verve were sued by Allen Klein (Rolling Stones' manager in the 60's and the one in charge for the band's song copyrights in the 70's) and by Andrew Loog Oldham.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">22 years later, in 2019, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards gave away Bitter Sweet Symphony's royalties to Richard Ashcroft.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sounds ironic that Ashcroft's first two verses in these lyrics are: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, that's life</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Tryna make ends meet, you're a slave to money then you die"</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sixty three years afterwards, the original mold of this music was changed, as it occurred in the shapes that created this piece. Change might be uncontrollable but what we can do about it, is not. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">As much time as it takes, a choice for a change is possible and, the story of this song and of this drawing are a living proof of that.</div><p></p>Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-60331664459786337422022-04-12T18:26:00.112+01:002022-05-04T07:55:06.577+01:00Identity, Connection and Absence in Diários Exhibition<div style="text-align: center;"><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBYtx6t3Ry-WKKLmBWDHKRunasqjef5LvbELS21JzFi0G-OPZVv1vFMkRSCncWNG_SoTY2DNdwxrekV8fAFKyMUVnEE7QJTV4tXQ91sXG5mf7k0zOezOBUNNrbWhTiuAJ5TuylDeLWLvw/s2568/IMG_20210508_171802.jpg"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBYtx6t3Ry-WKKLmBWDHKRunasqjef5LvbELS21JzFi0G-OPZVv1vFMkRSCncWNG_SoTY2DNdwxrekV8fAFKyMUVnEE7QJTV4tXQ91sXG5mf7k0zOezOBUNNrbWhTiuAJ5TuylDeLWLvw/w400-h400/IMG_20210508_171802.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>Invited to participate in Diários Exhibition in Sá da Costa's Espaço Camões, the challenge was that all participants - Carlota Mantero, João Rebolo, Margarida Cunha Belém, Pedro Noronha and I - showed a little bit of our diaries as artists. Rita Taborda Duarte wrote the gallery texts about our work. </div><div>Each of us showed a very personal view on the Diaries' subject and here, I will share a little bit more about mine. Come along!</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h3>Identity, Connection and Absence</h3><div><br /></div><div>Given the Diaries theme, my work had a sub theme, that was the baseline behind all pieces presented.</div><div>These pandemic times have changed all of our lives. Many of us, forced to lock down and unable to see each other, began to question our identity, to validate personal connections that were important for us, while the absences became <i>a present body</i>.</div><div><i>Identidade, Conexão e Ausência</i> (Identity, Connection and Absence), is a reflection of mine on who we are, how we connect, or not, to each other and what can emerge from all that process.</div><div>Despite the pandemic's recent appeal, my interest in the theme of identity (which then, here, unfolds into the other two subjects - connection and absence) started very early and for two reasons in particular. </div><div>One is the fact that in my family, there is either a foreign ancestry or a living abroad experience. This founded in me my curiosity about the world, about others and about what's different from me. </div><div>The other one, was that I grew up in a strongly artistic environment.These two facts were key to turn drawing into a particular interest of mine, since I was a child, particularly, making portraits. </div><div><div>The latter, can be a way of showing curiosity towards the other, of wanting to learn and register a personality that transcends paper. As a result, I have/do diaries in the form of drawings - aka graphic diaries - since I was a child. So, at this point, I can say I have a considerable collection of them.</div></div><div>Being the artistic request about Diaries, I chose images from 15 graphic diaries of mine. They were the starting point for the new paintings I've made for this exhibition. </div><div>A general plan of them below:</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZKyNvqR4rCLmMdTh-LR4blQqEyWz5c9mZ7xd9Lca2pCWQf0IFYJQpaaDHArv435ZAPBpCWc2DtWaeHzD37g6qX9-SmwuHxvekVt07uMbbUZ3bUNtks25g4ryQhSMtcOtf0TyuyhIRbFU/s4160/IMG_20210615_194711.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZKyNvqR4rCLmMdTh-LR4blQqEyWz5c9mZ7xd9Lca2pCWQf0IFYJQpaaDHArv435ZAPBpCWc2DtWaeHzD37g6qX9-SmwuHxvekVt07uMbbUZ3bUNtks25g4ryQhSMtcOtf0TyuyhIRbFU/s320/IMG_20210615_194711.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38QvQ2JMJHdvWeC8ngE2meFX1iiKoPSdlnGnjFjrqsiHb6_PoshZoEKBbJdBsAdFddjZgqD_JQ_OFx4U6_1zzf0DT631Z8gNnkOojfPqb6IDxN2NiA2Et3oTjTY2UHW3vYcf0lyznqqI/s4160/IMG_20210618_194519.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj38QvQ2JMJHdvWeC8ngE2meFX1iiKoPSdlnGnjFjrqsiHb6_PoshZoEKBbJdBsAdFddjZgqD_JQ_OFx4U6_1zzf0DT631Z8gNnkOojfPqb6IDxN2NiA2Et3oTjTY2UHW3vYcf0lyznqqI/s320/IMG_20210618_194519.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I can say that choosing these drawings and diaries was indeed an inner tour! Bearing in mind each book has about 100 drawings or more, and that I have dozens of them, I can tell you it took me a week to see them all, page by page, and make a sense out of it.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I ended up choosing 5 images to each word.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Due to the human dimension of the diary theme, along with the words - Identity, Connection and Absence - I chose to conceptually relate a part of the human body. In identity the eye, in connection, the hands and in absence, the feet. Being some of those interconnected, along the way.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Identity</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Below are the five images taken from graphic diaries of mine, that are related to the Identity theme.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7zgEqAYS_inLeR8QNjg32JYR7ZsSu_q9J1gyPb7LoUVRIBRP4NCwykgH-zdUfLPUPRC_irh3aSEhYYyf64FEYzAF-cCdQDfH8-MLj34RSBdqpaS-36nac6Gh9TVzEjKbu0zmqoEajmbEuKfx-JumALWvz0l7ZASrJyKePfXTZ5t8rikjmNycHhvUy=s2318" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2318" data-original-width="1441" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7zgEqAYS_inLeR8QNjg32JYR7ZsSu_q9J1gyPb7LoUVRIBRP4NCwykgH-zdUfLPUPRC_irh3aSEhYYyf64FEYzAF-cCdQDfH8-MLj34RSBdqpaS-36nac6Gh9TVzEjKbu0zmqoEajmbEuKfx-JumALWvz0l7ZASrJyKePfXTZ5t8rikjmNycHhvUy=w398-h640" width="398" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rasto (Track) © Rita Draper Frazão 2005</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Quoting the great Portuguese poet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophia_de_Mello_Breyner_Andresen" target="_blank">Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen</a>, <i>writing is a notation of something that precedes it</i>. Not being a form of notation, a track can also symbolically tell something else. A track allows you to see that someone or something were there before. It provides history and location seen here, now, by the self.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In the other hand, this piece made me wonder about the little we might know (a lost track?) about the story someone brings before starting a conversation, the story a place carries, and even, the story before our life's start.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Rasto was made out of a photogram I developed of my fingerprints - one of the basic items used to identify people, and hence here. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">About what this track tells (me): It corresponded to a period of my life where I have spent a great deal of time in a photography laboratory, and therefore, it forwards me to the smell of the chemicals used in the photo lab and the countless hours I've spent there. I am totally aware that for other people this might say something else, but bear in mind this is a page of a graphic diary, where I can literally know what I did or how a day went just by looking at a certain page. My personal memory allows me to <i>see it</i> and <i>track</i> it down as soon as I look at it. Trace and identity found: me and a piece of my story.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">What does the track of this image tells you about? At what event can a certain track be connected to your life?</div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiI0hiBOcLiiGxHDIqj1R-GF8OXrhltNTto4mpg-5VlOUclA6WslrGemb-PWLFuh--ltgGxyZxDJByiQsNbE4dRPpWTm9GNXMHgSsGDQtfp-zmaGANKwvCxt9cyWoTPCVWNcd_Rc6VwQkTsqXmrahloi0UYQq2N7LeHttEK8cJjv_42huZ2OikUZ8Yi=s1606" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1606" data-original-width="1138" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiI0hiBOcLiiGxHDIqj1R-GF8OXrhltNTto4mpg-5VlOUclA6WslrGemb-PWLFuh--ltgGxyZxDJByiQsNbE4dRPpWTm9GNXMHgSsGDQtfp-zmaGANKwvCxt9cyWoTPCVWNcd_Rc6VwQkTsqXmrahloi0UYQq2N7LeHttEK8cJjv_42huZ2OikUZ8Yi=w454-h640" width="454" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Retrato Diluído © Rita Draper Frazão 2003</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><div><i>Retrato Diluído</i> (Diluted Portrait) was the oldest drawing shown. I was nineteen years old when I did this.</div><div>The image, kind of mimics what a rainy day could do to a fresh painting, or a zoom lens that can unfocus or focus your eye sight. </div><div>In parallel, from the artistic technique to daily life matters, how many times do we see someone's face but don't really see the person behind it? Did you ever get a distorted vision of one's character? Or how often do you feel others perceive you in a different manner you see or express yourself?</div><div>Quoting Gabriel o Pensador, <i>Seja você mesmo mas não seja sempre o mesmo</i> (Be yourself but don't be the same same).</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3g1Su9LO0V_ia5PCOFQmFPdA5cDdbE43KFIfhOrr_FiwkcK4MBLlGqSNWhw2R6K1rfcok2l2a9DOWKoq5tUW6jrzhPDJzr5rIs1O90ombhWGI5d_IY_1dzYmVN0TV8hFqLWJUOsKkfcmrv-CtuG6TiY2ketIrqJszuM15TRnXFAd6GrmlA9liRq2a=s640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="394" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3g1Su9LO0V_ia5PCOFQmFPdA5cDdbE43KFIfhOrr_FiwkcK4MBLlGqSNWhw2R6K1rfcok2l2a9DOWKoq5tUW6jrzhPDJzr5rIs1O90ombhWGI5d_IY_1dzYmVN0TV8hFqLWJUOsKkfcmrv-CtuG6TiY2ketIrqJszuM15TRnXFAd6GrmlA9liRq2a=w394-h640" width="394" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spica Santo © Rita Draper Frazão 2019</td></tr></tbody></table><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The portrait that I have made from the drummer Pedro Santo, was only possible because I was very close to him on stage, while doing it. Actually its whole concept started due to the closeness we were in, and that allowed me to see another side of him and of myself. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Yes, portraying is not just about the featured human being, it can also be about the one who does it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Everything started with a tiny dot. From his ear piercing to a star. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">You can read what I wrote about it, when this portrait was done, <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-10-out-of-10-mia.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In this exhibition, I had several drawings but this was one of the three, amid fifteen, that were musicians' drawings. It also was one of the three, among the, literal, hundreds of drawings I have made from musicians, that were shown live. Since diaries are, in theory, a "private object", and I left my comfort zone sharing them live with everyone, I must say this was a rare occasion!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In the context of this showcase, Spica Santo is also about what is close and what is far, and how this eye and body movement is pretty much required to draw someone (one can't be that close<i> </i>to the person) and how this dance between closeness and distance is paramount in order for us to relate to one another.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQ3kpoGXNZ81sBqdvjlC0UOdzlXFA6zHJPfsQ5rM1setD2TGjjHAKAiorsGGeIQfFsd7OX7hQmYCWw6kDbSvI4_nynCLODjM4RfbC4wEzrXg9mxOKTrGBKrxVnlIHOYX2Ij7XrnvBXl34FwwhMyJuJZisnryYyTtignVBE61I7yR0j434i9Qg8uQ9d=s2592" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2592" data-original-width="1788" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQ3kpoGXNZ81sBqdvjlC0UOdzlXFA6zHJPfsQ5rM1setD2TGjjHAKAiorsGGeIQfFsd7OX7hQmYCWw6kDbSvI4_nynCLODjM4RfbC4wEzrXg9mxOKTrGBKrxVnlIHOYX2Ij7XrnvBXl34FwwhMyJuJZisnryYyTtignVBE61I7yR0j434i9Qg8uQ9d=w442-h640" width="442" /></a></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Watch me © Rita Draper Frazão 2010</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Yeah, random image these days</i>... one might think? </div><div style="text-align: center;">You guys, as crazy as this might sound, I have found this drawing in a diary of mine from the year of 2010! Nine years before anyone in the planet wore masks as a trivial thing. </div><div style="text-align: center;">The title <i>Watch me</i> is a word pun between waiting and time passage - with a background full of watches - and one not being able to see the whole face, due to the mask wear. </div><div style="text-align: center;">A part of our identity that is hidden and the title suggests us to take a better look. Sounds familiar? </div><div style="text-align: center;">Lesson #1 learned about diaries: reframe its meaning. This drawing was made in a hairdresser but I will never look at it the same way.</div><div style="text-align: center;">And now, something I am still learning! Lesson #2, quoting <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne_Williamson" target="_blank">Marianne Williamson</a>: </div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Our key to transforming anything lies in our ability to reframe it.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;">How does this resonates in the way you started to live since the pandemic started? </div><div><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhGQydGmFqpNHM0UQWnbVz62fDy23bCgGvlyLNlpZcJrubLaWqanZqipBUyjNqEUkyhIBTpAk2Nxl85lZfSAotPifPF6T1Ydo1FfUtnXIUSsoC-dkQFkM7O4sArjSWS3_utCRH1lxK5dTsm7WSSGmVZRxXZOQr_BaExd7pc7z72yiVpoXD_DHqNa1JV=s2460" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1721" data-original-width="2460" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhGQydGmFqpNHM0UQWnbVz62fDy23bCgGvlyLNlpZcJrubLaWqanZqipBUyjNqEUkyhIBTpAk2Nxl85lZfSAotPifPF6T1Ydo1FfUtnXIUSsoC-dkQFkM7O4sArjSWS3_utCRH1lxK5dTsm7WSSGmVZRxXZOQr_BaExd7pc7z72yiVpoXD_DHqNa1JV=w640-h448" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swap glasses © Rita Draper Frazão 2006</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div>Speaking of reframing, some drawings in the Identity assortment had to hint vision. The bridge to the new painting I did about this topic, starts here.</div><div>By the time I made Swap Glasses, this was a drawing of the song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1m_V3NmgwY" target="_blank">Throw it all away</a>, from Zero 7. The sentence in the image, is part of the lyrics. I did this drawing with my left and right hand, and drew the same pair of glasses in opposite directions, symbolizing two different ways to express yourself, two identities, and two different ways to see the world. This isn't my handwriting, that's just me inventing letters to a certain sound (language, music) and message.</div><div>But, taking a step back into reframing content and context, this drawing was chosen to be in this bunch because it is about the ability to put yourself in each others shoes to have - as never before, with a different set of eyewear - a different way of looking at things, in sum, a different mindset. </div><div>Wouldn't we communicate more effectively and this world be happier if we all tried to do that? </div><div><br /></div><div>That takes me to next chapter of this journey.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Connection</h3><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hereafter, you can see the five images taken from graphic diaries of mine that relate to the Connection subject.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwA6-3cn-ER9x_0Y-oPGKJEGL1WoeWje3ygEahyVis8RDx1FRXgyESCkEl_c_aORNyNnOcN-IkovvjmcdiRTIkN9bNcC3zLOAcfIGVcsw76W_2qmYRPaKsTyYx7OqPx7vZ3aTy1Rc9orNk5B58hVXuGMtaEIH2aJNm6_mVIPF02mhClWh7083OcPiD=s1600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1009" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhwA6-3cn-ER9x_0Y-oPGKJEGL1WoeWje3ygEahyVis8RDx1FRXgyESCkEl_c_aORNyNnOcN-IkovvjmcdiRTIkN9bNcC3zLOAcfIGVcsw76W_2qmYRPaKsTyYx7OqPx7vZ3aTy1Rc9orNk5B58hVXuGMtaEIH2aJNm6_mVIPF02mhClWh7083OcPiD=w404-h640" width="404" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hifen © Rita Draper Frazão 2006</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Hifen</i> (Hyphen) is about the dynamics of communication. Connecting presumes communication of some sort, and communicating, as in a conversation, demands two participating poles with a message, as a car, going from one side to the other. A never ending trip, metaphorized, here, through the road.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">One of the ways we connect with each other, is through language and the openness to expatiate on a certain idea, within a certain timeframe. And what a better image could portray that than a part of the Latin Alphabet whose function is to connect two different words or particles? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It also references to dashed lines in traffic as a universal mark of the movement possibility from one carriageway to another.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9MeC1nqprKnWUvwdDV6LBBaPPeio8PBk1dbp0UtJ_xcM4rXxfjKoWUY-u9CuuvskQPn-stHPgsKTujbKzXJoe6gDtq8bj0SKlPJDgeFRiCVCFI18gJU9y_fwESYY_uj0qfS_PEq0oMzYLOC9cysVDJoBU9W9L3t2Ikmf74cYX1u7JbhLDKpPslsic=s2462" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2462" data-original-width="1719" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh9MeC1nqprKnWUvwdDV6LBBaPPeio8PBk1dbp0UtJ_xcM4rXxfjKoWUY-u9CuuvskQPn-stHPgsKTujbKzXJoe6gDtq8bj0SKlPJDgeFRiCVCFI18gJU9y_fwESYY_uj0qfS_PEq0oMzYLOC9cysVDJoBU9W9L3t2Ikmf74cYX1u7JbhLDKpPslsic=w446-h640" width="446" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Irwin and Barbara © Rita Draper Frazão 2018</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div>Once I was sitting at a concert (in Jazz em Agosto Festival at Gulbenkian) and I noticed that, sitting next to me, was a journalist. It was <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/irwin-block-55666719/?originalSubdomain=ca" target="_blank">Irwin Block</a>. He was writing notes and I observed his handwriting. I thought it was so beautiful, that I wanted to include it in my graphic diary. </div><div>I asked him to write something for me, and then asked to draw his hand.</div><div>The pen he wrote with was purple and, I was still figuring out how I would end this piece, when his wife, Barbara, who is a fine artist, came along, and generously offered me some colored pencils. They were the best I ever tried in my life!</div><div>I knew I had to paint his hand with one of those pencils, which I did, and chose yellow to mark this moment, filled with light and joy.</div><div>Handwriting is a sign of human passage and communication, therefore a form of contact, and this image is a testimony of connection and warmth between human beings, and hence it had to be here.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieZuqu32uOlqHcLy4UMFW-KGLx5pKArUOO3R8L5PHho30yVmrAvMVvXrjsTCiVY1fsPEXsnJ_Cz3FyFLIMdiTUf9JB1yfCShfUeRDM4yQY2Fa3mZZO6ENNdQthZbhaT1rQI1qp6fU3fzqyqXZiHhPbtNShZZdjkC0wf51NQOdNwAftNmvVjI_NLIj5=s2669" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2669" data-original-width="1710" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieZuqu32uOlqHcLy4UMFW-KGLx5pKArUOO3R8L5PHho30yVmrAvMVvXrjsTCiVY1fsPEXsnJ_Cz3FyFLIMdiTUf9JB1yfCShfUeRDM4yQY2Fa3mZZO6ENNdQthZbhaT1rQI1qp6fU3fzqyqXZiHhPbtNShZZdjkC0wf51NQOdNwAftNmvVjI_NLIj5=w410-h640" width="410" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smile… © Rita Draper Frazão 2019</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This one is the saxophonist <a href="https://catherinesikora.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Catherine Sikora</a>. She was playing at Jazz em Agosto Festival, and I was sitting at the first row. For some reason, we kept smiling to each other the whole concert. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Without ever talking, I felt like we were communicating and connecting. </div><div style="text-align: center;">I immediately recalled the sentence "A smile is the shortest distance between human beings", an anonymous quote, I grew up with, since a member of my family had it displayed in a place much visible.</div><div style="text-align: center;">That day, she played smiles for me. This drawing is here to point out another possibility in connecting.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6n-UfgjrDgvnuGyoC1ral7HZrvAqx4AS8IuVjsIEbi2_0eDHsyDT-xYBogkImr6gyvqKhqDuJZA-r56d8saRE82Euji_3gQ8Q8gph5KVYyy_K8jSxnS8sVytLeT8aui5_iFeg88uYMSqfkdLOZ8Fqwi8pqjkNtFnUCo12XXKq3Vl6BaCM6Pt2kyoY=s640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="454" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6n-UfgjrDgvnuGyoC1ral7HZrvAqx4AS8IuVjsIEbi2_0eDHsyDT-xYBogkImr6gyvqKhqDuJZA-r56d8saRE82Euji_3gQ8Q8gph5KVYyy_K8jSxnS8sVytLeT8aui5_iFeg88uYMSqfkdLOZ8Fqwi8pqjkNtFnUCo12XXKq3Vl6BaCM6Pt2kyoY=w454-h640" width="454" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tri Bang © Rita Draper Frazão 2016</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><i>Tri Bang</i> is a portrait of the musician <a href="https://janbang.org/" target="_blank">Jan Bang</a>, that has worked with people like David Sylvian, Nils Petter Molvær or Jon Hassell, just to name a few.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The drawing was made in the Netherlands when I was working in a music festival at the Bimhuis, a few years ago. It was included in Diários exhibition and is reposted here now, in a completely different setting.</div><div style="text-align: center;">In high school and in the fine arts school, I've spend years studying geometry. To be very honest, when I was a teenager, in the very beginning of my studies of this subject, I didn't see the purpose of visualizing points, lines, planes, solids, and even less, calculating their intersections. Hopefully, overtime, that changed! If it wasn't for those years, I am pretty sure ideas like this wouldn't even appear, not to mention painting this specific work, which was a complex task that felt like playing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3ZiVn5L9vM" target="_blank">Tetris</a>! (A special thank's to all the geometry teachers around the world!)</div><div style="text-align: center;">I chose <i>Tri Bang</i> to make part of this, not just because of the story behind it (read <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2016/02/from-chaos-to-dancing-star.html" target="_blank">here</a>) but because the technique I used - intersections - is a great metaphor for connection. </div><div style="text-align: center;">It is when intersections happen that new shapes arise. Isn't it the same when we connect, when we exchange ideas? Our world expands, and new horizons may be perceived.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcrq_qNzh7woC3aBTbn9O6mk10LC0GiBBL7O_WtPZeVfLmQeuglY_LuXNhcFHFJtJXIrWMzjefoXQxJJznwn8XrSN5NNSkHJjicTN1jlduQmegUBiTK155TKKitB_mRs-eXsH64TwPg3tfq5-V9q5dBy0c9Gtykr6pcFnpB5x6V4DdEEcutz6JCM-F=s625" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="456" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcrq_qNzh7woC3aBTbn9O6mk10LC0GiBBL7O_WtPZeVfLmQeuglY_LuXNhcFHFJtJXIrWMzjefoXQxJJznwn8XrSN5NNSkHJjicTN1jlduQmegUBiTK155TKKitB_mRs-eXsH64TwPg3tfq5-V9q5dBy0c9Gtykr6pcFnpB5x6V4DdEEcutz6JCM-F=w466-h640" width="466" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Garota de Ipanema © Rita Draper Frazão 2006</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Social gestures involving hands, could produce a treaty. We shake hands to seal a deal, we give our hands to loved ones, we say <i>come in,</i> along with our hands, we <i>say goodbye with our hands</i>, and so forth. But all of these are so, because once, there was some sort of connection.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This drawing is about the feeling I had and what I thought about, while listening to Tom Jobim's song, <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7805MFdiOJo&list=OLAK5uy_lQDumW5I997wuO8d3ird8W3wNdY_wf0vk&index=16" target="_blank">The Girl from Ipanema</a></i>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In Portuguese we have a great word to describe what that feeling was: <i>saudades.</i> There isn't a direct translation, but I would say it means a mixture of missing someone or a situation, with fate. I relate that word to the Portuguese people too. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">One can only feel <i>saudades</i> when there is a connection.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The story behind this image, with a see through hand, tells something about longing someone that is alive but that you aren't with. The magic is that in thoughts, imagination and drawings one can do it!</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This leads me to the next topic.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both;">Absence</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And now, the five images taken from graphic diaries of mine, that relate to the Absence concept.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMzTiyYX3A_isV9ko2-NN74fq8nozatOiAFdsLYzkw_pB8UAO4PByDBWFS_TCYjKBatdexdl5ORSg94vsqtBqbd_amt6KOYzkfu5c70HAYfRPtWXfvqlEXc5FAq4MI96bligh_ukP8phRmnl6GlBakI_OJovTvzD-dcKzgqJzTi2fCnZnXNlVlWM5l=s2468" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2468" data-original-width="1588" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMzTiyYX3A_isV9ko2-NN74fq8nozatOiAFdsLYzkw_pB8UAO4PByDBWFS_TCYjKBatdexdl5ORSg94vsqtBqbd_amt6KOYzkfu5c70HAYfRPtWXfvqlEXc5FAq4MI96bligh_ukP8phRmnl6GlBakI_OJovTvzD-dcKzgqJzTi2fCnZnXNlVlWM5l=w412-h640" width="412" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Descolar © Rita Draper Frazão 2005</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><div><br /></div><div>The title of this piece introduces the third theme, absence. </div><div>This drawing was made in a concert, and funny to think that both meanings of the title, <i>Descolar,</i> in Portuguese (take off and unstick) are words and actions filled with sound. </div><div>Even though none of these drawings and paintings from my graphic diaries were chosen to make part of this exhibition primarily due to its link with music, it is something so present and rooted in me and in my work, that in many of them it's subtly present, like here. </div><div>If with hands we connect, with our feet we can walk away. When one unsticks something, something is removed, in a way turns to be away too.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div>Further more, symbolically speaking, we can <i>take off</i> as planes do. And just that split second, when a foot starts to be apart from a flip flop, reminded me that. </div></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8w1v_MWykS3UU0TLdp5pjJSNFzzLBvZGM4FVm0_gN6Vi9m_vDqdX1v3RSOX2aYMJ1GCk9hdx_5lelpMxJ3_jMSigiZNZHQ1zwlJJvmqMGSmWS0u8YS986dEc7kASN0uBINEt3wQHV0Zk8eMnQr80KzB4GVSQC-lMefW7YrN8q8ghf7krerP222hfN=s1638" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1638" data-original-width="991" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg8w1v_MWykS3UU0TLdp5pjJSNFzzLBvZGM4FVm0_gN6Vi9m_vDqdX1v3RSOX2aYMJ1GCk9hdx_5lelpMxJ3_jMSigiZNZHQ1zwlJJvmqMGSmWS0u8YS986dEc7kASN0uBINEt3wQHV0Zk8eMnQr80KzB4GVSQC-lMefW7YrN8q8ghf7krerP222hfN=w388-h640" width="388" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saída © Rita Draper Frazão 2004</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">While traveling to Italy, in the plane I was observing the Exit signs, and wondered about creating different typographies for different languages with that same word. At the time, I was reading <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Munari" target="_blank">Bruno Munari</a>'s <i>Artist and Designer</i>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It's no secret I like letters, languages, how they sound and what they mean. And the idea of channeling that, through one alphabet appealed to me. And if absence is a concept, exit is its entrance door. That's why it had to be in this lot. <i>Saída</i> (Exit) can also be about a way out for something better.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And thinking about the graphic design role, and how important it can be in case of emergency... How the look and place of a simple exit sign can change everything. As said in the book I was then reading, " The designer (...) must be concerned with being immediately understood by the public, his visual message must be received and understood fully and without the possibility of misinterpretation." </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In the context of signage, and in an emergency, a type design, its layout, a pictogram, and the sign placement, have the potential to make a difference between life and death.</div></div></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_pg1QIbWk6KOJ0Du8DI-OgIA7-_FJvwpnDp3Ser4xYWQ7e0_d2veMligYvpPDkL0LVAxqgpNEQslcZoS9_8J5vQr1BrYzdXRC81iWDAt11-FhkSqY0Pzp_Lh-JTIbsgqryOLpxZiN93CNN-xbpTRMFUinWUuzYwA5cViupQlCjucRBaz_kBdKO64c=s2475" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2475" data-original-width="1732" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_pg1QIbWk6KOJ0Du8DI-OgIA7-_FJvwpnDp3Ser4xYWQ7e0_d2veMligYvpPDkL0LVAxqgpNEQslcZoS9_8J5vQr1BrYzdXRC81iWDAt11-FhkSqY0Pzp_Lh-JTIbsgqryOLpxZiN93CNN-xbpTRMFUinWUuzYwA5cViupQlCjucRBaz_kBdKO64c=w448-h640" width="448" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Urano em Touro © Rita Draper Frazão 2018</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div>I did <i>Uranus in Taurus</i> when that <a href="https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/faq/31/whats-a-transit/" target="_blank">planetary transit</a> started, in 2018. </div><div><div>Before telling a little bit about my drawing, it might be useful to share some cosmic background information. </div><div>Uranus has an orbit with a vertical inclination, making an angle of 98º. This means that it's the only planet in the solar system that goes sideways around the sun, making him a sort of a planetary eccentric.</div><div>Planets in the solar system are named after ancient mythology deities. So, in this case, long story short, Uranus was a deity that arrested his children, and in return he got their rebellion. </div><div>In Astrology, Uranus rules the air sign of Aquarius, often recognized as being unpredictable, free, bright minded, original and innovative. So, by all means, every reference points out to the unexpected nature of Uranus.</div><div>That being said, Taurus - which is ruled by Venus - is kind of the opposite, since Taurus generally seeks beauty, comfort, pleasure, safety, money, justice and peace. </div><div>When Uranus crosses Taurus (an earth sign), it can symbolically mean the ground is about to shake in surprising ways. Our structures, and what we thought was safe and granted, urges now for freshness and creativity. It claims for big collective changes.</div><div>From the pandemic to political and economical conflicts happening now, all fit into this.</div><div>In the other hand, feet is what we use to feel the soil, the earth. And, to feel grounded requires to have your feet on the ground. The expression to stand on your feet exists for a reason. </div><div>In opposition to that, that's why I chose to draw feet, as hanged clothes in a clothesline without any horizon reference, hence no ground, no space notion. Summing up, a way of absence and a direct reference to our current times in a page of my diary.</div><div><br /></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXqT5UyHaalHmnquQGxHkL4WVpGd4diBvltMSSFcFnNsneCVEfU79KOVINmY4CK79W9Vv4N2bUV-BGvojjXOxMPynX0xZ2JAWsxirSjYln5spCdQLtAXRMGZipx_oMHYk0tFtrzc8C5CQv0X3VRY6F4wdoSjvz0ZZjn0lpynp_DOKzHqfK4vvpmcll=s2408" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2408" data-original-width="1479" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXqT5UyHaalHmnquQGxHkL4WVpGd4diBvltMSSFcFnNsneCVEfU79KOVINmY4CK79W9Vv4N2bUV-BGvojjXOxMPynX0xZ2JAWsxirSjYln5spCdQLtAXRMGZipx_oMHYk0tFtrzc8C5CQv0X3VRY6F4wdoSjvz0ZZjn0lpynp_DOKzHqfK4vvpmcll=w394-h640" width="394" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little Monsters © Rita Draper Frazão 2012</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The tittle refers to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzLxcpWIE6g " target="_blank">Charlotte Gainsbourg's song</a> with the same name. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I was inspired by water drop shadows in a window glass. Shade exists whenever there is an object and light. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It is also what helps us perceive volume. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">What originated these shadows - the water drops - is absent. They were the ones that gave form to this abstract composition, and still, given this side note, I think its original form can still be sensed. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The way I interpreted it, this song is about solitude, among other things. And this abstract matter seemed, to me, an appropriate language to evoque fragments and dissociation, without the color distraction factor.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Loneliness: a sort of a <i>little monster</i> in our society nowadays, taking (an absent) shape here.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiORdT3mdyVFSSlXjR7PI1SaOGqNFeFMBcMxdTAHV0XbEmz7-ZSFa6gPsRkH3tqYxwXxa_9Mp27g5EvQIuSw7B8zQJAo0ev-tRmId0kjMmsBIy7GPJaixwkLfXU3GQaL3aRYpxEs1g_GM5fEib2qxUjfeBtg5FNA18xnlpM5L9ow2ERy244TehVEHIm=s2912" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2912" data-original-width="1868" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiORdT3mdyVFSSlXjR7PI1SaOGqNFeFMBcMxdTAHV0XbEmz7-ZSFa6gPsRkH3tqYxwXxa_9Mp27g5EvQIuSw7B8zQJAo0ev-tRmId0kjMmsBIy7GPJaixwkLfXU3GQaL3aRYpxEs1g_GM5fEib2qxUjfeBtg5FNA18xnlpM5L9ow2ERy244TehVEHIm=w410-h640" width="410" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Go © Rita Draper Frazão 2020</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Made with <i>fumage</i> technique, <i>Go</i> reminds me of ghosts and old skeletons. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It is about turning something that once was heavy matter into something light and ethereal. It tells something about letting fears go, in order to allow new beginnings take place.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>Fumage</i> technique is, to me, also a great way to relate to the absence topic, since there is no direct contact (touch) of any pencil or brush with the paper or canvas. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Do you agree that due the pandemic, touch is or was one of the senses we miss the most in our daily life? Here's a direct reference to that!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both;">New Works</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Running through my presented diaries in this exhibition, I am now ready to share more about the new pieces I have made, based on the pages of the diaries previously mentioned.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Identity eyesight with </b><b>Ipseity in space</b></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBYtx6t3Ry-WKKLmBWDHKRunasqjef5LvbELS21JzFi0G-OPZVv1vFMkRSCncWNG_SoTY2DNdwxrekV8fAFKyMUVnEE7QJTV4tXQ91sXG5mf7k0zOezOBUNNrbWhTiuAJ5TuylDeLWLvw/s2568/IMG_20210508_171802.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBYtx6t3Ry-WKKLmBWDHKRunasqjef5LvbELS21JzFi0G-OPZVv1vFMkRSCncWNG_SoTY2DNdwxrekV8fAFKyMUVnEE7QJTV4tXQ91sXG5mf7k0zOezOBUNNrbWhTiuAJ5TuylDeLWLvw/w400-h400/IMG_20210508_171802.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ipseidade no espaço © Rita Draper Frazão 2021</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div><i>Ipseidade no espaço</i> (Ipseity in space) points out to the theme of identity.</div><div>In this canvas, I have chosen to represent an eye, which could also be a planet in space (or whatever you want it to be). </div><div>As the painter, Wassily Kandinsky claimed in his <a href="https://www.wassilykandinsky.net/book-116.php" target="_blank">Concerning the Spiritual in Art</a> book, I also believe that a purpose and a strong intention make a difference in the outcome of an art piece.</div><div>Painting each stripe - that allude to all human eye colors that can exist - I thought of specific persons I know (with a certain eye color) and whose energy I tried to imprint in each band. </div><div>Here, the black pupil is silver, and refers to the idea of the eye as the mirror of the soul. The dark blue background relates to the immensity of space. After all, we all also have our inner world, our universe and it's precisely human richness and diversity that are at stake here.</div><div>Ipseity is a term used in philosophy to identify what's characteristic of a particular individual. The idea of using such word in this title, came to me while reading Spinoza's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_(Spinoza_book)" target="_blank">Ethics</a>. And somehow, the nature in being and the being in Nature relates as much to that classic as to this work too. Also, one needs space for the personality and relationships to develop. Considering the various ways of expressing ourselves through writing or drawing, I also had in mind left-handed and right-handed people, which is why this painting was painted with both hands. Also present in my mind have been the various ages, genders, nationalities, ethnicities, sexual orientations, religious beliefs, health conditions, social strata and personalities. This work is about you, me and all of us.</div><div>A kind of hypnotic effect invites the viewer to dive into this eye: this unique inner world that each and every one of us has within, and that forms, in its aggregated world population, the planet earth we know. Tolerance and curiosity: those might be passwords to enter a deeper dimension and human evolution and planetary sustainability. That is what this work is about.</div><div><br /></div></div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Connection, Hands and Ars longa vita brevis</b></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhh319YU90u4wuCztkbEkkXEKElpzK1MjFeRL1kxUHEHI1SPsTdLaA0PF9dhpFW7K4S6uvEFLETZvmkZULsKmikxfx1ZnoSziqv408hHHnBxxvm7_vSHXYHC6bxf30B2FH3Aly4fp7dEB7bOmpMaNkWeBrV81DNqVkD2isnh9uxqLMjc99IJbQiWE4=s1161" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1161" data-original-width="1157" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhh319YU90u4wuCztkbEkkXEKElpzK1MjFeRL1kxUHEHI1SPsTdLaA0PF9dhpFW7K4S6uvEFLETZvmkZULsKmikxfx1ZnoSziqv408hHHnBxxvm7_vSHXYHC6bxf30B2FH3Aly4fp7dEB7bOmpMaNkWeBrV81DNqVkD2isnh9uxqLMjc99IJbQiWE4=w399-h400" width="399" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ars longa vita brevis </i>© Rita Draper Frazão 2021</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div><div>The title of this painting, <i>Ars longa vita brevis</i> (something like Long art short life, in Latin) is a statement from the Greek <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocrates" target="_blank">Hippocrates</a>, medicine's father. </div><div>As previously mentioned, I have correlated in this set of work, Connection with hands, as they advocate something that we have been deprived of, for a while - touch. Hands are symbolic of connection, affection and communications between people: holding hands, petting someone's hair and even saying goodbye. Besides, hands allow us to express ourselves in writing of any kind: in calligraphy (also an expression of our identity), typing (on a computer, tablet or mobile phone), sign language, drawing, writing music, mathematical calculations and so many other languages that typically involve or require hands. They are a medium to facilitate communication.</div></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKhnDKjdgUEPSR5C88nBC_p1h1skIfXhRgwg_xJLFHoz7RR-c1W7dBTUB6kdxTpN83cqV9HOJk19On0dL5dxdPWQLMedlrhBChyweCXkZcAHBqpmoRbbxOxvdsdQWC3WCUbVvA3eVPmnZ-lpHDpYcVpgoddxUWSUSCNxtp0jYAf1MxVOg8eYqA__DT=s1919" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1919" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKhnDKjdgUEPSR5C88nBC_p1h1skIfXhRgwg_xJLFHoz7RR-c1W7dBTUB6kdxTpN83cqV9HOJk19On0dL5dxdPWQLMedlrhBChyweCXkZcAHBqpmoRbbxOxvdsdQWC3WCUbVvA3eVPmnZ-lpHDpYcVpgoddxUWSUSCNxtp0jYAf1MxVOg8eYqA__DT=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ars longa vita brevis </i>detail © Rita Draper Frazão 2021</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Therefore, I wanted to include them in this canvas, but in a way that would allow and encourage touch and interaction between the canvas and the public. I pierced the canvas with the measure of ten fingers, aiming that the person who sees this painting could touch and grab this work, through these holes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Actually, I also remembered those sketchbooks I had as a child, in which I could only perceive what drawing was there, after connecting several numbered dots with a specific sequence. Hence the symbolic representation of hands with this system. In a way, it also alludes to the universe and the spontaneous nature that children have, that I find so important in the bonds between human beings. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Those dots, could also symbolize constellations or the acupuncture points in Chinese medicine, where the issue of touch is key. And of course, “connecting the dots”, a central concept here.</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiIs2CWXnCByDIvJxSGu8GfxRgv3NfePOwUfjGMx4JjOnPyI_cCB4OJFw6k6k_GwiPpHtXmStMnqcCXjGTXDbucU5tttI5C0-XrYGPhMikb10CXiRxxQwSDwtllxJtOEgCE_HVcTxrDTmyvUJCE_RrB7ZUq3kybLU0YwF0dBDPtRIWesidJH_xNg0dR" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1632" data-original-width="1224" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiIs2CWXnCByDIvJxSGu8GfxRgv3NfePOwUfjGMx4JjOnPyI_cCB4OJFw6k6k_GwiPpHtXmStMnqcCXjGTXDbucU5tttI5C0-XrYGPhMikb10CXiRxxQwSDwtllxJtOEgCE_HVcTxrDTmyvUJCE_RrB7ZUq3kybLU0YwF0dBDPtRIWesidJH_xNg0dR=w240-h320" width="240" /></a></div><br /></div><div><div>In fact, putting their hands in the canvas, matching the holes, was exactly what some kids did, while seeing this. The viewer is therefore invited to participate in the “conversation of this canvas”, creating a narrative through the movement with the eyes (the shape of the hands is only formed in the brain of the viewer, it isn't really there) and being invited to touch the canvas. </div><div>Art can serve to elevate the spirit and make us think, but it should also serve to be close to people and not just to be on an untouchable pedestal, only reachable to some. I believe that art can be for everyone. In the sense that, whatever our walks of life, we all have the ability and the right to enjoy and benefit from art. One won't learn that from school. We all know how to feel. We just need to be open to do so.</div><div>At the same time, the meaning of life is also key in this piece (and hence its title). What is important and what remains in us when we leave: the love that connects us to the people we care about and vice versa. That's why the cardinal directions appear, with a typeface I designed for this purpose. Metaphorically speaking, it's also through cardinal points that we know where we are, and in this case, symbolically, where we stand in life.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeyG_vhKkiR4tfFAE98sfO2oTTKTxZb22VC42RIxb2lJEfftJqp4UpsEGW5bmBmkS3E2b6Ot4-roEGTQeNh1RUMGWA6ztJWpG-ATlGle6RUs7Dc5rep0SVRv8JFOs6PBPGT9p_M-usADU/s4160/IMG_20210517_150015.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeyG_vhKkiR4tfFAE98sfO2oTTKTxZb22VC42RIxb2lJEfftJqp4UpsEGW5bmBmkS3E2b6Ot4-roEGTQeNh1RUMGWA6ztJWpG-ATlGle6RUs7Dc5rep0SVRv8JFOs6PBPGT9p_M-usADU/s320/IMG_20210517_150015.jpg" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div>That's what led me to the base color of this painting, inspired by this rose quartz. Some say, it's one of the love stones (and gem stones and jewelry design are another passion of mine and part of my identity, thus some reference to that matter had to be here present).</div><div>But reproducing that exact same color wasn't easy: making and mixing colors can be a real science and it was the most complex thing to do in this piece. It required it not to be white, still pink, but a very light shade of pink. And most of all, it required that once the paint was dried, it had the exact same tone as the rose quartz. And <i>voilà</i>! The theme of universal love deserved my commitment, and here's the end result!</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Absence and Otherwhere</b></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7Vdp4hLUS3CKVToZWkassjmgKToOFNTT-m-Oc9bzS0YWZQypNVt7qcVHH4O9OBXsJ4SnhQkvrdxr1wv-Ln4qGpL5ey99MFkg2kkVW4wmivv86Lb-4ejUR3H67oECHdhq7hlVggCmDcw/s2126/IMG_20210522_173213.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7Vdp4hLUS3CKVToZWkassjmgKToOFNTT-m-Oc9bzS0YWZQypNVt7qcVHH4O9OBXsJ4SnhQkvrdxr1wv-Ln4qGpL5ey99MFkg2kkVW4wmivv86Lb-4ejUR3H67oECHdhq7hlVggCmDcw/w400-h393/IMG_20210522_173213.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alhures © Rita Draper Frazão 2021</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div><i>Alhures</i> (Otherwhere) refers to the subject of absence. Elsewhere, foreign connections, travel, non-presence, leaving, etc.</div><div>The question here was, how to represent something specific without the object itself <i>being there</i>?</div><div>That was what led me to represent a projected shadow of feet in the air (and not the feet themselves). They are also the part of the body that we use to walk away, to leave. And as this was about absence (void, no ground), I wanted them to be in the air.</div><div>The black part was not painted black. I picked an indirect technique used in one of my diaries (an absence metaphor): <i>fumage</i>, made with the smoke of a candle. So the ink didn't touch the canvas. It was through a physicochemical reaction to the heat that the black color was produced. This technique could have been done in many ways, but I intentionally chose to do it with a candle, as it implied fire (expression of transmutation) and light (a key element here).</div><div>In the beige tone, in the background, I thought about how, sometimes, some sorts of beige are used as light <i>skin color</i> and wore as absent when, for example, a transparent fabric is used over a skin-colored piece, or how in makeup, the tones of skin originated a product called <i>foundation</i>. </div><div>Beige is also one of the most difficult colors to make from scratch, because it includes up to five different colors in its composition! </div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG-iuu3pF0os4iEMj7woAJq5jVuz7kdCGG6W6RBCYbYCHFxU7vyDfuPNNkAxAbZNH0BdqkUa-QZ2K0wsODhXumtWqYm9LU5TXTtROFCVq4Dath_KsT8LxTG3JMYwAeTkVv5s5UVBdpaql438ndi7CbODzUskUKsFkLZqBRcjr7gpowNwea7oz5xAH1/s9667/Alhures%20no%20escuro.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="9667" data-original-width="9467" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG-iuu3pF0os4iEMj7woAJq5jVuz7kdCGG6W6RBCYbYCHFxU7vyDfuPNNkAxAbZNH0BdqkUa-QZ2K0wsODhXumtWqYm9LU5TXTtROFCVq4Dath_KsT8LxTG3JMYwAeTkVv5s5UVBdpaql438ndi7CbODzUskUKsFkLZqBRcjr7gpowNwea7oz5xAH1/s320/Alhures%20no%20escuro.jpeg" width="313" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alhures in the dark © Rita Draper Frazão 2021<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div>Colors appear when they are reflected and black, technically, is not a <i>non-color</i>, as it absorbs light. It's a fact that refers to the laws of physics. This brings me to another particularity of this work and the other meaning in it.</div><div>In his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dharma_Bums" target="_blank">Dharma Bums</a>, Jack Kerouac said <i>It's only through form that we can realize emptiness</i>. But I find the opposite as valid as that quote. We only perceive absence when something or someone was present, visible or close. </div><div>Since it's in the presence of light that we see shapes (the feet, in this canvas) in its absence, the background becomes the shape, by glowing in the dark. Now, what is perceived, as form is what once was an apparent void.</div><div>It's also in the dark that we can glimpse other things, new paths, in small positive escapes or evasions such as dreams, for example. As well as, through the locomotion of the feet, we can, metaphorically speaking, choose to go to another place, to a better place, which can often surprise us!</div><div>A close dialogue between what's on display (the entrance and the form) and what's apparently invisible (the background and a positive way out to something better). The background, the void and the absences become forms, with present physical matter, thereby radically changing the initial premise.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h3>Process</h3><div><br /></div><div>Now we'll enter another part of my work shown. </div><div>Painting, drawing and writing are ways for me to think visually, to process information. Besides the fact that, when I did the next paintings I was focused in the Identity, Connection and Absence sub themes, they also have a lot to do with my conceptual reasoning and artistic process. A lesser known part of my diaries as an artist.</div><div><br /></div></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Affirmation</b></span><b> and </b><b>Conjunct Horizon</b></p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div>These two paintings are a diptych, with some layers. The starting point for these two works were cardinal directions and the lettering stencil I used for the typography in <i>Ars longa vita brevis'</i> canvas. </div><div>Thinking about cardinal points, immediately took me to the time when I was studying music, and the way I was taught to mark a quaternary beat. I learned to snap my fingers and move my hands in a 90º gesture (like a square), as the rhythm unfolded. </div><div>And, as in music a beat doesn't live without its pulses, space orientation isn't possible without cardinal directions. Further more, space orientation also exists when one is marking a beat with the gesture I've described. That movement produces vertical and horizontal lines in the air, and as the these two canvas' concept is correlated, vertical and horizontal lines are present in both (with the lines and the collage).</div><div>The typography elements relate to cardinal points, communication and speech. </div><div>Sometimes information is presented in a chaotic way (like the tangled black lines here).</div><div>I also thought about the different sounds that can be produced when touching different textures: what we hear when we run our fingers over a smooth surface or what we hear when we touch a rough surface is completely different. A blind or a shut eyed person could have an additional sense of these compositions, by touching them. </div><div>After all, this body of work is also about inclusion and tolerance, minding different forms of human identity and beings.<div><br /></div></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbW36Amaq6VglxHRUTCLYn64gqHS5B8gaagBc2Fb3qp0p_a7zMxC75-AStPoUSyCTqzRn5-Yl_BFZptqs-_YOwMpwIyK65GFdwmxI8HA8znCKjT5T8sJjZDm64VwwnMOpS3LTsca0BVjOTEloQq9Vt26ykuD5y5TlI00ZeR5ONH6nRn6gszSUCEzEr=s1272" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbW36Amaq6VglxHRUTCLYn64gqHS5B8gaagBc2Fb3qp0p_a7zMxC75-AStPoUSyCTqzRn5-Yl_BFZptqs-_YOwMpwIyK65GFdwmxI8HA8znCKjT5T8sJjZDm64VwwnMOpS3LTsca0BVjOTEloQq9Vt26ykuD5y5TlI00ZeR5ONH6nRn6gszSUCEzEr=w436-h640" width="436" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">Afirmação © Rita Draper Frazão 2021</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;">You might've noticed I used plenty of quotes, from several authors, in the texts about some of my works present in this collective exhibition. Quotes and statements also serve to identify someone's thought and identity. Therefore, I did a painting about that, <i>Afirmação</i> (Affirmation). Here, the vertical lines allude to the beginning, the time of departure, an affirmation, a being, and, ultimately, an identity. The pink and reddish colors call for attention, as if someone were to say: <i>Here am I. Here I present myself. I affirm I am. I am here</i>. N and S stand for <i>Norte</i> and <i>Sul,</i> North and South.</div><br /><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEI49eLOGdCszGfizlEmd-71_dUX6pVNnRaUDsPFzmYqsxGqoSm4wfKcF1j5uvlOyZYR26-o2otoZ63esb4aXzobhFQ0shCRl86qQUF7FLcUGctLSWyLTnGka-udDNFuyOLja6j95jviB6Lk8MnzmKA1xazwR-FuhRE8jeDb2DKeshzen8vBzrHNcK=s1272" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEI49eLOGdCszGfizlEmd-71_dUX6pVNnRaUDsPFzmYqsxGqoSm4wfKcF1j5uvlOyZYR26-o2otoZ63esb4aXzobhFQ0shCRl86qQUF7FLcUGctLSWyLTnGka-udDNFuyOLja6j95jviB6Lk8MnzmKA1xazwR-FuhRE8jeDb2DKeshzen8vBzrHNcK=w444-h640" width="444" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;">Horizonte conjunto © Rita Draper Frazão 2021</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Whereas in Horizonte conjunto (Conjunct Horizon), horizontal stripes address a state of being at the same level, the journey, and connections, the relationships. </div><div style="text-align: center;">The soft color palette (green and blue) symbolizes the balance required to connect, to relate, to have something in common, to be at the same level, and to feel empathy for one another. </div><div style="text-align: center;">O and E stand for <i>Oeste</i> and <i>Este</i>, West and East.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Work in Process</b></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1386" data-original-width="1054" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIelUxkaKF1Z6VOQiMH0SiRjfnFk9YdWlc63lzuncb2grcCCzEcXhbrQcPiBa8UnkmDzDI-cvpYKlbZhySkq1ldk9rz5RuRzeuFRZz9fiIDYNRY-xpU1yPrR-Yzu7ANJNR58fiJqowEz-0qZ-Df64xojJR4iBSmB0Rf1QaoGDqJN8itKdJYnOwECND=w486-h640" width="486" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Work in Process © Rita Draper Frazão 2021</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Since diaries were the theme of this exhibition, and a diary is an object of the greatest intimacy, I was also interested in exhibiting something that, in painting exhibitions, is not normally displayed. In the context of an Art exhibition, a finished work is what we are used to see and artifacts that relate to the artist's practice are generally out of the public eye. </div><div style="text-align: center;">A deeper sharing, like including such type of stuff, also reveals other layers of one's/my identity as an artist. </div><div style="text-align: center;">In this sense, I wanted to include <i>Work in Progress</i> here.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div>This work goes back to the entire process of executing the new pieces made, which took months to prepare. It was the last canvas to be completed, as it was made following all the other canvas.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;">It has elements of all the works: letters, paints, wax (candle), canvas pieces, paint that glows in the dark, and the texture here is achieved through thick overlapping layers. Touch appears here as one of the most elementary forms of connection. </div><div style="text-align: center;">The present foot, refers to the idea of being ready to go. Symbolically, the entrance (texture, touch, connection) and the way out (the feet) to something new.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The joy and movement in this painting and the relevance of this piece to the overall and final result of these works, is also linked to the philosopher Nietzsche's phrase: <i>One must have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star</i>.</div><div style="text-align: center;">A new chapter is about to start...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Before it does, I need to thank Sá da Costa, all artists involved (Carlota Mantero, Margarida Cunha Belém, João Rebôlo and Pedro Noronha), Rita Taborda Duarte for the texts, all the public that attended, Udi Fagundes that played at the opening, and to all the ones that helped me to make this possible!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I would also love to know what new meanings <i>identity, connection and absence</i> gained in your life or in you, lately? How come do you feel that might've have changed, for the better, the way you see the world and the way others see you? Please comment bellow :)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-91885874887780978532022-01-02T22:58:00.001+00:002022-01-02T23:31:50.798+00:00Viva<p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="854" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgzT8gnIvhdG4PSU8RXhohSYM8KxWOtBQ2LjtcfgNt3hKXeYzjYe8CgKejZcNRXkgnlxWfJH5PDfdNM6BZtsPg__3clSZoDIbXTShssjXXSzg6Sjd4OVKDIy-CC_O5rfjFmUJFzTgQnpvmdvAbjCKAYzaTDxKAUFF_j0d0drTZ6Bp7h5gQaogC5888H=w304-h320" title="Viva" width="304" /></div><p style="text-align: center;">Happy New Year!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In the first day of 2022 I had the weirdest dream: I was shot in the chest and didn't die from it. I woke up pretty disturbed, but the images and what I felt was so strong, I wanted to paint it. There was a big message behind it.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Maybe a large number of people were eager to see 2021 behind their back. Some of us went through really tough moments, lately. Some of us learned and are learning how to rise from the ashes. If, for some reason you are going through a less easy phase, know that I did this to make you smile!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And after the bullet's hit us, the hole has been done and, besides the pain, or along with it, a new chance to see other colors in us, in life and in the world, can emerge. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After all we have the gift to be alive! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Making of</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I have spent the whole day doing this work, and today, on the very first new moon of the year I am ready to share it with you!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The title <i>Viva,</i> is a Portuguese word that means alive, cheers or hi, depending on the context used.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So, the first idea that came to my mind was to burn paper reminding a bullet hole. Fire and some sort of destruction had to be present. <span style="text-align: left;">And that is why it's reverse side is painted in black.</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's a picture of the making of the hole.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFhhWDNDa2usQvJq-WHABxSbHoBPpx9pMBxKKcbKfrfgp0V9eNwTQ6-CKgjhXhdUrXbrA3iZuF4VYb5j2uN94DqzMPBDY2tpu3YioGlJai93uy3vlMMPdP9frHZg_8IEDpkR_Cp1qEy17lOrp149tc54ZcrbZ0Bx5xp-tM03NIWGtQ9028svv6Sq8T=s4000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFhhWDNDa2usQvJq-WHABxSbHoBPpx9pMBxKKcbKfrfgp0V9eNwTQ6-CKgjhXhdUrXbrA3iZuF4VYb5j2uN94DqzMPBDY2tpu3YioGlJai93uy3vlMMPdP9frHZg_8IEDpkR_Cp1qEy17lOrp149tc54ZcrbZ0Bx5xp-tM03NIWGtQ9028svv6Sq8T=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h3 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There are always two sides to every story</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Black reminding dark, what we seemingly can't see.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmKImUxXnWevQQvwfhbXj1s1jqqDVp7_bjswmr_UqH2BzYBlMobyvM0DoZDWtkMaQjn3t_VVcnUayq8l47Lq86JzZefylCenKAK9TiooH6dnek_fNpv-7LOqehtdgC2udYUnQ9QEStS4KQUkWfew3fc_OnPDVxZreqItqUBylClhcRde_g5eXlNSFg=s3492" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3492" data-original-width="2484" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgmKImUxXnWevQQvwfhbXj1s1jqqDVp7_bjswmr_UqH2BzYBlMobyvM0DoZDWtkMaQjn3t_VVcnUayq8l47Lq86JzZefylCenKAK9TiooH6dnek_fNpv-7LOqehtdgC2udYUnQ9QEStS4KQUkWfew3fc_OnPDVxZreqItqUBylClhcRde_g5eXlNSFg=w456-h640" width="456" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">A shot in a, until then, blunt white, empty and uncertain.</div><div style="text-align: center;">A detail below, where you can see the effects of the burned paper.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOaC7KCeXRjOrtKpzIUhc1FgbtJLVjZfN22vmthzr1doNoKRcicgLmyx9gE_Yd89nBY2yqJGwb7Z0Olu9hAxBGLdqVgGG3pCS-Og1uRW4-sBa3h-n80T0ekZzL9aCjB8PQfd5iTT-QnqfjRP_xvaztcCVviYB_oo4NhUz5w7_MrSO2D0NdkmxYSloR=s4000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOaC7KCeXRjOrtKpzIUhc1FgbtJLVjZfN22vmthzr1doNoKRcicgLmyx9gE_Yd89nBY2yqJGwb7Z0Olu9hAxBGLdqVgGG3pCS-Og1uRW4-sBa3h-n80T0ekZzL9aCjB8PQfd5iTT-QnqfjRP_xvaztcCVviYB_oo4NhUz5w7_MrSO2D0NdkmxYSloR=s320" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Quoting <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeschylus" target="_blank">Aeschylus</a>, <span style="text-align: left;"><i>wisdom comes along through suffering.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">This work is related with being able to be alive and feel joy and gratefulness for it. Something that, in the rush of life, we often don't stop to think about, right?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The idea that, that same suffering allowed a glimpse of something else, is something I wanted to explore in this page overlay, as one can see here:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1UYGK3LVcbTPKVGOFGRpTSSQxZpIU4jeYrdh21dK5nVNzbi-sL5vDNZr55MNZXhAua78MryMUenmgES9KG3izEN9BHxsnHKBLn_Kx4be22lPc30CwLwbRnV3LoW9e4eJwiOzQpfBzSPP9vD_Dlw3VqVmTOi-VcFCMU0KAbQWitZlDlGOyCgc0oZSU=s3233" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3233" data-original-width="2369" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1UYGK3LVcbTPKVGOFGRpTSSQxZpIU4jeYrdh21dK5nVNzbi-sL5vDNZr55MNZXhAua78MryMUenmgES9KG3izEN9BHxsnHKBLn_Kx4be22lPc30CwLwbRnV3LoW9e4eJwiOzQpfBzSPP9vD_Dlw3VqVmTOi-VcFCMU0KAbQWitZlDlGOyCgc0oZSU=w468-h640" width="468" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's a detail of the burnt paper over the colors.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhE_EzaWlqyuDXs7nGs42X9xYgfvLEPet4MgcA_mCIDN6sPFZ85jRqmZZ5YRIMCfarwP_aKSuZZ5ay-RNxs_2CxfDINyQoPJvPIDymVF8bvioTPmgGXycq7KRIcw6hwMvQFfSXzkiyvNx292kvARmze1m7XAhUILVRiIiGc1ptIGvHSCoKGF-KsZaV-=s1312" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="1312" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhE_EzaWlqyuDXs7nGs42X9xYgfvLEPet4MgcA_mCIDN6sPFZ85jRqmZZ5YRIMCfarwP_aKSuZZ5ay-RNxs_2CxfDINyQoPJvPIDymVF8bvioTPmgGXycq7KRIcw6hwMvQFfSXzkiyvNx292kvARmze1m7XAhUILVRiIiGc1ptIGvHSCoKGF-KsZaV-=s320" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">After all, through all these colors I wanted to express the idea to live with happiness, thankfulness and freedom of choice.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdTp75Kn0acvBMw_CVS_Z4rNn-4Of8INUL2pQh01_2KVdsOm0Rn3yPN2ab4Tw2FRCCeY3rjkC5rSPD2OjhBnlVRhDRuuV11Et3SzhjEzT00WzJeoWiMhmTozSDbUrL553w1BsxQmFOYtNd14sOq_eUBsI4Nazm8cjWULu3FtAyOlDnecq8aqOluX5p=s3264" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2411" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjdTp75Kn0acvBMw_CVS_Z4rNn-4Of8INUL2pQh01_2KVdsOm0Rn3yPN2ab4Tw2FRCCeY3rjkC5rSPD2OjhBnlVRhDRuuV11Et3SzhjEzT00WzJeoWiMhmTozSDbUrL553w1BsxQmFOYtNd14sOq_eUBsI4Nazm8cjWULu3FtAyOlDnecq8aqOluX5p=w472-h640" width="472" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxpz9IQ7O5Lv2OWNyvDAZJdMtn84H8uQUQet15iqt_KSQnDql3moCOvWHPbLDinQRZ_BBBTvGZTdFQ-gSGunpmyQHAx_6pOEJLqoqWvLhUjvBT2zpk3ZwExZauh2NB0PieslerbawGRLDuOY0-rPrEp0cvcu1agOSf_o2Muoq9uTECh1LipIzfFNfK=s4000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxpz9IQ7O5Lv2OWNyvDAZJdMtn84H8uQUQet15iqt_KSQnDql3moCOvWHPbLDinQRZ_BBBTvGZTdFQ-gSGunpmyQHAx_6pOEJLqoqWvLhUjvBT2zpk3ZwExZauh2NB0PieslerbawGRLDuOY0-rPrEp0cvcu1agOSf_o2Muoq9uTECh1LipIzfFNfK=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">(As in my dream I was shot and proceeded alive and kicking) I believe there is always a way to be happy. That is my true wish for you!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">What are your wishes for this year? </div><div style="text-align: center;">Please comment below and share this with a friend you know that needs a boost of color and a positive message in their day :)</div><p></p>Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-43186541864887496222021-11-13T22:21:00.004+00:002021-11-13T22:21:34.298+00:00Planta Ilustrada<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9k1SB2p0hz4MftAlRicRgBpRSxL8sbIhuOIHFp7Qvom8Grx0_AfuLxbf0g2L4uk1jUDVd6rnnIbsHE4L7CDNFqUAEMdTa7vYYhBUh2CHLOWbhlPXf1CKechlnCtZPy1-mZvqM-TDlAsU/s1366/12.11.2021+Planta+Ilustrada+%25C2%25A9+Rita+Draper+Fraza%25CC%2583o.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="976" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9k1SB2p0hz4MftAlRicRgBpRSxL8sbIhuOIHFp7Qvom8Grx0_AfuLxbf0g2L4uk1jUDVd6rnnIbsHE4L7CDNFqUAEMdTa7vYYhBUh2CHLOWbhlPXf1CKechlnCtZPy1-mZvqM-TDlAsU/w458-h640/12.11.2021+Planta+Ilustrada+%25C2%25A9+Rita+Draper+Fraza%25CC%2583o.jpeg" width="458" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Planta Ilustrada</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">A remanência do ser</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ecos de uma frase </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Presença perguntada</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Mãos ao alto</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">e a cabeça desperta</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">como caixa aberta</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">em bloco operatório</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">de decisivos processos</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">de cor e alma</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">de vida e viço</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">em compromisso</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">atira para cima</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">cresce vertical</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">ego e o outro</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">a forma e o vazio</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">o tempo e o fastio</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">a balança e a revelação</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">acrónimo da existência</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">da evolução possível</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">desse degrau exequível</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Canção d'época</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Clamor em dias de pausa</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Verde espada em púrpura</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">teoria dos pássaros</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">teoria dos passos</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">teoria dos espaços</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Caços</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">No ar</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Abraços</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">No éter</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Laços</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Na velocidade</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Traços</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">da Terra</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Braços</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">de gente assente</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">seres crescentes</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">nós que sê-mo-la</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">tantos</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">vós que sóis</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">eles que santos</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">não são</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">e então?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Som do chão</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Pró alto</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">das esferas</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">às feras</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">dos tigres ao veludo</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">do Jorge à Rosa</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Em hoje</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Em bom</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Em hoje e amanhã</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Em bom e em clã</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">De baixo para cima</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Arraigados à causa</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">à origem primeira</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">à direcção segunda</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">à terceira viagem</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">um quarto de leite hidratante</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">no quinto dos Invernos</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">na Sexta vamos lá</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">o sétimo é léu</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">e o resto é um véu;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">do que ainda não vemos</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">do que ainda não podemos conscientizar</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sob zéfiros de espuma</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Em dias de alegrias.</div><br /><p></p>Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-81214372418984048532021-05-28T19:43:00.000+01:002021-05-28T19:43:00.340+01:00Diários Exhibition at Espaço Camões<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO1h197xNClrEwBbK6awQNuukKwvmxccjgqAUOlEdEZ5ofM0iHhKfvr0OiIyKx6_2ssjzLGrNd-HW36zQJecMvK5VSBR61m3IAt4pxJsCkhMAhy5wqj8j4TMXPm59OFMcf2c1fJCH04eg/s878/Convite+Dia%25CC%2581rios+Sa%25CC%2581+da+Costa+Maio+2021.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="878" data-original-width="650" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO1h197xNClrEwBbK6awQNuukKwvmxccjgqAUOlEdEZ5ofM0iHhKfvr0OiIyKx6_2ssjzLGrNd-HW36zQJecMvK5VSBR61m3IAt4pxJsCkhMAhy5wqj8j4TMXPm59OFMcf2c1fJCH04eg/w474-h640/Convite+Dia%25CC%2581rios+Sa%25CC%2581+da+Costa+Maio+2021.jpeg" width="474" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Diários Exhibition at Espaço Camões | Sá da Costa</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Carlota Mantero, João Rebôlo, Margarida Cunha Belém, Pedro Noronha and I, Rita Draper Frazão, make part of this journey around 5 different universes, so personal and unique.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">My sub-theme in this Diaries exhibition is Identity, Connection and Absence.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The exhibition opened yesterday and can be visited until the 18th of June, from Monday to Saturday, from 2:30 pm to 7:00 pm, or drop a line to a.sadacosta.mi@gmail.com to ask for another visit schedule.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Espaço Camões | Sá da Costa is located at Praça Luís de Camões, 22 - 4th floor, in Lisbon, Portugal.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-85930170898691595672020-12-30T20:39:00.006+00:002020-12-31T11:31:58.310+00:00Interview for Bica Magazine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWskL8jdYCXuo7XV443bHi7pCFpAj9JxlPR4t7uup_wcBl9vCWeHhV_sMbwbV-vS4TpcvyoSijEPyDnKr2-IshvSHlzlm67Hj-c1h24zY7lIhXIj-dk_JenwANSxu0ST-_aOPami0dxtw/s2002/Captura+de+ecra%25CC%2583+2020-12-30%252C+a%25CC%2580s+10.32.44.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1416" data-original-width="2002" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWskL8jdYCXuo7XV443bHi7pCFpAj9JxlPR4t7uup_wcBl9vCWeHhV_sMbwbV-vS4TpcvyoSijEPyDnKr2-IshvSHlzlm67Hj-c1h24zY7lIhXIj-dk_JenwANSxu0ST-_aOPami0dxtw/w640-h452/Captura+de+ecra%25CC%2583+2020-12-30%252C+a%25CC%2580s+10.32.44.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijOMd056iAEkStfaQ6cGDGWGEqlJWfEfKbPY5t5mz9lT_Q_Ne_px3MnZUo1lNNHVEdxoJIFPtPyyLsBPXKj1Uv_byQ7PvsuxubVq6DDYt6av7FvZA1Dc_BBhKhsiDatCD9MtGGg2h-IJE/s1414/Captura+de+ecra%25CC%2583+2020-12-30%252C+a%25CC%2580s+10.32.21.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1414" data-original-width="1014" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijOMd056iAEkStfaQ6cGDGWGEqlJWfEfKbPY5t5mz9lT_Q_Ne_px3MnZUo1lNNHVEdxoJIFPtPyyLsBPXKj1Uv_byQ7PvsuxubVq6DDYt6av7FvZA1Dc_BBhKhsiDatCD9MtGGg2h-IJE/w286-h400/Captura+de+ecra%25CC%2583+2020-12-30%252C+a%25CC%2580s+10.32.21.png" width="286" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;">It's in the light of the last full moon of the year that I bring you my latest news. I was interviewed by the journalist Rafael Vieira about my work with musicians. It was now published in the latest edition of <a href="https://revistabica.com/" target="_blank">Revista Bica</a>.</p><p style="text-align: center;">The portraits of <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2019/07/a-10-out-of-10-mia.html" target="_blank">Márcio Gibson</a>, <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/search?q=Hamid+drake+gulbenkian" target="_blank">Hamid Drake</a>, <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2016/07/art-life-and-love.html" target="_blank">Marialuisa Capurso</a>, <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2013/10/rodrigo-pinheiro-jazzpt.html" target="_blank">Rodrigo Pinheiro</a> and <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2013/12/erlend-ye-vodafone-mexe-fest.html" target="_blank">Erlend Øye</a> were published with it. The original article was written in Portuguese and I have translated it, so that you can read it here, too. </p><p style="text-align: center;">To learn more on the mentioned drawings, please click on the links. And to read the original article, go <a href="https://revistabica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Bica_12.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><i>Draw by ear</i></h2><h3 style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The inner tour of Rita Draper Frazão</i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>By Rafael Vieira</i></div></i></h3><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Rita Draper Frazão is an artist who follows musicians in concert and improvises their portrait while they play. In this meeting of wills, will she be strumming with the musicians or will the musicians be drawing with her?</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>I saw Rita drawing at MIA, the Improvised Music gathering of Atouguia da Baleia </i>(baleia means whale in Portuguese)<i>, an atypical event in the music scene, made by musicians for musicians. The lay people are there in transit and in minority.</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>In a small auditorium, to the sound of an orchestra of virtuous musicians, and in a medieval church (the one with the bone that gives the village its name), while <a href="https://www.jazz.pt/arte/2014/01/24/rita-draper-frazao-carlos-zingaro/" target="_blank">Carlos Zíngaro</a> sounded from great heights, a person came up in front of him. Either on stage or in the first chairs, watching the musician in close proximity, paying attention and drawing. Leaning over the musician and a sheet of paper, pointing out movements while her own body<span style="color: red;"> </span>seemed to portray the sound that emerged in the space coming from countless instruments. I myself, the non-musician, a castaway in an archipelago of musicians and music, was surprised. I'd been told it was Rita Draper Frazão, drawing the musicians while they play.</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>There are different spatial perspectives and the difference in the support: the musicians weave their music in ether, the artist draws their portraits on a paper basis. In both, there's a sound frame. The gestures follow, many of them improvised, leading to an inner tour from an external interaction, relating the look and conducting the muscle. Rita applies variations in registration, material and technique, elements that appear during her creative process, catalyzing it. As in a musical progression. She comments: «I have little interest in making a portrait of what's there in front of me, a factual portrait of the person, of the musician. I am much more interested in adding things that I felt [during the concert], which are symbolic and metaphorical of that person's energy and attitude. »</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>But her testimony doesn't deplete with improvisation and jazz, as shown in each edition of the MIA. Rita comments: «I have drawings with very different visual expressions, but also of musicians ranging the most diverse musical expressions. That group includes people like Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2018/11/bauhaus-in-lisbon.html" target="_blank">Peter Murphy</a> (Bauhaus), Toumani Diabaté, Seun Kuti, <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-magic-pass-of-beautify-junkyards_29.html" target="_blank">Nina Miranda</a> (<a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2015/11/dream-come-true-with-smoke-city.html" target="_blank">Smoke City</a>), <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2011/08/workaholic-irene-lima.html" target="_blank">Irene Lima</a> (Portuguese Symphony Orchestra), <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2013/12/erlend-ye-vodafone-mexe-fest.html" target="_blank">Erlend Øye</a> (Kings of Convenience) and so many others, who have other languages than jazz and improvisation.»</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Her works are a composition, an inseparable and united part of the music released by the musician at the time of the concert and reveal an artist who embarks in the moment, in gesture and in musical taste.</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">in: Revista Bica, December 2020</span></p><p style="text-align: center;">Rafael Vieira is a cultural journalist and an architect, from <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-enchants-in-coimbra.html" target="_blank">Coimbra</a>. Simultaneously, he's someone in whom I felt literature and writing rooted in his bones. Very observant and sensitive. Only a person with such features could've understood my work the way he's expressed.</p><p style="text-align: center;">At the end of the day, I feel so fortunate to improvise in drawing and get in touch with such talented people. Making these drawings feels like flying on a magic cloud, or sailing in an island of hope.</p><p style="text-align: center;">And it's with that sense of luck, a puff in a colorful and creative cloud, that I set sail and I wish that art may lift your spirit in such times. A new journey is about to begin, and I wish everybody a happy, compassionate and healthy new year!</p>Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-69083783512795731832020-10-23T14:21:00.000+01:002020-10-23T14:21:26.683+01:00Eternity Now<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNO832lBSNX_87eFQ2sh-mRCO2GL4X-EwwHHGxOvpLpLCxGeDL0XRGCzlQlrt2c074gzrFOSPsJrN24Zp2CmUAw-J5M0M_vgjQ1Utdh2Ldl2ZM8Z_wPYx-AnW_YIVrZX0OIvxa7DeMII/s642/Eternity+Now+by+Rita+Draper+Fraza%25CC%2583o.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="642" data-original-width="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNO832lBSNX_87eFQ2sh-mRCO2GL4X-EwwHHGxOvpLpLCxGeDL0XRGCzlQlrt2c074gzrFOSPsJrN24Zp2CmUAw-J5M0M_vgjQ1Utdh2Ldl2ZM8Z_wPYx-AnW_YIVrZX0OIvxa7DeMII/s16000/Eternity+Now+by+Rita+Draper+Fraza%25CC%2583o.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In such peculiar times like these, I feel like sharing something positive. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It all started out by a breezy dream of mine, passing through some conversations I had, good memories and a special gift I received, this flower. All were key in the making of this work.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I've started drawing dreams since I was a teenager. The more I drew them, the more I remembered all visual details that, onward would become drawings. collages, paintings, etc.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">On my bedside table, there's always pen and paper. Sleeping time is a critical moment of creativity, for me. Not seldom do I have ideas for drawings and projects, before I go to bed, or while dreaming. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This composition was inspired by Calvin Klein's Eternity lettering, but also by the message behind this perfume, eternalized by Christy Turlington, back in the 90's. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAJHDiEWirQ" target="_blank">add on the beach</a> was my favorite. This was so iconic, CK <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN9Q2pKiDKE" target="_blank">remade an Eternity commercial</a> this year with the same top model and her husband, the actor, Edward Burns. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Moreover, I link this scent to certain persons I dearly care about, and, at a certain time of my life, I wore this perfume too. It lasts for days! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And well, in these crazy pandemic times, I sense we all should concentrate more on structural things that last. Focus on subjects that matters, such as love, family, health and the sustainability of the planet. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">May our dreams allow it, and make us smile and have the strength to search beauty, permanence and time in the middle of all, that's going on in the world, presently. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Like a memorable scent, or as a flashing light in our minds reminding us the idea in this drawing: Eternity now.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I dedicate this post and this drawing to Tia Mizé, Miguel and Meirinhos. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-7075780248139269172020-04-26T21:05:00.000+01:002020-04-27T10:03:16.655+01:00Days are not days and times are a-changin'<div style="text-align: center;">
I guess this big change the world and us are in, requires new approaches on life.</div>
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Accordingly, I've been thinking a lot, in doing different things here, in my blog. In fact, I feel the need to do so. I have tons of unpublished material and several ideas. This article might just be the beginning of one of them. Wait and see!</div>
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Days are not days</h3>
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Some days ago, the Swedish guitar player, <a href="http://samuelhallkvist.com/" target="_blank">Samuel Hällkvist</a> shared on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/samuelhallkvist/" target="_blank">his Instagram account</a> the album <i>Days are not days</i> is now available on streaming platforms like <a href="https://open.spotify.com/album/20SJGlDSChTlB9COb3X09o" target="_blank">Spotify</a> or <a href="https://samuelhallkvist.bandcamp.com/album/days-are-not-days" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a>.</div>
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For some reason, when this album was released, back in 2016, I didn't share it here and in any of my my social media, although it is mentioned in my Selected CV section, here at Inner Tour, ever since.</div>
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The little did I know, that the best thing to do would be not to do it at that period. Somethings need time to grow, to evolve, and the present context gave me the perfect timing to share with you, a little more about the story of this album, in which I was involved in, too.</div>
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I also feel I have so much more to say about it now, than I would've had, back then. </div>
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Moreover, art in general, plays a very important role, these days. And as prophetic as it might seem, the title and the content of this project - <i>Days are not days</i> - are just spot on... </div>
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The seed </h3>
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It had been, back in May of 2014 that I first heard and saw live Hällkvist playing. Even if, at that time, I didn't draw him at MIA Festival, where we met, I would later do it, a couple of months afterwards and when this album was in the making, one year after. These drawings were never officially published by myself, and I will share them for the first time now.</div>
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Back in 2015, Samuel Hällkvist, showed me, the fresh recordings he had just made with the Portuguese sax and flute player, Paulo Chagas (also co-mentor of <a href="http://mia-festival.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">MIA</a> Festival) and the Danish guitarist Stephan Sieben.</div>
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I can vividly remember that day. I was at my studio, and you guys, I heard it once and I started writing about it, right away. Processes regarding music feel home in my brain, and my neurons apparently work faster to the point I, sometimes can't control its speedy reaction - normally in the shape of drawings and texts. This one took me minutes to do so.</div>
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Just out of curiosity, I decided to send it to Samuel. He and the rest of the band, decided my text should appear in the album. But they didn't do it conventionally. They've <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Paulo-Chagas-Samuel-H%C3%A4llkvist-Stephan-Sieben-Days-Are-Not-Days/release/10524846" target="_blank">fractioned my text in parts and named the 6 tunes after each one of them</a>. That was a total surprise for me!</div>
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My story of this sound</h3>
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Below is the original text:</div>
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<i>Golfinhos, mas também becos escuros. </i></div>
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<i>Um mergulho de um penhasco, e se fosse um reflexo, um vapor entre dentes, a trincar a núvem, voando na tempestade, no mau tempo, entre meteoritos.</i></div>
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<i>Era um nevoeiro e um sapo, dos jogos de computador, do spectrum, dos xizes e das cruzinhas, das várias vidas por bater.</i></div>
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<i>Havia pessoas nesse planeta. Era preciso sintonizar na praia e no espírito, onde havia ondas e marés.</i></div>
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<i>Também era um caminho numa corda, num trapézio.</i></div>
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<i>O ar enchia, em tubo, entre uma garrafa e um balão. Era uma mensagem no caminho.</i></div>
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And here's my alternative English translation (which is different from the version present in the CD, of which I am not the author of). The numbers correspond to the track division previously mentioned.</div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee;">(1)</span><span style="color: #cccccc;"> </span>Dolphins, but also dark alleys.</div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee;">(2)</span> A dive off a cliff, and if it were a reflection, a steam between teeth, biting the cloud, flying in the storm, in bad weather, in between meteorites. </div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee;">(3)</span> It was a fog and a frog, computer games, the spectrum, the exes (x's) and little crosses, the various lives to beat.</div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee;">(4)</span> There were people in that planet. It was necessary to tune on the beach and in the spirit, where there were waves and tides.</div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee;">(5) </span>It was also a path in a rope, in a trapeze.</div>
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<span style="color: #eeeeee;">(6)</span> The air filled, in tube, between a bottle and a balloon. It was a message on the way.</div>
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The drawings</h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOm4O2ynbBD7Zcip4AAfxdzwt-XGdM2pVQ2iJuAjEEGWOeud-xYONZu-hhNJS09df6OWznC5JAz0yAQQooNSDzfLwqBkPskTYxLX7xBdNKoRp0XL4N-ZVm2zjjWYjVGW2RrJw611v1XwQ/s1600/Sound+painting.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="1600" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOm4O2ynbBD7Zcip4AAfxdzwt-XGdM2pVQ2iJuAjEEGWOeud-xYONZu-hhNJS09df6OWznC5JAz0yAQQooNSDzfLwqBkPskTYxLX7xBdNKoRp0XL4N-ZVm2zjjWYjVGW2RrJw611v1XwQ/s640/Sound+painting.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">© Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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As soon as I wrote the previous text, this was the image that came out. A progression from the darker to the light blue, the x's storm, turning into a plain blue sky. Or a polluted ocean, that through a storm, washes out all there is to clean, in a renewal process. I did it so, as a metaphor to this music, but it could so be an image used, to depict what we are going through, now. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXm0LFVnRVMrEY8B6KiW7aS4YmXb8J605vRXvqoh80QOMGBtbR7Gy096sGaPUbXlBYKNzJIlGbAENLcasCDC1xXeY4wC0vQx_jY_D-MAJtPxhKP4YWo2a_2oWYxJcG7ZPhcYy9op2XtCo/s1600/30.10.2014+Samuel+Ha%25CC%2588llkvist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1600" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXm0LFVnRVMrEY8B6KiW7aS4YmXb8J605vRXvqoh80QOMGBtbR7Gy096sGaPUbXlBYKNzJIlGbAENLcasCDC1xXeY4wC0vQx_jY_D-MAJtPxhKP4YWo2a_2oWYxJcG7ZPhcYy9op2XtCo/s640/30.10.2014+Samuel+Ha%25CC%2588llkvist.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Samuel Hällkvist © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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When I made this drawing, I wrote it was related to the ability to dream and be sensitive. Now I'd have something more to add.</div>
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The truth is, every single time I heard <a href="https://www.facebook.com/samuel.hallkvist" target="_blank">Samuel Hällkvist</a> playing, I felt his sound as very graphic and cerebral, in the sense of having new ideas and having the ability to materialize them. Kind of like if his voice would build a color cloud from scratch into a consistent blue. </div>
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More or less what he did here: he was the mentor behind Days are not days, and without him, none of this would've been real. Thank's!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVTokXvt-d9gVEyFGNWZwHPEruh5lz0F-vgm5zDGxeyCOxM5xcj9Cr5lzKyA5A326tU7pSei6T2tIqrODV3zhMWIa67sSzS-rLQEkMhkvIBk1tzmbTfVXJhrkMCO8pvU6oQbvloWHyy4/s1600/30.10.2014+Paulo+Chagas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="947" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVTokXvt-d9gVEyFGNWZwHPEruh5lz0F-vgm5zDGxeyCOxM5xcj9Cr5lzKyA5A326tU7pSei6T2tIqrODV3zhMWIa67sSzS-rLQEkMhkvIBk1tzmbTfVXJhrkMCO8pvU6oQbvloWHyy4/s640/30.10.2014+Paulo+Chagas.jpg" width="378" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paulo Chagas © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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I have portrayed <a href="https://www.instagram.com/pauloxagas/" target="_blank">Paulo Chagas</a> several times before (see for example, <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2014/06/ahahahaha-mimimimimi-miahahahau-uuhuhuhu.html" target="_blank">here</a>), but of all I have made, so far, this is my favorite drawing of him. Paulo is here playing flute, and in that day, he played sax too. I wanted to blend both, so I was inspired by his mother-of-pearl sax keys to fill his figure, while the silhouette itself, alludes to the flute playing.</div>
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Scans and photographs aren't sometimes the most faithful towards the original, and here's, another of many examples I have shared in this blog, whose true colors and energy, can only be accurately perceived live. </div>
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It was made with watercolor (an earthy golden shade I specially bought, some years ago, in Berlin), pen, and acrylic ink (pearly white with shades of gold). One of the singularities of this drawing is that, according to the light, so the drawing glows. A natural response to the stimuli in the environment, like I feel he is sensitive enough to do with music and whatever landscape that surrounds him. Subtle that can only be better understood live.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkhHqnZg2pmYKtfcBk0nKQ6Vs16prQfSBmJx4s8BW1CCPUc1aGgbPa-YKkS1kJ5oliZ_hNlVxVANZ_4_h3Ap8bUv_vesiimNPIyafCj64vDaYgvQlaHLa9DFZpBhDBWchsmIH76wezatE/s1600/30.10.2014+Stephan+Sieben.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1002" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkhHqnZg2pmYKtfcBk0nKQ6Vs16prQfSBmJx4s8BW1CCPUc1aGgbPa-YKkS1kJ5oliZ_hNlVxVANZ_4_h3Ap8bUv_vesiimNPIyafCj64vDaYgvQlaHLa9DFZpBhDBWchsmIH76wezatE/s640/30.10.2014+Stephan+Sieben.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stephan Sieben © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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This drawing has to to with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/musicbymomo" target="_blank">Stephan Sieben</a>'s action, and fast reactions' mode. </div>
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No doubt this guitarist is pretty ingenious in his resources: in the action (orange red) and in the concepts he puts in every note he plays. The word ingenious reminds me of the Genie lamp, and hence Stephan's coming out of one. A wish was granted!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn5FuMtQxZvhjZziRLWbPi0BOBs-tp17PONPvb1fkP1KKbOOUSH9LQbJJ-LGFxG5ANd3jAvPPqQxpdNrCTyqBgE1xH0xFN06XPWYO5OPFJwaFgVzOhjIx8WyZ-DUCv0IlBAHl83vb1JPU/s1600/30.10.2014+Carvoaria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="989" data-original-width="1600" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn5FuMtQxZvhjZziRLWbPi0BOBs-tp17PONPvb1fkP1KKbOOUSH9LQbJJ-LGFxG5ANd3jAvPPqQxpdNrCTyqBgE1xH0xFN06XPWYO5OPFJwaFgVzOhjIx8WyZ-DUCv0IlBAHl83vb1JPU/s640/30.10.2014+Carvoaria.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">© Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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This was actually one of the first I have done. It started out to be just the brick wall in watercolor. </div>
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The background, for the ones who know this venue, could only be <a href="https://zaratan.pt/pt/" target="_blank">Zaratan</a>'s "manger charcoal bunker" (such an inspiring and nice place!). That's why the silhouettes of both, were painted with that same material. </div>
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Bonus co-incidences</h3>
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Other fact, relevant to the timing of this publication (you'll already understand why), is that this album was brilliantly mixed and produced by the monstrous American Guitar player, composer and producer, <a href="https://davidtornmusic.com/" target="_blank">David Torn</a>.</div>
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I affectionately call him <i>monster,</i> or better written how I meant it, <i>monstar</i>. I believe only such category of artists (and ultimately human beings) can keep up with giants like <a href="https://youtu.be/BMtyq84mv_U?list=PLpmzcioeI5sRk5IfBmap712e8xocdanmV" target="_blank">David Bowie</a>, <a href="https://youtu.be/qYwgG2oyUbA?list=FLN9k-A66tZ6UH1-9NbgVgPg" target="_blank">Madonna</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIMfieK-_QA" target="_blank">David Sylvian</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKXNPjs_G1U" target="_blank">Laurie Anderson</a>, <a href="https://youtu.be/ZwbNesQeods" target="_blank">John Legend</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhwu9yvL_1U" target="_blank">Tori Amos</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2axCvoAc9-s" target="_blank">Ryuichi Sakamoto</a>, <a href="https://youtu.be/S8BYaWrBz3k" target="_blank">Steve Roach</a>, <a href="https://youtu.be/LkrgxV_7pHA" target="_blank">Don Cherry</a>, <a href="https://www.ecmrecords.com/catalogue/143038751137/its-ok-to-listen-to-the-gray-voice-jan-garbarek-group" target="_blank">Jan Garbarek</a>, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/John-Zorn-Wayne-Horvitz-Elliott-Sharp-Bobby-Previte-Downtown-Lullaby/release/740937" target="_blank">John Zorn</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH9K1i_oGvE" target="_blank">Tim Berne</a>... just to mention some of the people in the music industry he's worked with. Curious fact: he's recorded with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMVNMyh326w" target="_blank">Mary Pastorius</a> (Jaco Pastorius' daughter) as well. </div>
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Besides that, Torn's also participated in the music making of dozens of movies such as <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast" target="_blank">The Big Lebowsky</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0422295/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast" target="_blank">Fur</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RLtgi0bpLQ&list=OLAK5uy_lsGTZNciyg1C00E7ZK18H5nJWx9gBFM84" target="_blank">The Order</a>, or <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407887/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm" target="_blank">The Departed</a>. </div>
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Two years afterwards listening Days are not days' music, I would later briefly meet and draw him in 2017, in <a href="https://gulbenkian.pt/en/agenda/david-torn/" target="_blank">Jazz em Agosto Festival</a>. I have never published that drawing, and now, clearly, reasons aren't lacking to add it to this article. Funny, huh?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4x3TmY-9M4vLjrmID8cIsPRipFHVsY8YwxrwQ11jQYT4LfRZ3CmwfuYv_h0F-DydN2EP-3OXkCa30ebOrVMUDGrey0zhlXmi5B0r_BhSpUHujjfzNAr_Diu7XjojbCvFRc4mO4sAdITM/s1600/David+Torn+2017+gbk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1042" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4x3TmY-9M4vLjrmID8cIsPRipFHVsY8YwxrwQ11jQYT4LfRZ3CmwfuYv_h0F-DydN2EP-3OXkCa30ebOrVMUDGrey0zhlXmi5B0r_BhSpUHujjfzNAr_Diu7XjojbCvFRc4mO4sAdITM/s640/David+Torn+2017+gbk.jpg" width="416" /></a></div>
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So, here it is! As free and loose as he expresses himself, the wind gave me the motto of this portrait: the sweep of the superfluous towards synthesis, the movement and being different, original. There's something very incorporeal about him and his work that I also wanted to convey here. Thinking about when materialization can be a matter of perception, of awareness...</div>
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A bit like I feel we are now... raising awareness of causes that matter. Trying to change our lives for the best due to an unpredictable and unprecedented cause. </div>
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I have always felt music did that with me, helping me out to evolve as a human being. </div>
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That being said, I'll end up quoting Bob Dylan's lyrics of <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90WD_ats6eE" target="_blank">Times are a-changin'</a></i> (1964):</div>
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<i>Come gather 'round people, wherever you roam</i></div>
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<i>And admit that the waters around you have grown</i></div>
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<i>And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone</i></div>
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<i>If your time to you is worth savin'</i></div>
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<i>Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone</i></div>
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<i>For the times they are a-changin'</i></div>
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<i>Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen</i></div>
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<i>And keep your eyes wide, the chance won't come again</i></div>
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<i>And don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin</i></div>
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<i>And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'</i></div>
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<i>For the loser now will be later to win</i></div>
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<i>For the times they are a-changin'</i></div>
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<i>Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call</i></div>
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<i>Don't stand in the doorway, don't block up the hall</i></div>
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<i>For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled</i></div>
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<i>There's a battle outside, and it is ragin'</i></div>
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<i>It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls</i></div>
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<i>For the times they are a-changin'</i></div>
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<i>Come mothers and fathers throughout the land</i></div>
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<i>And don't criticize what you can't understand</i></div>
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<i>Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command</i></div>
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<i>Your old road is rapidly agin'</i></div>
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<i>Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand</i></div>
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<i>For the times they are a-changin'</i></div>
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<i>The line, it is drawn, and the curse, it is cast</i></div>
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<i>The slow one now will later be fast</i></div>
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<i>As the present now will later be past</i></div>
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<i>The order is rapidly fadin'</i></div>
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<i>And the first one now will later be last</i></div>
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<i>For the times they are a-changin'</i></div>
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May all this inspire you too, in these times of change.</div>
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Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-74389096490853529122019-11-24T23:44:00.005+00:002024-01-12T17:35:10.839+00:00The human voice (Isilda Sanches | Antena 3) <div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Allerta; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt7F6j7p7bgUOfiFeAn-lAjotOYrxgggc3Q_IYE0wz3fAaK8jmU0OXSNPDYR71z9P1lgmSpzw70aA4NizfV47d2f-9F4-FLeeuTble4EMAOCzjO3eAUoV1_6XwbQxVxSvW71nb-Q_BBsI/s1600/Isilda+Sanches+Stone+Roses.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1133" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt7F6j7p7bgUOfiFeAn-lAjotOYrxgggc3Q_IYE0wz3fAaK8jmU0OXSNPDYR71z9P1lgmSpzw70aA4NizfV47d2f-9F4-FLeeuTble4EMAOCzjO3eAUoV1_6XwbQxVxSvW71nb-Q_BBsI/s640/Isilda+Sanches+Stone+Roses.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: 10.56px; line-height: 18.48px;">Eye in the sky, Isilda Sanches © Rita Draper Frazão</span></td></tr>
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Radio Series</h2>
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<div style="text-align: center;">In the begining of this year, I started a new challenge for my blog. It's something I had in mind for years! The project is about my favorite Radio Hosts, and I called it Radio Series.</div><div style="text-align: center;">These consist in articles and drawings about each one of them.</div> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Today the sky has Venus and Jupiter aligned. (Something that happens just once a year!) Along with it, I can finally share with you my visit to Isilda Sanches, in Antena 3 Radio. May you enjoy this, as much as I did, doing it!</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Allerta; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; text-align: center;">
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Life Frequencies </h2>
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><a href="http://media.rtp.pt/antena3/#" target="_blank">Antena 3</a> is the national radio dedicated to alternative music, rock, pop and Portuguese Music. </span><br />
Isilda Sanches is the hostess of the radio show <a href="https://www.rtp.pt/programa/radio/p6260" target="_blank">Muitos Mundos</a> and also the author of the rubric, <a href="http://www.rtp.pt/programa/radio/p6588" target="_blank">Fricção Científica</a>. She can be, also, heard live every morning, from Monday to Friday.<br />
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Before she joined forces at Antena 3, in 2015, she was on the wheel of <a href="https://www.oxigenio.fm/" target="_blank">Radio Oxigénio</a> for sixteen years, where she,<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"> basically, helped to shape, change and give voice to the electronic music panorama in Portugal. Things were never the same again. For the better. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">I started listening to her in the very beginning of that radio, until now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Previously, she made part of the golden team that built, the already extinct, X FM Radio (1993-1997), in Lisbon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Radio Series started because I once had the dream to draw her. You can find out, next, why my fascination never ceased.</span><br />
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The Human Voice </h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijukyJ0UCNwZy-HmtyBtsiGjylND5-b7DgrzdUFRGfKbDIpM_sViplXTBZba9Rkkzmr2YXhcPf1Rv23aHVanRZg01Ul2BYF8A7S_bt_rgoChC7eIOoJQsvNcogZ2aaJO1W76bIFYvVgvw/s1600/Isilda+Sanches+Science+Fiction.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1128" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijukyJ0UCNwZy-HmtyBtsiGjylND5-b7DgrzdUFRGfKbDIpM_sViplXTBZba9Rkkzmr2YXhcPf1Rv23aHVanRZg01Ul2BYF8A7S_bt_rgoChC7eIOoJQsvNcogZ2aaJO1W76bIFYvVgvw/s640/Isilda+Sanches+Science+Fiction.jpg" width="450" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Messages from the sky, Isilda Sanches © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Voice is sound, and sound resonates in the human body and emotions. One's body and mind can react to a voice, as it reacts to a certain music. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">This is a scientific area of research and study, such as in the</span><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"> book - </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Emotional-Communication-Nonhuman-Affective/dp/0199583560" style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;" target="_blank">The Evolution of Emotional Communication: From Sounds in Nonhuman Mammals to Speech and Music in Man (Series in Affective Science)</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">I guess, if you have ever heard or met someone, whose voice you love or empathize with, you'll be familiar with this concept, too. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">B</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">ut, there's a difference between loving a voice, and empathize with one, in a way that, one feels that is therapeutical. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">If you, while listening to a person, ever had a unique feeling - something </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta";">soothing to your soul, </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">right at that moment - that you can't get elsewhere, </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">you'll know what I'm talking about.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">There are many voices I love, but there are very few people, that</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"> </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">I can point out </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta";"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">as being therapeutic to me. </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Isilda Sanches' voice is one of them. But this isn't just about how her voice sounds like.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta";"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">The title from the portrait above, was taken from the RAH band tune (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e1XUnOSxAs" target="_blank">Messages from the stars</a>). I had in mind part of its lyrics:</span></span></div>
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<i>(...) You must be from another galaxy</i></div>
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<i>When I'm out there all alone</i></div>
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<i>And feeling far from home</i></div>
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<i>I'm fading into blue</i></div>
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<i>And there's nothing I can do</i></div>
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<i>Then out on the sky like a flash</i></div>
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<i>Sending me high, high</i></div>
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<i>You rescue me</i></div>
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<i>You saved me from a certain tragedy</i></div>
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In the drawing, soap bubbles and stars allude to the Universe, Rhythm, Dreaming and Experimenting (and hence the primary colors, that give birth to all others). The color spots, out of the drawing lines, materialize what makes her unique: being different and <i>out of the box, out of format</i>.</div>
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Plat du jour</h4>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4BJ4cHYJFBSMSqmtXJj5AHO4tZltTlLLsqb15SxGTYhaPN8qwmKRl2xu7qN5suBzydiA5nnFeHj8NLkqiM0quZvqvXQQ-JrGYcyYCGIVitm36hx_K7Lzt2Iy0AxW9qvaRECgBoDC5G9Y/s1600/Isilda+Sanches+Sallim.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1093" data-original-width="1600" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4BJ4cHYJFBSMSqmtXJj5AHO4tZltTlLLsqb15SxGTYhaPN8qwmKRl2xu7qN5suBzydiA5nnFeHj8NLkqiM0quZvqvXQQ-JrGYcyYCGIVitm36hx_K7Lzt2Iy0AxW9qvaRECgBoDC5G9Y/s640/Isilda+Sanches+Sallim.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isilda Sanches during an interview with <a href="https://sallim.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Sallim</a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">I believe that in communication, empathy is key, to properly deliver messages. One thing I have always admired in Isilda is, not only her tone of voice, what she says, how she says it, but also, her incredible ability to relate, to empathize, and make others feel at home, and welcomed - guests she interviews, or listeners. As if all became part of the furniture of her<i> living room</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">In a very graceful way, she's the type of communicator that, while in a conversation, can make one share valuable information, seemingly, without any effort.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">A sense of </span><i style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">belonging </i><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">and a feeling that </span><i style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">everything is ok </i><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">is often present and is remarkable, bearing in mind, the variety of subjects, music, and people she covers. (and the bad days everybody has, including her!)</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">I get the feeling she's <i>more of herself,</i> when she's in a dialogue of ideas with someone. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Could be an explanation to why she does it so naturally, and in such a humble, and human way. </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta";"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Being a <i>social animal,</i> she is also shy and very observant, analytical of others, and of daily life. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta";"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">In fact, I find in her, something that turns everyday routine so much less boring and predictable. (That <i>certain tragedy</i> from the lyrics!) Be it a groove, a funny story, a music history chapter, or something else she offers as a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJ_6vMeCf0M&list=PLDQCHcd-7i8PhLtHCUEgJ3lEZ8DqGMOVw&index=3" target="_blank">Plat du Jour</a> (<i>today's special</i> from <a href="http://matthewherbert.com/" target="_blank">Herbert</a>) with love. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Science Explains</span></h4>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">All these notions of the voice tone, speech, empathy, safety and communication relate to prosody, a concept very important in areas such as in writing music lyrics (and singing them), </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Acting,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Psychology,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Communication, Linguistics, Otolaryngology, S</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">peech Therapy or Neuroscience.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">And, yes, all this had in mind, Isilda's </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: allerta; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">scientific love affair </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">(that one can follow through </span><a href="http://www.rtp.pt/programa/radio/p6588" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: allerta; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;" target="_blank">Fricção Científica</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">). I couldn't fail to mention here </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">some examples of scientific studies, that talk about prosody and its importance in communication. Have fun digging them <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758%2FBRM.42.1.74.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2016.00506/full" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4462/60c98ba6d043a2e18d57ce3356965c6ebf51.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>!</span><br />
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The curious thing, is that I can correlate her interest in science, avant-guard discoveries, sci-fi, and weird things in her music selections. Things for collectors, music geeks, things nobody heard yet, things that will be the future and are now ahead of its time, things that are so rare and hard to find, nobody heard about it; what will be the next big thing, absolute classics, psychedelic stuff, things that make you happy, smile and dance - she'll find all that and more!!</div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.48px;">Cosmic Alignment</span></h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt7F6j7p7bgUOfiFeAn-lAjotOYrxgggc3Q_IYE0wz3fAaK8jmU0OXSNPDYR71z9P1lgmSpzw70aA4NizfV47d2f-9F4-FLeeuTble4EMAOCzjO3eAUoV1_6XwbQxVxSvW71nb-Q_BBsI/s1600/Isilda+Sanches+Stone+Roses.jpg" style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1133" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt7F6j7p7bgUOfiFeAn-lAjotOYrxgggc3Q_IYE0wz3fAaK8jmU0OXSNPDYR71z9P1lgmSpzw70aA4NizfV47d2f-9F4-FLeeuTble4EMAOCzjO3eAUoV1_6XwbQxVxSvW71nb-Q_BBsI/s640/Isilda+Sanches+Stone+Roses.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eye in the sky, Isilda Sanches © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">The high consideration I have for Isilda Sanches, meant extra dedication. That required, as you saw above, researching scientific stuff, learning to draw, in real time, with something I had never tried before (a ruling pen), and also carefully choose the date to publish this article. According to astrology, it is the luckiest and most loving day of the year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">This drawing, is the one I consider <i>my main Isilda Portrait,</i> and was the last one to be done. I drew the outline with the ruling pen </span><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">(that I know that is very meaningful for her)</span><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">, while she was passing </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D2qcbu26gs" style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;" target="_blank">I wanna be adored</a><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">, by Stone Roses. </span><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">Also a favorite of mine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">The rose is obviously a reference to the group, but it's there, also, to symbolize her sensibility and the beauty and life she brings, as flowers do. I chose to do it in a collage from a magazine, in a reference to the press.</span></div>
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Hands to me, mean gestures, communication, and communion - things that I feel are some of her greatest assets. The beauty of her hands match her<span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"> delicacy and refinement.</span><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta";"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">And what would an article about Isilda Sanches be, without a mention to the writer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_K._Dick" target="_blank">Philip K. Dick</a>? I couldn't allow that, so in homage to her sci-fi love, I named this portrait of hers, after a title of one of his books, </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-family: "allerta";"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><i>Eye in the sky</i>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">The black thin lines lead to a star. Don't we all have a lucky one? </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-family: "allerta";"><span style="font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">In my drawing, it also refers to faith in the Universe, in higher beings, in rebirths, in lucky stars. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-family: "allerta"; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">As within many science fiction stories, I guess choosing the risky unknown makes part of her matrix. And t</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "allerta";">hat is why I look up to her so much!</span></span></div>
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Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-1024354883199463812019-10-11T17:16:00.000+01:002019-10-11T17:16:03.159+01:00Dreams that can change your fortune (with Marcos Valle)<div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVRtAeNY4a08wv4zGbX585Rt6oL6it9e2nHxeHtBqASyncx5ECy2OqF1iPObEpKjPSED8XV3zZqFvKFo-BOSXf19_up69iaaWuFhRttR7zssd38sKoLUvO33cZKab3H5RXpC7LwtdmsFY/s1600/Marcos+Valle+5.7.2019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="976" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVRtAeNY4a08wv4zGbX585Rt6oL6it9e2nHxeHtBqASyncx5ECy2OqF1iPObEpKjPSED8XV3zZqFvKFo-BOSXf19_up69iaaWuFhRttR7zssd38sKoLUvO33cZKab3H5RXpC7LwtdmsFY/s640/Marcos+Valle+5.7.2019.jpg" width="390" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lord of the seas and the stars, Marcos Valle © Rita Draper Frazão 2019</td></tr>
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Great stuff has been happening in Lisbon! </div>
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I had a great thrilling cultural summer, packed with great concerts, that surveyed the city. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcos_Valle" target="_blank">Marcos Valle</a>, made a concert here, and I was there to draw him, and his band!</div>
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Let's give him the credits: this musician, composer and producer, has created some of the most killer groovy tunes, Brazilian musicians' have ever done! Songs like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USyP0Wh8oG4" target="_blank">Samba de Verão</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTPaDbt_USA" target="_blank"><i>Estelar</i></a> boosted Brazilian music's influence into the world, to another level. I feel like, interestingly, throughout time, and still now, Marcos' music evolves, teaches and learns from new sources. </div>
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No wonder, guys like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRdYPYf7eds" target="_blank">Kanye West</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwg34sjINBk" target="_blank">Jay-Z</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCM_VWzSiMo" target="_blank">Jorge Ben Jor</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gkYXlh8mEQ" target="_blank">Nicola Conte</a> sampled his work!</div>
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Renowned singers like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeEd2e1qS4g" target="_blank">Sarah Vaughan</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHJm3dKqn9A" target="_blank">Elis Regina</a>, and more recently, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpcg5Pg4zHY" target="_blank">Bebel Gilberto</a>, have recorded with him or sang songs of his. </div>
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Also with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN0Kqqc4L6Q&list=PLlbahVUudDPVbmC3LL4CiPxCS3BCg4L0H&index=139" target="_blank">Leon Ware</a>, (who produced music for Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Bobby Womack, Isaac Hayes or Quincy Jones) he's written pearls like <a href="http://rockin%20you%20eternally/" target="_blank">Rockin You Eternally</a>, and many more. I need to bring this up, because his most famous single, <i style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTPaDbt_USA" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Estelar</a> -</i> that sold over ninety thousand copies worldwide - was one of those songs. Credits to his brother too, <a href="http://www.paulosergiovalle.com.br/" target="_blank">Paulo Sérgio Valle</a>, who wrote those lyrics, and made many others, in a musical partnership with Marcos.</div>
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<a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/3756-Marcos-Valle" target="_blank">Knowing his music</a>, you'll figure Valle's been throwing us hits, since the 60's! And guess what, he's alive and kicking! </div>
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I think one of the recipes for his success, is that he keeps himself updated. He's someone very observant, attentive towards what's going on in the world, and that is reflected in his lyrics, in his musical choices, and in in the musicians and producers he works with. Themes like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8YJZVql_rQ" target="_blank">online</a> dating, and the introduction of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNLXhyktYSA&t=498s" target="_blank">electronic music in his work</a> are just some examples of that. No wonder I saw, at the concert, such a wide variety of ages, in the public.</div>
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He came to Lisbon to promote his latest album, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXbpzsBKVJI&t=1587s" target="_blank">Sempre</a>, and revisited many of his hits too. One of the things that stoked me, was the freshness I felt in him. </div>
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I imagine it can be hard to have all those hits and have to play them over and over. The special thing here, is that I felt Marcos did it, as if he'd written them all yesterday, and wanted to share them with the world, with the greatest gift the Universe's given him: being inspired and being able deliver, while surfing in the wave of his dreams and creations. Some call it art. Or, in this case, the art in Marcos.</div>
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His music is happy and related to the good things in life: love, relationships, nature (always the sun!), taking care of yourself (mind, body and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chzNqWl7ALc" target="_blank">spirit</a>), hope, dreams and having fun!</div>
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All of those, were inspiring for my portrait of Marcos. I made sure the color hues were all light and vivid, because softness and liveliness are qualities I appreciate in him, and I wanted to channel that, here too. </div>
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Living up to the status of a legend, (a mythic figure for me, definitely one of my musical heroes) I felt his face had to have a classic vibe to it, and that is why it is just a pure straight pencil drawing with no colors in that part. </div>
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Sun rays crossed my mind, while I was drawing and painting his hair.</div>
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Post doing the drawing, and while researching to write this article, I came across with this tune from Marcos, that I didn't know yet. It's called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZw3lqvnrkI" target="_blank">Fogo do sol</a>, and is oddly connected to my drawing, since part of the lyrics say: </div>
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<i>Fogo do sol</i></div>
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<i>Água do mar</i></div>
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<i>Luz do luar</i></div>
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<i>Eu sou assim</i></div>
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(Fire of the sun</div>
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Water from the sea</div>
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Moonlight</div>
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I am like that)</div>
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...I could've only portrayed him as the <i>Lord of the seas and the stars</i> he is, and deserves to be. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjXIIYwQdhgRa-SjHHWiTfGCJCjn9VQGR7YZpvmV_hXZgI2nS0py3tfjrst2mJ3-x4Hcr4MOWPVB-eiHmi5zob_Np2HR3Wlk7b9TAaMafUnLO5_o6ywmMAubMAZUamsv8oriuixpb4Ok/s1600/Patri%25CC%2581cia+Alvi%25CC%2581+5.7.2019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="975" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQjXIIYwQdhgRa-SjHHWiTfGCJCjn9VQGR7YZpvmV_hXZgI2nS0py3tfjrst2mJ3-x4Hcr4MOWPVB-eiHmi5zob_Np2HR3Wlk7b9TAaMafUnLO5_o6ywmMAubMAZUamsv8oriuixpb4Ok/s640/Patri%25CC%2581cia+Alvi%25CC%2581+5.7.2019.jpg" width="390" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Estelar, Patrícia Alví © Rita Draper Frazão 2019</td></tr>
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Marcos Valle's partner in crime, is the singer <a href="https://www.facebook.com/marcosvalleoficial" target="_blank">Patrícia Alví</a>. </div>
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She's got a tuned voice, and an alluring presence. There is a lot of vitality in her.</div>
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I've made this drawing, while she was singing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTPaDbt_USA" target="_blank">Estelar</a> (means stellar). </div>
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Her enticing vibe and long, beautiful, shining, dancing hair, inspired me to use a silver (stellar) eye shadow as paint and suggest motion. </div>
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Her head is slightly leaning, in a posture of cooperation and listener. (So important in a musician!)</div>
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And, at the same time, this portrait is about her strength, freedom of movement, creativity and unconventional ways of doing things. How come?</div>
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In my mind, I came up with a way to visually match what I just said. And, I wanted to do something a bit more unexpected. A portrait is always unique, depending on the person I am drawing. In this case, the angle and the perspective of this drawing itself are symptomatic of my will of not doing the "same old thing" people would expect from a portrait: to draw a face.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Z8Q3wDaJSuvToTfcJwnMH0kM_nBsbz-h2j8z3A9wkvNdpacmUlQx2fOn8iS-csprycJhN_Q8a_j-DB2kRagDjewRvYeV9101Yi4lFnhRUcrbHxhMc0BMAkRO9STTZ7T8tDZNm6PsF2Y/s1600/Jesse%25CC%2581+Sadoc+5.7.2019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="979" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Z8Q3wDaJSuvToTfcJwnMH0kM_nBsbz-h2j8z3A9wkvNdpacmUlQx2fOn8iS-csprycJhN_Q8a_j-DB2kRagDjewRvYeV9101Yi4lFnhRUcrbHxhMc0BMAkRO9STTZ7T8tDZNm6PsF2Y/s640/Jesse%25CC%2581+Sadoc+5.7.2019.jpg" width="390" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jessé Sadoc © Rita Draper Frazão 2019</td></tr>
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This is the portrait of the trumpet player, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jessesadoc" target="_blank">Jessé Sadoc</a>. </div>
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There is something passionately focused, on Jessé's way of playing. His clearness of speech, somehow reminded me of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chet_Baker" target="_blank">Chet Baker</a>. Every note in its right exact place. Know what I mean?</div>
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Because of that, I envisioned a portrait with very simple lines, for him. </div>
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One's gotta be passionate about music to play like he does, so here, his trumpet is transformed into a blown heart.</div>
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Besides Marcos Valle, it makes sense he has worked with top notch artists such as, for example, Caetano Veloso, Ed Motta, João Bosco, or Lenine.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehwLMidHiZGPCXAbzU9qkiSiGbmx3po8tdVZ4YB5ZRiGFtQ2VF_FwftsCDHo5mcCCXpz-JkvPjEYBjXScIK0LrOv34QUR84IhGudqS9C26bcmr3r94sPKdYYObEAnZp-OR8qu6KPF9XY/s1600/Renato+Massa+Calmon+5.7.2019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="998" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgehwLMidHiZGPCXAbzU9qkiSiGbmx3po8tdVZ4YB5ZRiGFtQ2VF_FwftsCDHo5mcCCXpz-JkvPjEYBjXScIK0LrOv34QUR84IhGudqS9C26bcmr3r94sPKdYYObEAnZp-OR8qu6KPF9XY/s640/Renato+Massa+Calmon+5.7.2019.jpg" width="398" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">O Swing do Brasil, Renato "Massa" Calmon © Rita Draper Frazão 2019</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/renato.massa.507" target="_blank">Renato "Massa" Calmon</a>, doesn't play, he slideessssssssss. He grooves in a sassy, funny, proactive, and creative way. </div>
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I feel like Renato is a very fast learner, one that picks very easily new stuff, musical languages and rhythms.</div>
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I looked at him, and could feel this inner kid, enthusiastic about having fun.</div>
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Listening to him, and if I didn't know, I could tell, with my eyes closed, that he's Brazilian. It's just the way he plays, the way he grooves. The Brazilian swing runs in his veins, and his witty attitude makes a difference. That's where the colors of the Brazilian flag, in the drawing, are coming from. </div>
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The scribbles were done in a loose hand movement. I intended to do something free, with no stiff molds, as I feel he does with music. No wonder he played with big names of Brazilian music, of the most diverse musical expressions. People like Fagner, Luís Melodia, Cássia Eller, Tim Maia, João Donato, and Ivete Sangalo, just to name a few.</div>
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If I had to pick words to describe him, it would be diversity, fluency and versatility. So I picked different alphabets to write the title of the portrait. All languages make his own sunny realm.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDaHAKEncxYOU-GcV70ek3Op0wUBvjZuXRD7QjlgeV53SLmkOJCFLqnTNBIYbn0ZuECgRbMZXqcIl8NJvSrFSiDXbxuGpj3zZKmEPkRneRkmpN3yVlNJXYvdCR96WQ8wvTdwhir6JngK0/s1600/John+Copland+5.7.2019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="977" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDaHAKEncxYOU-GcV70ek3Op0wUBvjZuXRD7QjlgeV53SLmkOJCFLqnTNBIYbn0ZuECgRbMZXqcIl8NJvSrFSiDXbxuGpj3zZKmEPkRneRkmpN3yVlNJXYvdCR96WQ8wvTdwhir6JngK0/s640/John+Copland+5.7.2019.jpg" width="390" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Copland © Rita Draper Frazão 2019</td></tr>
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About <a href="http://www.johnnycopland.com/" target="_blank">John Copland</a>, whose portrait is above: first of all, John is English. I guess every musician could learn how to play Brazilian music (if they want to), but not all of them could succeed, as he did. I was impressed.</div>
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I feel like John is very conceptual and pop*, in the way he plays bass, and that gave me the idea to open up "his mind" to the Universe with a pop type of pattern coming from it. I also had in mind, the dots in silkscreen prints, very much used by Pop Artists like <a href="https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/roy-lichtenstein-learning-resource" target="_blank">Roy Lichtenstein</a> or <a href="https://news.artnet.com/opinion/andy-warhol-broad-894944" target="_blank">Andy Warhol</a>. </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*John sometimes plays with pop groups like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPWm3S1UNpM&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Crystal Fighters</a>.</span></div>
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And, sometimes, from repetition comes new creations (and I think that might be particularly true in music), hence the pattern. The expression <i>thinking out of the box </i>was blinking, here too. And the box here was his mind, his ideas.</div>
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At the same time, the depth in John, required a more intense type of sketch for his visage. </div>
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Black, was the color he was wearing that night, and (in tune with what I just said) gave me the contrast I wanted to pursue, here too.</div>
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Without a doubt, he was very consistent, incisive and needed. A pillar, as if the bass were a horizon(tal) line.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinSLHv6S4SSOs4xjqfc0SmEKcY4834cnbv2WYHvFQWwS6yr0fZDD-hKILyCtDqAa51l9-ZuLg8STpDaVCiBPO7YqmmCE0aKZVdGj8-Ch3T6C2Xsgubr7llWOjLzPPt0VAbgfrggRfmdRw/s1600/Raphael+Sant%2527Anna+5.7.2019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="993" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinSLHv6S4SSOs4xjqfc0SmEKcY4834cnbv2WYHvFQWwS6yr0fZDD-hKILyCtDqAa51l9-ZuLg8STpDaVCiBPO7YqmmCE0aKZVdGj8-Ch3T6C2Xsgubr7llWOjLzPPt0VAbgfrggRfmdRw/s640/Raphael+Sant%2527Anna+5.7.2019.jpg" width="396" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raphael Sant'Ana's hand © Rita Draper Frazão 2019</td></tr>
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Last, but not the least, is the drawing related to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/raphaelsa" target="_blank">Raphael Sant'Ana</a>, the man behind <a href="http://www.rinoprod.com.br/" target="_blank">Rinoceronte Entretenimento</a>. Raphael is the person who made all this possible. Thank you!</div>
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Inspired by his turquoise eyes, the light blues in this drawing, also relate to his great sensitivity, will to help, and being useful. His kind nature, made me think of dolphins (the stamps inside his hand) and his spiritual side, linked me to the stars shape.</div>
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Also, this drawing is kind of an optical game, where you can try to better perceive the shape, if you half shut your eyes to see it. </div>
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Up until this point, I think people know I have <i>a special thing</i> with hands. I metaphorically see them as a way to relate. And ever since I was a kid (my Grandma who was painter, made me draw dozens of them!) they've been becoming more and more important in my work. And to this "portrait" of Raphael, hands had to be present.</div>
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This drawing is about an osmosis, of the self and the surroundings (hence the two light blues very similar, but still different hues). It's also about the things some could see, if they pay attention (as Raphael does), to certain details. All this, wrapped in his gentle and natural loving way to deal with people. Picking his hand to draw him, was just my way to portray his strong relational character.</div>
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Not quite easy to mimic, and earned him a page in my drawing book!</div>
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Marcos is amazing and still rocks as the coolest thing on earth, as all the musicians that played with him are, individually, very strong and have very well defined musical identities.</div>
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All worked beautifully and was a pleasure to witness!</div>
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And it's not every day one gets to meet, draw and write about one of your musical heroes.<br />
So, quoting Marcos, in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bN3vp8H6yI&fbclid=IwAR0QsAqwNGIZ9ZgNBkZMrzYHeBhadaqI0Adk3GYAxpR5H1NdBxazYX8dCp8" target="_blank">Wanda Vidal's song</a>, I'll end this article like this:</div>
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"Um sonho quando é forte, às vezes muda a sorte"</div>
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(<i>When a dream is strong, sometimes changes your fortune</i>)</div>
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Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-52246571881534034482019-07-26T19:25:00.000+01:002019-07-27T16:43:32.089+01:00Borders and the inside (João Godinho | Antena 2)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPjB_yrbRqJDiB5mz9WyAM8OQEVnQX5YiB5bpCDRYY0t0xCBm2jDs3_eYqtV8lo9t1mKhw8hyJGP6yVpzW1Tl1gBMzXlOMRAMZARPqEeU6ORIUR54sgSvNCH7Q07NxWahvQrDxMKnM_xc/s1600/Joa%25CC%2583o+Godinho.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1136" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPjB_yrbRqJDiB5mz9WyAM8OQEVnQX5YiB5bpCDRYY0t0xCBm2jDs3_eYqtV8lo9t1mKhw8hyJGP6yVpzW1Tl1gBMzXlOMRAMZARPqEeU6ORIUR54sgSvNCH7Q07NxWahvQrDxMKnM_xc/s640/Joa%25CC%2583o+Godinho.jpg" width="454" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Borders and the inside © Rita Draper Frazão 2019</td></tr>
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The second chapter of my Radio Series is here!<br />
This time, I visited João Godinho, <i><a href="https://www.rtp.pt/play/pesquisa?c_t=&p_c=92&p_t=4&p_d=&q=fora+de+formato" target="_blank">Fora de Formato</a>'s</i> (Out of format) host, in <a href="http://www.rtp.pt/antena2/" target="_blank">Antena 2</a>. Come and join me in this fascinating musical tour through the sounds of the world, history and the future of music!<br />
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Unfolding the format</h2>
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<i>Fora de formato</i> had 13 radio shows (from the <i>Caleidoscópio</i> series), broadcasted by <a href="http://www.rtp.pt/antena2/" target="_blank">Antena 2</a> Radio. The show was aired from the 5th of January to the 30th of March, this year.<br />
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As a listener, I felt like the depth of this program required me, to think about it, and <i>digest</i> what was shared there. Even three months after, the program is over, its content, is definitely worth talking about, here. You'll see why! The good news is that all episodes can still be heard online, and are listed <a href="http://www.joaogodinho.com/fora-de-formato.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Its theme? To give voice to instruments, composers, expressions, techniques and means that aren't usual in music, and that are mostly unknown from the general public.<br />
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Meet João Godinho</h2>
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João Godinho <a href="https://soundcloud.com/joaogodinho" target="_blank">composes</a>, plays piano, and accordion too. Besides that, (if that wasn't enough) João is a creative entrepreneur in the music field. Producing, communicating, translating, organizing, pushing forward, educating, are all things he's been actively doing, for a while now (see a bit more of his bio and cv <a href="http://www.joaogodinho.com/biografia.html" target="_blank">here</a>). This radio show was just one of them.<br />
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He seldom plays live, but the Universe gave me the rare chance to be present and register the last time he did it, in a portrait! (See <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2015/05/meet-this-mia-festival.html" target="_blank">here</a>) There is something shy about João, that perhaps makes him feel more comfortable behind his creations (and not exposed, and on stage). Knowing that, I particularly appreciated, and feel grateful, that he's let me sneak peak his work, in this context, in first hand.</div>
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Radio series meets RDP</h2>
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<a href="http://www.rtp.pt/antena2/" target="_blank">Antena 2</a> is the Portuguese radio dedicated to classic and contemporary music. This radio, makes part of RDP (Radio Difusão Portuguesa) - the biggest Radio network, in Portugal - and where the national Television (RTP) studios are, as well.</div>
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I have to start with RTP's humongous facility, the space available, the whites and the blues, the quality of the studios, and the view of the building, to the Tagus River. Absolutely stunning and so inspiring! </div>
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The hyperlink show</h2>
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The diversity and amount of works, subjects and visions shared in <i>Fora do Formato</i>, are absolutely overwhelming, and a bridge to further knowledge. If You are a curious person, and are eager to learn more about music, here are just some of the topics referred in this radio program. </div>
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<b>Musical concepts</b></h3>
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<li>The role of the composer, the concept of what is music, the duration of the music; </li>
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<li>History, evolution and transgression of the musical notation. Graphic scores;</li>
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<b>Instruments and music around the world</b></h3>
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<li>The difference between apparently similar instruments, such as accordions and concertinas, disklaviers and pianolas;</li>
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<li>Many instruments were featured such as: the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_guitar" target="_blank">Portuguese guitar</a>, Chinese <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suona" target="_blank">Suona</a>, Hungarian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimbalom" target="_blank">Cimbalom</a>, Harpsichord, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viol" target="_blank">viola da gamba</a>, Hornpipes not from Scotland, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uilleann_pipes" target="_blank">Uileann pipes</a> from Ireland, Japanese's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakuhachi" target="_blank">Shakuhachi</a>, Indonesian's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamelan" target="_blank">Gamelan</a>, Zimbabwe's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbira" target="_blank">Mbira</a> and Innovative instruments, such as the <a href="http://www.thefluidpiano.com/the-fluid-piano/index" target="_blank">fluid piano</a>, <a href="http://touchkeys.co.uk/" target="_blank">touchkeys</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterphone" target="_blank">waterphone</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octobass" target="_blank">octobass</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Stalacpipe_Organ" target="_blank">Stalacpipe Organ</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_organ" target="_blank">Sea organ</a>, and Elastic Aerophone, just to name a few;</li>
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<li>Portuguese guitar in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fado" target="_blank">Fado</a> deviant context and in an experimental music context;</li>
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<li>Mechanical musical instruments, </li>
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<li>Music from all around the world, from the Japanese <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gagaku" target="_blank">Gagaku</a> to the Indian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnatic_music" target="_blank">Carnatic music</a>;</li>
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<b>Technical meets conceptual</b></h3>
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<li>Special instruments tuning;</li>
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<li>Several techniques and expressions used in music: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatial_music" target="_blank">Polystylism, Spatial music</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Thompson_(composer)" target="_blank">Soundpainting</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exquisite_corpse" target="_blank">Cadavre Exquis</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furniture_music" target="_blank">Furniture music</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectral_music" target="_blank">Spectral music</a>...</li>
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<li>Contemporary music played with ancient instruments, and unusual ways of playing traditional instruments (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_technique" target="_blank">Extended techniques</a>), </li>
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<li>Music made out of unconventional stuff, such as: toys, cutlery, paper, water, trash, stones, pottery, ice, and I couldn't fail to mention this - possible favorite - piece for graphic designers: music made with a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2LJ1i7222c" target="_blank">Typewriter</a>, from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Typewriter" target="_blank">Leroy Anderson</a>.</li>
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<li>Historical sound manifests such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Noises" target="_blank">L'arte dei rumori</a> (The art of noises)</li>
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<b>Social and environmental affairs </b></h3>
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<li style="text-align: left;">Nature and music;</li>
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<li style="text-align: left;">Political fairness in cultural policies in what innovative arts are regarded;</li>
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<li style="text-align: left;">Limits of the current music education;</li>
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<b>People one should know about</b></h3>
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<li style="text-align: left;">One will also find references and music from inspiring people and groups such as: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphe_Sax" target="_blank">Adolf Sax</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Scriabin" target="_blank">Alexander Scriabin</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Schnittke" target="_blank">Alfred Schnittke</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Curran" target="_blank">Alvin Curran</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astor_Piazzolla" target="_blank">Astor Piazzola</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bang_on_a_Can_All_Stars" target="_blank">Bang on a Can All Stars</a>, <a href="http://barthopkin.com/" target="_blank">Bart Hopkins</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernardo_Sassetti" target="_blank">Bernardo Sassetti</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Eno" target="_blank">Brian Eno</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Paredes" target="_blank">Carlos Paredes</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathy_Berberian" target="_blank">Cathy Berberian</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Haden" target="_blank">Charlie Haden</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Debussy" target="_blank">Claude Debussy</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_(Zorn)" target="_blank">Cobra</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domenico_Dragonetti" target="_blank">Domenico Dragonetti</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Chojnacka" target="_blank">Elisabeth Chojnacka</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Satie" target="_blank">Erik Satie</a>, <a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Zappa" target="_blank">Frank Zappa</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Sollima" target="_blank">Giovanni Sollima</a>, <a href="https://gonzobass.wixsite.com/gonzoalmeida/biography" target="_blank">Gonçalo Almeida</a>, Haydn, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cowell" target="_blank">Henry Cowell</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeto_Pascoal" target="_blank">Hermeto Pascoal</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilliard_Ensemble" target="_blank">Hilliard Ensemble</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Stravinsky" target="_blank">Igor Stravinsky</a>, <a href="https://www.joanagama.com/biografia--biography.html" target="_blank">Joana Gama</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo%C3%A3o_de_Sousa_Carvalho" target="_blank">João de Sousa Carvalho</a>, <a href="https://www.lixoluxo.com/biography/" target="_blank">João Ricardo de Barros Oliveira</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cage" target="_blank">John Cage</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Zorn" target="_blank">John Zorn</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joly_Braga_Santos" target="_blank">Joly Braga Santos</a>, <a href="http://www.mic.pt/cimcp/dispatcher?where=0&what=2&show=0&compositor_id=112&pessoa_id=238&lang=EN&site=ic" target="_blank">José Luís Ferreira</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karlheinz_Stockhausen" target="_blank">Karlheinz Stockhausen</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Volans" target="_blank">Kevin Volans</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Monte_Young" target="_blank">La Monte Young</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci" target="_blank">Leonardo da Vinci</a>, <a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_Mozart" target="_blank">Leopold Mozart</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Andriessen" target="_blank">Louis Andriessen</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven" target="_blank">Ludwig van Beethoven,</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Russolo" target="_blank">Luigi Russolo</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lu%C3%ADs_Tinoco_(composer)" target="_blank">Luís Tinoco</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_de_Falla" target="_blank">Manuel de Falla</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Leng_Tan" target="_blank">Margaret Leng Tan</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauricio_Kagel" target="_blank">Mauricio Kagel</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Eastley" target="_blank">Max Eastley</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_van_der_Aa" target="_blank">Michel van der Aa</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Feldman" target="_blank">Morton Feldman</a>, <a href="http://preparedguitar.blogspot.com/2014/07/nuno-rebelo-13-questions.html" target="_blank">Nuno Rebelo</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Messiaen" target="_blank">Olivier Messiaen</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Pandolfo" target="_blank">Paolo Pandolfo</a>, <a href="http://www.museudofado.pt/personalidades/detalhes.php?id=358" target="_blank">Pedro Caldeira Cabral</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahsaan_Roland_Kirk" target="_blank">Roland Kirk</a>, <a href="http://www.ricardojacinto.com/about" target="_blank">Ricardo Jacinto</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvatore_Sciarrino" target="_blank">Salvatore Sciarrino</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefano_Scodanibbio" target="_blank">Stefano Scodanibbio</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Reich" target="_blank">Steve Reich</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tan_Dun" target="_blank">Tan Dun</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles" target="_blank">The Beatles</a>, <a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Dru_Takemitsu" target="_blank">Tōru Takemitsu</a>, <a href="http://www.soundpainting.com/walter-thompson/" target="_blank">Walter Thompson</a>, <a href="http://www.victorgama.org/" target="_blank">Victor Gama</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Mitterer" target="_blank">Wolfgang Mitterer</a>, among many others!</li>
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<b>New problems and solutions in music</b></h3>
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<li style="text-align: left;">Authorship and copyrights;</li>
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<li style="text-align: left;">Music composed by artificial intelligence:</li>
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<li style="text-align: left;">Instruments and music without human performers.</li>
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The Borders and the inside</h2>
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I was absolutely blown away with the things I've learned with this show. </div>
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<i>Fora do Formato</i> questions what is autochthonous, and what is foreign, what is standard and what's outside of the box, what is close to us, and what is weird, what is human what is technology. It also deals with breaking preconceptions music wise, such as girding certain instruments and composers to a certain context, and even questioning the role of the composer, itself, nowadays. </div>
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The importance of this show, could also be placed in inspiring other composers to push the boundaries of music, forward; to question the public's role, and everyone's ability to make music.</div>
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It's a reminder to look back and see the future to come, and also to see the future that, by the way, is already happening, right now. One could pinpoint what could change for the better too. </div>
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Another beauty of this show, was how the most improbable things, may somehow (after listening to his show) become dear affections to the listener. (Thank's for that João!) Freud's <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny" target="_blank">Unheimlich</a> </i>concept, suits here like a glove. German has amazing words, such as <i>Unheimlich</i>, that can mean familiar, close and weird, mysterious at the same time. Kind of what I felt here!</div>
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Rock, folk, jazz, improvised music, classical music, far away places and your block... I believe one can find references, ideas, and surprises in this radio show that can change one's preconceptions of the world, through music.</div>
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In the last episode of <i>Fora de formato</i>, Godinho quotes two masters, in two famous statements of them, that I feel I need to quote here too, because I feel like the ideas behind those, were crucial to the making of this radio program.</div>
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<i>I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones.</i></div>
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John Cage</div>
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<i><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOHCV-QO5HA" target="_blank">Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.</a></i></i></div>
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Frank Zappa</div>
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The drawing </h2>
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<a href="http://www.joaogodinho.com/" target="_blank">João Godinho</a> was, actually, the first radio host I drew for these <i>Radio series</i> of mine, and, it took me two of his programs, to finish the drawing you see above.<br />
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<i>Fora do Formato's</i> variety of the contents, was what inspired me to do the portrait's background full of different colors, textures, movements, etc. I thought of it, as different countries (music languages) interlacing themselves, overlapping, fusing, bordering, creating something new with it... couldn't help to think of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_place" target="_blank">Non-places,</a> of Marc Augé. The anthropological domain is undoubtedly fundamental here.</div>
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João's figure is the only thing in pencil. He was what made all this make sense (even, and specially, with such different concepts) the structure of all this. Just as I see the pencil for drawing: I find it the bones of drawing, and the first possible link to whatever we can imagine.</div>
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In the drawing (and in my mind) he was blowing through his speech's green freshness.</div>
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Dream Composing</h2>
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Indeed, I find that <i>Fora do Formato,</i> could've only taken shape through the hands of a musician, a composer, and someone who has an insider's view of the subject.</div>
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Therefore, and besides his many projects, I need to mention the beauty of his work as a composer. I see the daily life, the trite turned into gold, the rhythm of the piano as a dance, the telluric insight, the sense of humor, the play, the scenic aspect of his music, the conceptual and the traditional, the repetition and the creation born through it. Days gone through, and his music flowing fast.</div>
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You can listen to some of his compositions <a href="https://soundcloud.com/joaogodinho" target="_blank">here</a>. Very funny that his show is included in a series called <i>Caleidoscópio</i> (Kaleidoscope), because I find in that same object, the image to portray his creations: full of movement, light and colors. I could easily picture him doing music for dance, cinema or theatre (arts with motion). So much potential to explore here!</div>
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Last, but not the least, I need to mention that João Godinho has composed a new piece, called <i>Alcance (Reach)</i>. Its <a href="https://www.konzerthaus.de/en/programm/jovem-orquestra-portuguesa/4638" target="_blank">world premiere will be in Berlin</a>, (today, at Konzerthaus) followed by a concert in <a href="https://www.ccb.pt/Default/pt/Programacao/Musica?A=1731" target="_blank">Lisbon, next Sunday</a>, the 28th of July, at Centro Cultural de Belém. Both concerts will be performed by the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JOPorquestra/?fref=pb&hc_location=profile_browser" target="_blank">Jovem Orquestra Portuguesa</a> (<a href="https://ocp.org.pt/" target="_blank">JOP</a>), conducted by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Carneiro_(musician)" target="_blank">Pedro Carneiro</a>, and leading the piano, will be the Portuguese pianist, <a href="http://www.artway.pt/antonio-rosado-eng.html" target="_blank">António Rosado</a>. They will also play <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Enescu" target="_blank">George Enescu</a>'s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q_35xq3Qhc" target="_blank">Prélude à L'Unisson</a> and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5NsPOgyALI" target="_blank">Symphony n. 7</a> of Ludwig van Beethoven.</div>
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I wouldn't miss it for the world!</div>
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Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-39507104468620849412019-07-02T13:21:00.000+01:002019-07-29T22:19:21.936+01:00A 10 out of 10 MIA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIjkcDS_tA9CfhiRXl6Xc7MhFWJ2UHz6vRs0ZLXZx5Glu4XeMWyhm7QF3scTQ6upQhp3DLuG5nCOqcWIYIjIGcGEeTc-wyhqaWFCDXMpHazcgg2N8Vks0kA1YaWzbgNEavcPEfhzWSPU/s1600/10+out+of+10+MIA+19.06.2019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1129" data-original-width="1600" height="451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIjkcDS_tA9CfhiRXl6Xc7MhFWJ2UHz6vRs0ZLXZx5Glu4XeMWyhm7QF3scTQ6upQhp3DLuG5nCOqcWIYIjIGcGEeTc-wyhqaWFCDXMpHazcgg2N8Vks0kA1YaWzbgNEavcPEfhzWSPU/s640/10+out+of+10+MIA+19.06.2019.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">10 out of 10 © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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This year, <a href="http://mia%20festival/" target="_blank">MIA Festival</a> turned 10 years old! A book about it, was published to celebrate the occasion, and a special edition happened. I was there drawing, and prepared, for you guys, a special edition, here too! I'd call it the most personal and deep I have ever done, so far. The drawings were also <a href="https://jazz.pt/report/2019/07/02/rita-ouveu/" target="_blank">published in Jazz.pt</a> magazine.<br />
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Want know more? Follow my lead!<br />
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The MIA of this year</h3>
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For those who haven't been following my work, or don't know MIA, this is an improvised music festival, that takes place in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atouguia_da_Baleia" target="_blank">Atouguia da Baleia</a>. Most of musicians are raffled, and the audience just knows who is playing with who, in the proper day of the concert. There is, still, place for already formed groups, and those are announced previously. The keynote of it all, is experimenting and taking risks.</div>
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One of my personal inspirations, was that this year, Mia was surrounded by art in many shapes and forms: dance, visual arts, poetry, books, performance, photography, performance... There were even two directors (Bruna Beffart e <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pmcgoncalves" target="_blank">Pedro Gonçalves</a>) shooting two different documentaries there.<br />
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Besides the music, there were outside of the box's inputs, that made me do, think and look for other things besides, writing and drawing! Added to the drawings, in this article, you'll find different references to cinema, jewelry, cartoons, fashion, philosophy, meditation, nature, sustainability, religions of the world, Portuguese political history and many others...<br />
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This time, I opted by having as a front cover of this article, something that made part of my process, and not a final result itself. 10 out of 10 was a color testing paper I used, through the process of finishing up all these portraits, and it has a little bit of all the drawings in it. So I feel like it sums up a lot of what was going on in my mind, regarding this experience.<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIue359_ZN4" target="_blank">Face Masks</a></h3>
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The face as a mask, or the mask as a face could be the theme in common for the next drawings.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivFf-Ynnk-_T9qiUkfMDU6CQ6njmtwrOV5OpBcvZ8AFtfOEgb-KJMs1-obZrgRsbwlWsPio8LIUc2O5TYITiNS73sQBxSNayfIGGZtQdi94E3Q8RnVO7n5sLZRbfJ4S-j29OSAW05RNw/s1600/-31.05.2019+Elena+Waclawiczek+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1129" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivFf-Ynnk-_T9qiUkfMDU6CQ6njmtwrOV5OpBcvZ8AFtfOEgb-KJMs1-obZrgRsbwlWsPio8LIUc2O5TYITiNS73sQBxSNayfIGGZtQdi94E3Q8RnVO7n5sLZRbfJ4S-j29OSAW05RNw/s640/-31.05.2019+Elena+Waclawiczek+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="450" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Elena Waclawiczek © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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The drawing above, was the first one I have made, during the Punk Puppet Rituals' concert. It's the Austrian dancer, <a href="https://www.elenawaclawiczek.com/" target="_blank">Elena Waclawiczek</a>. The little I knew, back then, how much of a key figure she'd be in this festival. She not only performed as a dancer and a performer, as she conducted one of the ensembles. It was surprising, and stunning! She is a force of nature, that defies the established order of things, whenever she feels like things are getting dull, in a very creative way. She is also a <a href="https://www.elenawaclawiczek.com/aktion-und-malerei/" target="_blank">visual artist</a>, and comes from my beloved Vienna city.</div>
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What I wanted to portray here, was that exact force, defying the gravity, flying in the air and pushing things forward with motion and beauty. There wasn't even a need to draw her face, as the traction force, starred by her through the chair, was enough to say what I wanted to portray. In a way, it worked as a mask. Atemberaubend! </div>
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So, here's to the firsts, to the pioneers, to the daring, to new breakthroughs, and to the visionaries of the world! Prost!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1131" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIk0U7vLjr9qbadTTuMklFDviF3VhLpHswAJkzfBnhGh6KX6GldOCSPkKWfV5zV81c6Idff5g8-4Euq3gn_XR-uV_PQUiCkBSAYO47Ykpk80DVQhnnrWMrd9WmjEjrQt24Aq8cIEYYzis/s640/-31.05.2019+Giusi+Bolotta+%2540+MIA.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="452" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Giusi Bulotta © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIk0U7vLjr9qbadTTuMklFDviF3VhLpHswAJkzfBnhGh6KX6GldOCSPkKWfV5zV81c6Idff5g8-4Euq3gn_XR-uV_PQUiCkBSAYO47Ykpk80DVQhnnrWMrd9WmjEjrQt24Aq8cIEYYzis/s1600/-31.05.2019+Giusi+Bolotta+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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This one is the Italian double bass player, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-575847369" target="_blank">Giusi Bulotta</a>. I kind of have a special relation with the double bass instrument because, back in the days, that was one of the instruments I've studied. It has always allured me its bass sounds, its musical role of structure as a rhythm setter, and the fact that it wasn't - many times - in the front line, didn't hurt me too, since I've always hated too much exposure.</div>
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I'm telling you this, because this has everything to do with this drawing, the way it is now. In this portrait, I kind of saw Giusi wearing her instrument as her mask, where she could protect her identity, but also express herself through her second skin, her double bass. One could only <i>see her</i> through her sound, not through her face, hence her black body and face.</div>
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The perfume of the stars</h3>
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Stars were a big inspiration in this post. In very different ways, all the next drawings relate to that theme.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyVJcX86rL4xPqhVmV_LbnF_9cyiyX2JH4XTzo_fllKJF6Y6oyQA_YL5Bmi-6dILojABYr8jgjo7h4ZZlT3gR2LS6mq1Lfo0z0bfu8GIPapCUQgPxdlxZal5S9iXUVI9Qdmo4AfCZYm8U/s1600/1.06.2019+Yoram+Rosilio+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1008" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyVJcX86rL4xPqhVmV_LbnF_9cyiyX2JH4XTzo_fllKJF6Y6oyQA_YL5Bmi-6dILojABYr8jgjo7h4ZZlT3gR2LS6mq1Lfo0z0bfu8GIPapCUQgPxdlxZal5S9iXUVI9Qdmo4AfCZYm8U/s640/1.06.2019+Yoram+Rosilio+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="402" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Yoram Rosilio © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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Above is the double bass player, <a href="https://yobabass.wixsite.com/yo" target="_blank">Yoram Rosilio</a>, who happened to play along with Punk Puppet Rituals. Besides playing, and in my vision, he actually kind of danced too, it that gig. </div>
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And throughout MIA festival, he definitely proofed his adventurous and challenging spirit. So, when I did this portrait of him, I kind of envisioned his unkempt head, as an exploding star. Ready to burst and change the course of things. As simple as that.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1132" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpfIOj1xTn7Niu1g8Zc0kRywRFB6TSmTirduYLO7_aT1fE8BrUzpM-vmeN0pT0EwBvCSuritp7hdb1ta2cigWESTybeuGEWPLG2hXeUml68ZI4_DYVKDlzjLQ5IxPLzDo2Bcy6HajCwk0/s640/1.06.2019+Marco+Scarassatti+%2540+MIA.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="452" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Healed by earth, Marco Scarassatti © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<i>Healed by Earth</i> is my portrait of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/MrMscarass" target="_blank">Marco Scarassatti</a>. Marco comes from Brazil, and I think this would be a good starting point to talk a bit more about this drawing, because, from its flag I took the 27 stars. But that is just the tip of the iceberg.</div>
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When I did this drawing, Marcos was playing his <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_de_cocho" target="_blank">viola de cocho</a> and also his hose blowing horn, an instrument he has built himself, and that he named <i>Trop Kirk Roland</i>. The part of this image that was done live was the drawing and the writing. And I knew, right away, that was unfinished... I had other ideas in mind to close the circle...</div>
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The thing that stroke me first, when I saw him playing live, was the therapeutic and telluric connection in him. I also found Marco very conceptual in his playing, and I knew I wanted to have a deep blue dark sky and stars in his drawing, alluding to a higher state of mind and depth. The blue (both the color pencil, as later, the gouache) I chose, is more of a petrol blue, which includes in its composition green (the nature hint). But I wanted to do the stars part in a meaningful way, and didn't had that figured out yet...</div>
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The day after we came back from MIA, Marco was invited by the <a href="https://www.belasartes.ulisboa.pt/en/" target="_blank">Fine Arts School of Lisbon</a> (where I studied) to do a lecture about his work as an investigator, a visual artist, an improviser and a musician. I attended, and relished it a lot! It was during this lecture of his, that I had the closure idea for my drawing. I mean, it not only confirmed my initial feeling, as it added more content to what I had in mind for his portrait. I'll explain...</div>
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His body of work, is tremendously spiritual, plastic, and sustainable. I found it so interesting (and needed) that he recycles materials and incorporates them in his pieces as he also recycles, from times to times, his own pieces (instruments, sound sculptures, etc). Now it was clear, that the material I needed to use for those stars had to be recycled! And I wanted them punched, to give it a bit of a DIY look. Plus, I already had a star puncher! The parallel in my mind was: he makes his own instruments, I make the shapes in my drawing.</div>
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And besides the testing color paper I shared (this article's cover), I used another one, a neon yellow paper where I had printed something else, that would go straight to the garbage, later. But I guess, I am a bit like Marco, and I like to be sustainable (even made <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2015/03/inside-durante-o-todo-e-o-oco-exhibition.html" target="_blank">an exhibition</a>, some years ago, connected to that theme) and so, when the color testing paper, you see in the top of this article, started to be <i>too crowded</i>, I began to use the yellow one, that I'd later star punch 27 times, to use here. The choice of the material I'd use for those stars, was chosen as soon as I knew I was reusing something related to my own process of work.</div>
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Scarassatti also shared a lot of spiritual references in his lecture, that made a whole lot of sense to me, and added new meaning to those stars, I already had in mind. There is something profound about this artist, a deep connection to the cosmos, and an understanding and interest in how can art heal one's soul and make us all live in a better planet. And, in the end, that's what this portrait is about.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">Pedro Santo © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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This one is the <a href="https://lastporkrecords.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Pedro Santo</a>. This time, I drew this drummer some centimeters away from him, so I was able to see other details, that I would've not noticed if I was sat in the audience. </div>
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The whole concept of this drawing started by one of those details I could now spot, his small ear piercing. That tiny little dot reminded me of a star, and of this:</div>
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Along drawing musicians, I reap, many beautiful memories, musical breakthroughs, special personalities, and personal favorites of mine. I could call them <i>my stars</i>, my personal constellations. </div>
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And I wanted to draw him to the rhythm of the stars, as a part of a constellation (the one specifically in the drawing is his sign's, Virgo).</div>
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Time after time, it's an absolute wonder, and pleasure to see him play (see my previous portraits of him <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2015/05/meet-this-mia-festival.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2016/07/art-life-and-love.html" target="_blank">here</a>). Don't really know how he pulls that off, but he manages to be as fast as he is stable and solid. His agility is key, as his timing and craftsmanship, playing, are remarkable. Pedro makes me want to dance, every time he plays, and that makes me happy!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="995" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3LYBy3Naw8Yf3Zoze2qOH9z6VszHHHjZOlQTnIjONOWFkBLsyJWncYDtc53_F2oIOb2WPF_mEZ6pT51jaO0HE5VC4lP0NxCVCDhTtofuF7Boq9C7S7RTKkTWLh0wu4uJ_byvKEASjOSc/s640/1.06.2019+Domenico+Saccente+%2540+Jam+MIA.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="398" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Domenico Saccente © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3LYBy3Naw8Yf3Zoze2qOH9z6VszHHHjZOlQTnIjONOWFkBLsyJWncYDtc53_F2oIOb2WPF_mEZ6pT51jaO0HE5VC4lP0NxCVCDhTtofuF7Boq9C7S7RTKkTWLh0wu4uJ_byvKEASjOSc/s1600/1.06.2019+Domenico+Saccente+%2540+Jam+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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This one is the Italian <a href="https://www.muzicplus.it/en/about-us/domenico-saccente.html" target="_blank">Domenico Saccente</a>. He plays <a href="https://youtu.be/Fs2_yToDjTo" target="_blank">accordion</a>, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/carlomascolofurioso/sta-per?in=carlomascolofurioso%2Fsets%2F4-factorial&fbclid=IwAR1K-JlHHtS4hJwAW_4pVYNSMtOBV9c6R9r5mzuDFXUd2ELOZliuVPPxk8Y" target="_blank">piano</a> and keyboards. In this drawing, he was playing piano. </div>
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Ahhhhh... Domenico... What a joy to witness this musician flourish. In my view, he was one of the show stoppers of MIA this year, and for a reason! Comparing to, four years ago, when I last met and <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2015/05/meet-this-mia-festival.html" target="_blank">drew him</a>, I felt like he was much more confident and willing to give more of himself. And when that took place, on stage, it was magic! The stars represent, him opening up to the Universe, and to the gift of being gifted. That's just for a few. It, somehow, reminded me of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koxRDhAQOpw" target="_blank">the great beauty</a> movie theme: true beauty is so rare and hard to find! And he nailed it!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1062" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5DLdlFVe5iKNlNNTKyRx6Ep16Sey_x2IT5qVNbEeHAIdvMxqH3gHGO5RSNn24KLy2J3VGJgdDdNZOBwCANgOmAXxMWckxsJqgIqVdmZSObCcCBfwyCbWjeGF4b36BZTEs38iFg-jRITg/s640/1.06.2019+Axel+Do%25CC%2588rner+%2540+MIA.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="424" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To the moon and back, Axel Dörner © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<i>To the moon and back</i> depicts one of my favorite moments of the festival. I did it during <a href="http://www.axeldoerner.org/" target="_blank">Axel Dörner</a>'s solo concert... and...what a trip it was!!! I was a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y mesmerized by this trumpet player. He got my full attention at the same time he gave me a free ride to a space odyssey! </div>
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It was conceptual, ethereal, logical and bold. My idea, in this drawing, was that he was pushing the boundaries of the trumpet playing forward, by kind of punching it, and linking it to the infinity of the Universe. There wasn't even a question. I could only use silver and gold here.</div>
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He inspired me so much and so fast, that I finished this drawing pretty fast, and still had time to write, during the concert, in the back of his drawing a letter to him that relates to the portrait and the moment. Here it is:</div>
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<i>Dear Axel,</i></div>
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<i>Thank you to the moon and back</i></div>
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<i>for all the stars, </i></div>
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<i>the radio, </i></div>
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<i>for the space flight,</i></div>
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<i>the quietness, </i></div>
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<i>the alphabet,</i></div>
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<i>the numbers,</i></div>
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<i>for the etymology of all words unknown,</i></div>
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<i>all realms in foam.</i></div>
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Beautifully smashing. One of those concerts I will never forget.</div>
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The land of lyrics</h3>
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Poetry and a certain lyricism, bind together the next drawings.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAFniY_RTckaa-EzSL3Q-6Iqchd6T-zq5nZA-L5CPSoTOuQrzWP7LwlR4jarkBz7K3HJuwZMYT22jq56esAWc9vLD0xqyifXsgvz-9BKWnlsndde3ZxW8oqbpsYiL340l8q6OoJIEvN-4/s1600/1.06.2019+PREC++%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="954" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAFniY_RTckaa-EzSL3Q-6Iqchd6T-zq5nZA-L5CPSoTOuQrzWP7LwlR4jarkBz7K3HJuwZMYT22jq56esAWc9vLD0xqyifXsgvz-9BKWnlsndde3ZxW8oqbpsYiL340l8q6OoJIEvN-4/s640/1.06.2019+PREC++%2540+MIA.jpg" width="380" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Da vanguarda à missa do meio dia, PREC © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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This drawing was made during a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOSfJesQz0I&t=60s" target="_blank">PREC</a>'s concert. I think it's consensual to call this group, MIA's resident band. Its start, merges with MIA's beginning, and has been present in every edition of the festival. </div>
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PREC stands for <span style="text-align: center;">Projecto Resonant Experimental Criativo (Creative Experimental Resonant Project) and</span> blinks to <i>another</i> PREC - Processo Revolucionário em Curso (Ongoing Revolutionary Process). This last one, regards the <a href="http://carnation%20revolution/" target="_blank">carnation revolution</a> post period in Portugal.</div>
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One can definitely find a link between the two of them. As politics, music can be a game changer as well, and these dudes have definitely proven that. All in the group (<a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2014/06/ahahahaha-mimimimimi-miahahahau-uuhuhuhu.html" target="_blank">Paulo Chagas</a>, <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2015/05/meet-this-mia-festival.html" target="_blank">Fernando Simões</a>, <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2016/07/art-life-and-love.html" target="_blank">Paulo Leal Duarte</a>, <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2015/05/meet-this-mia-festival.html" target="_blank">Pedro Santo</a>, <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2015/05/meet-this-mia-festival.html" target="_blank">Paulo Pimentel</a>, <a href="https://miguelbass.com/?fbclid=IwAR3QAHFPk8IFqy1ZITBYCVOElq3VAk8YOkavVwwH2JtRRqAn3CdU-5Q-0yE" target="_blank">Miguel Falcão</a>, Paulo Ramos) were great and made it work!</div>
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I specially need to mention the divine intervention of <span style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://paulo%20ramos/" target="_blank">Paulo Ramos</a>, whose poetry and reciting deeply resonated in me. He wrote an absolutely astonishing poem on purpose to this concert, and to the 10th anniversary of this festival. Mia (Música Improvisada de Atoguia da Baleia) also means </span>meow, in Portuguese, and due to that, the cat is the symbol of the festival. And it was the main character of Paulo's text. But it was his sense of timing, the depth of what he wrote, and how he said it, that stroked me the most.</div>
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I feel like this concert was about freedom; knowing what you want, even if it's different, and about this so present creative road, we've been all walking in. I tried to channel that in my drawing too, with a loosen hand movement paired with firm lines. The brown earthy road mixed with some spunk pink and silver cat's whiskers - those could've not be forgotten! The drawing also includes a verse of Paulo Ramos' poem "<i>da vanguarda à missa do meio dia</i>" (from the vanguard to the noon mass). It summarizes the reach of this whole MIA thing. From the little fisherman village to the world. Can't beat that.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1127" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfEXmBpIE1GqqBQg7IiAQd0vTJNgC-fuF7YdLVcrDGWHfSfpc0B1tPPjLRIEjqAud1g8cOwuGYqDWo8zzNmaP0hXhuIRHD9anYyG2-qwJHM7v9V62XUvCxnIvJwA1maSkBkcge5VUDLWA/s640/1.06.2019+Anna+Marie+Ignarro+%2540+MIA.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="450" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anna Marie Ignarro © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfEXmBpIE1GqqBQg7IiAQd0vTJNgC-fuF7YdLVcrDGWHfSfpc0B1tPPjLRIEjqAud1g8cOwuGYqDWo8zzNmaP0hXhuIRHD9anYyG2-qwJHM7v9V62XUvCxnIvJwA1maSkBkcge5VUDLWA/s1600/1.06.2019+Anna+Marie+Ignarro+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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This is my <a href="https://ignarroannamarie.wixsite.com/ignarro?fbclid=IwAR3OyQkWBIrz3S6p4F4IE1naY2wBHfeX8FHo8cGr1biC0Zw9bXhamAucDHE" target="_blank">Anna Marie Ignarro</a>'s portrait. I found this Italian-American clarinetist, quite a special being. Drawing wise, I felt like the things I had to say, required a story line, a language, a poem, and hand writing... more of a human feel. The rosy hue was chosen, thinking of a sensitive skin tone, the biggest organ in the human body, and the one that allows us the contact with the surroundings and with the other. The omission of the outline of her body was my way to put that idea of sensibility and ethereal nature into paper. I had the feeling her inner world is vast and very rich, and her openness to the others and the world, along with her subtleness are distinctive marks of hers.</div>
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Here's the poem:</div>
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<b><i>Anna Marie (i nome fondamentali, i nomi primordiali)</i></b></div>
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<i>La grazia e la purezza,</i></div>
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<i>la sensibilità,</i></div>
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<i>la pelle d'oca,</i></div>
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<i>la comprensione del mondo,</i></div>
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<i>delle cose sottili,</i></div>
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<i>i gesti del vento,</i></div>
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<i>il volo degli uccelli, </i></div>
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<i>il significato delle parole,</i></div>
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<i>la danza del tempo,</i></div>
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<i>gli ululati di appartenenza,</i></div>
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<i>l'apparizione della bellezza,</i></div>
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<i>la profondità del mare,</i></div>
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<i>la leggerezza della sabbia,</i></div>
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<i>e i fiori,</i></div>
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<i>i fiori che ho visto in te.</i></div>
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<b><i>Anna Marie (the fundamental names, the primordial names)</i></b></div>
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<i>Grace and purity,</i></div>
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<i>the sensibility,</i></div>
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<i>the goosebumps,</i></div>
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<i>the understanding of the world,</i></div>
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<i>of subtle things,</i></div>
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<i>the wind gestures,</i></div>
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<i>the flight of birds,</i></div>
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<i>the meaning of words,</i></div>
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<i>the dance of time,</i></div>
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<i>the howls of belonging,</i></div>
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<i>the apparition of beauty,</i></div>
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<i>the depth of the sea,</i></div>
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<i>the lightness of sand,</i></div>
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<i>and the flowers,</i></div>
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<i>the flowers that I saw in you.</i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="988" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiioH5TWpsf7BOhmqx2xXyiT7qHJmPRKb295eoTjw0d5djZhvw4J6mVTDlkqXvyUtk4dT34lDYqEPkgRDwrgl6CeiR2jLbDjyaJlK76mqfulQ64qFobb_-fSd0dO7OCUqd4318efBgtlWQ/s640/2.06.2019+Paulo+Silva+%2540+MIA.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="394" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paulo Silva © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiioH5TWpsf7BOhmqx2xXyiT7qHJmPRKb295eoTjw0d5djZhvw4J6mVTDlkqXvyUtk4dT34lDYqEPkgRDwrgl6CeiR2jLbDjyaJlK76mqfulQ64qFobb_-fSd0dO7OCUqd4318efBgtlWQ/s1600/2.06.2019+Paulo+Silva+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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Different people, bring to the table, different references. I find that per se, so interesting because it makes me dive into other realms and visual expressions to match their personal universes. And I never know what that reference will be. Love to be surprised!</div>
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That was exactly what happened in this portrait. It's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/paulo.sllva" target="_blank">Paulo Silva</a> who plays guitar. </div>
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I must say that, from all the Portuguese musicians present in this festival, I found Paulo, the one with the most present national folk music influence in his playing. To me, it surpassed the boundaries of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fado" target="_blank">Fado music</a> (had in my mind the legacy of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88SQggA1pto" target="_blank">Artur Paredes</a> as an inspiration). I saw it most related to the actual way he played the guitar, treating it as filigree. And how interesting to hear that in a context of experimental music! Dope!</div>
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I closed my eyes listening to him, and all I could see was an intricate lace, that immediatly led me to the <a href="https://en.everybodywiki.com/Portuguese_Filigree" target="_blank">Portuguese Filigree</a>. It's an absolute wonder to me, how these goldsmiths labour the gold with such details and complexity, and that was exactly what I felt Paulo showed to us, so I decided to include, in a discreet way, some shapes inspired (a <a href="https://eternamentejoias.pt/produto/viana-heart-in-gold-plated-silver/?lang=en" target="_blank">heart</a> and the <a href="https://www.almaecoracao.pt/jewellery-portuguese-Filigree-Necklace-Viana-Beads-Silver-With-Gold-Finish-2" target="_blank">beads</a> of Viana do Castelo) by that ancient Portuguese tradition. </div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6TmogXhOZ8" target="_blank">Dream a little dream like this</a></h3>
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In the next drawings, oneiric and enchanted visions set the tone of the next drawings.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFk_JKc6SHPyB_owtW6Dals-iSzNr7tD5xo003nguzsd2gevk31yrWHBNn9x3WVn49-2RjWTfUwfnnOO77QQee26U9EuBEb3nHa5bCqQfQcG_P59-0teFb7WU37VoH9lEKNdxg2eePb0M/s1600/-31.05.2019+Hannah+White+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1139" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFk_JKc6SHPyB_owtW6Dals-iSzNr7tD5xo003nguzsd2gevk31yrWHBNn9x3WVn49-2RjWTfUwfnnOO77QQee26U9EuBEb3nHa5bCqQfQcG_P59-0teFb7WU37VoH9lEKNdxg2eePb0M/s640/-31.05.2019+Hannah+White+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="454" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hannah White © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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This is my drawing of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hannahmary88" target="_blank">Hannah White</a>, it's about her softness and beauty. I felt the poetry, the dreamy vibe, the love and the subtleness in her. Besides that, I could also tell there was a surprise factor, and a grounded side in her, represented here by the lines of her skirt. Flying high! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM1lkQcsZa8XAVCuDJW0cOT-aoLxfolxc1VBUQSzvUi4Kf-uDZCNUverhjwrsePTI-tLDnFIGy8viHCfSTxCiid8PoU_rvxtr5_LOoghtaTup702oxEdlXhD_TWkSj03kC2xtBwlZ6kxs/s1600/-31.05.2019+Ian+Thompson+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1150" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM1lkQcsZa8XAVCuDJW0cOT-aoLxfolxc1VBUQSzvUi4Kf-uDZCNUverhjwrsePTI-tLDnFIGy8viHCfSTxCiid8PoU_rvxtr5_LOoghtaTup702oxEdlXhD_TWkSj03kC2xtBwlZ6kxs/s640/-31.05.2019+Ian+Thompson+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="460" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ian Thompson © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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The portrait above, is the cello player, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/ian-tea" target="_blank">Ian Thompson</a>. </div>
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I felt a deep sensibility in Ian, very attentive and nature related. </div>
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I closed my eyes, while listening to him, and dived into silver waters, where I saw boats sailing and a beautiful colorful day.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1103" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3XcKUErLd34YmeMX-HiPtQVTgXbHkDhp9rz0oS2CAq8Dgw0zwIt_XZ68Rj7u7AeMK4JROXwRXRKc1DYW_YdBsWyDoKOjxbEVwbn2__zQQqYY_Fu3Gc5jiDbYBBrOJV8DoqocD2ufamI/s640/-31.05.2019+O+Prado+-+Silvia+Corda+%2540+MIA.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="440" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">O Prado, Silvia Corda © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3XcKUErLd34YmeMX-HiPtQVTgXbHkDhp9rz0oS2CAq8Dgw0zwIt_XZ68Rj7u7AeMK4JROXwRXRKc1DYW_YdBsWyDoKOjxbEVwbn2__zQQqYY_Fu3Gc5jiDbYBBrOJV8DoqocD2ufamI/s1600/-31.05.2019+O+Prado+-+Silvia+Corda+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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O Prado (The Meadow/ Il Prato) is a portrait of the Italian pianist, <a href="https://www.silviacorda.com/" target="_blank">Silvia Corda</a>. I've <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2015/05/meet-this-mia-festival.html" target="_blank">portrayed her</a> before, but I always find it refreshing when I feel like, the same person's evolved in a way, that I feel like adding something else to what was already done. </div>
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Lamentably, this year, I was only a couple of hours with her, because she left sooner than most of us. Can you imagine a beautiful green field that never ends? That was what was on my mind when I did this, while listening to Silvia in one of the Jam sessions. I felt her depth (black), freshness (green) and her incisive timing (thought of those triangle shaped metronomes). There's something so poetic about Silvia, cinematic, even, I'd say. </div>
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She's also an amazing <a href="https://silviacorda.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">visual artist</a>, expressing herself through paintings, drawings and collages, so I decided to incorporate a bit of that in this portrait, as a reference to it.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAJ6ehB_JeIFTld4jMedY-gD9Jht8KBwE17ztnUyj5CmRG9EysYMPqOj0HVYatCfVnApRc79x0YfFgv6ZamJWqRoAu2_-2RbF6hGcL34clbPhxeCB1jjbRyakdn8j1ouHgnpDqYe43S_k/s1600/2.06.2019+Dream+Peeking+-+Nuno+Rebelo+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1017" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAJ6ehB_JeIFTld4jMedY-gD9Jht8KBwE17ztnUyj5CmRG9EysYMPqOj0HVYatCfVnApRc79x0YfFgv6ZamJWqRoAu2_-2RbF6hGcL34clbPhxeCB1jjbRyakdn8j1ouHgnpDqYe43S_k/s640/2.06.2019+Dream+Peeking+-+Nuno+Rebelo+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="406" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dream Peeking, Nuno Rebelo © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFXYoBEvRgxiwRkcuyB2X0GviUIjknqZ6OAFdS7iZfvJfJdfel1LYoJP7mPHh6B9B5Uljug1o66pVxP-KLKgnlsQ1IkOp4LZjh9EaOgIoWDfsYCmoay7iaK17LhHdK0gYxejRB4FPu3Bo/s1600/2.06.2019+Performance+Nuno+Rebelo+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="982" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFXYoBEvRgxiwRkcuyB2X0GviUIjknqZ6OAFdS7iZfvJfJdfel1LYoJP7mPHh6B9B5Uljug1o66pVxP-KLKgnlsQ1IkOp4LZjh9EaOgIoWDfsYCmoay7iaK17LhHdK0gYxejRB4FPu3Bo/s640/2.06.2019+Performance+Nuno+Rebelo+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="392" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Composição imaginária para trio de improvisadores © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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These two drawings are referent to the same person's world: the guitarist <a href="https://www.youtube.com/nunorebelomusic" target="_blank">Nuno Rebelo</a>. </div>
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He's been involved in projects, such as the delicious <a href="https://youtu.be/bHLgx7LSXmc" target="_blank">Street Kids</a>, the mythical group <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKLlEOO33ko" target="_blank">Mler Ife Dada</a>, the writing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbLd-62PsZ0" target="_blank">Expo 98's hymn</a>, or the composition of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXS8bMwEosk" target="_blank">Manobras de Maio</a> fashion show's music. </div>
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It was the second year Nuno's participated in MIA festival.</div>
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His creativity is limitless, and never ceases to surprise, bringing to his work connections with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_7uHS_UvI8" target="_blank">jewelry</a>, <a href="https://youtu.be/FHDvmhlq7RA" target="_blank">dance</a>, theatre, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qWgD6h-7Z0" target="_blank">cinema</a>, fine arts, photography, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ookxp37d7No" target="_blank">architecture</a>, or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UTmEtoJopg" target="_blank">poetry</a>, just to name a few. No wonder this year he, not only collaborated as a musician, as he did an <span id="goog_31871344"></span>installation (such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4Pffu49JmM" target="_blank">this</a>)<span id="goog_31871345"></span> and a performance.</div>
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My portrait of Nuno is about his mental openness to new ideas, but also dreams. I actually called this drawing <i>Dream Peeking</i> because I found out that besides being brilliant, Nuno is a sensitive guy as well. Unsurprisingly (with that impressive resume), I see a lot of history within Nuno, as much as I see a lot of the future, of things that are about to become because he had an idea no one had before. Not the way he did! </div>
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The second one, was made during his performance at the very end of the festival, called <i>Composição imaginária para trio de improvisadores</i> (Imaginary composition for a trio of improvisers). He gave everybody (the audience and the chosen musicians) printed instructions, to be read. All passed in between silence and laughter, and communication happened diversely. It was great to feel everybody interacting in a different way, and my drawing is an interpretation of that.</div>
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His uniqueness, leads me to the <a href="https://vimeo.com/130748982" target="_blank">Nuno Rebelo e as guitarras Portuguesas mutantes</a>' documentary about one of his projects. One of the things that I most retained about it, is the fact that he shared he was a self taught musician, and that, to me is the game changer, here. This guy has clearly spent a lot of time exploring new things in an innovative way. The difference here is that he didn't follow, he led the innovations. But the even most impressive thing to me, is his humble and ludic ability to make this look like a walk in the park! Genius!</div>
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High contrasts</h3>
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It requires a certain mood and level of fierceness, to understand opposites, and go down that road. Those are key ideas to the portraits that follow.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHa7VXubUIU0H_K-jOHUS2UFTBBAbGQPPjCF5UvcI5_seRdgwTA9Dm09KBC7IVbRaJ2oeQPlIOy_4jQHHAI1UcCXKUNDqNVGToQapTQytZYfV7Iura4KYfgEL4jXU68d-hxI-89Db9Bo/s1600/1.06.2019+Jorge+Nuno+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1136" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPHa7VXubUIU0H_K-jOHUS2UFTBBAbGQPPjCF5UvcI5_seRdgwTA9Dm09KBC7IVbRaJ2oeQPlIOy_4jQHHAI1UcCXKUNDqNVGToQapTQytZYfV7Iura4KYfgEL4jXU68d-hxI-89Db9Bo/s640/1.06.2019+Jorge+Nuno+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="454" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jorge Nuno © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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This one is the guitar player <a href="https://www.jorgenuno.net/?fbclid=IwAR3IQzaZZPhupcNp6TVGrZlU0ou_AHZM7yzWL5PyyGVYxtd6a86IfZFQ3Ho" target="_blank">Jorge Nuno</a>, that, at this time of the festival, was playing with one of his projects, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/uivozebra" target="_blank">Uivo Zebra & Horns</a>. A bit of a psychedelic/stoner rock moment was going on, while all I could see in him was his high contrasts: the intensity and the surface, the shield and the spill, the assertiveness and the sensitivity, the attention and action, the dispersion and the obsession, the cozy and the risky. This could've only led to a black and white drawing, made with graphite and a black pen. A high contrast portrait: him!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1028" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyK8k4XgXEJYnv7Kg-MZkzRPG8m4K6Sob19ZyI743fL8Ql0t4KHpxjaBnqxJg2ArMJb8e5Hg4p4-yxMr7Kn7CeAwK3WgkV2efXpltlvfLsReypN_vP5oU2oX9c0v_JXocXiozNc7EucaQ/s640/2.06.2019+Anto%25CC%2581nio+Caramelo+%2540+MIA.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="410" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">António Caramelo © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyK8k4XgXEJYnv7Kg-MZkzRPG8m4K6Sob19ZyI743fL8Ql0t4KHpxjaBnqxJg2ArMJb8e5Hg4p4-yxMr7Kn7CeAwK3WgkV2efXpltlvfLsReypN_vP5oU2oX9c0v_JXocXiozNc7EucaQ/s1600/2.06.2019+Anto%25CC%2581nio+Caramelo+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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In the electronics, was mastering <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-226391090?fbclid=IwAR1_WM3xfcWK4shM6WwFupbYDyGVywu0_54BLswVqq_igBqP_praklXYjbM" target="_blank">António Caramelo</a>. António is also a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/makearevolutione/" target="_blank">visual artist</a>.</div>
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The poem I wrote, on purpose for this portrait, pretty much explains the shapes, the color, the type angles, and what I got from him. Here it is:</div>
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<i>Is it a feather</i></div>
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<i>is it a spear</i></div>
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<i>go with the weather</i></div>
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<i>not with fear</i></div>
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<i>Bring the city</i></div>
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<i>and slide in the clay</i></div>
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<i>is a feather</i></div>
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<i>is it a spear</i></div>
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<i>Beauty and war</i></div>
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<i>right up in your ear</i></div>
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<i>scratch the earth</i></div>
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<i>and flame cashmere</i></div>
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<i>it is a feather</i></div>
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<i>it is a spear.</i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIi09Iltf2a49eWQvCCGqKIyhqrHgHKpAoAFexMj4kYz3cT4O_qZbpSPNhzWkdEO6P2g4aS_67LAn-H1gLvSf-szpEF1CBHD7AS1xzoUAXtM1jQLBY8q-nwvw4br-NPL1f2RMiuq0poPc/s1600/1.06.2019+Tommy+Hughes+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1133" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIi09Iltf2a49eWQvCCGqKIyhqrHgHKpAoAFexMj4kYz3cT4O_qZbpSPNhzWkdEO6P2g4aS_67LAn-H1gLvSf-szpEF1CBHD7AS1xzoUAXtM1jQLBY8q-nwvw4br-NPL1f2RMiuq0poPc/s640/1.06.2019+Tommy+Hughes+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tommy Hughes © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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This one above is the bass player, Tommy Hughes. </div>
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His arm and the bass arm are one. It was frenzy and intense!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPG-xUz9dsvAEZsrsZDB0N1LcafTPPSVMH5rNqoLjmUe1K3D0R8OZyL2ZwZv5-Mqn3L9V5c0xx2OstERPE3Y1bF3xsnlnh8XkuoJEh3USHHuMicOviIHqKzg6TYvcT3XmOww30Xgh55yI/s1600/4.06.2019+Juan+Calvi+%2540+Jam+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1016" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPG-xUz9dsvAEZsrsZDB0N1LcafTPPSVMH5rNqoLjmUe1K3D0R8OZyL2ZwZv5-Mqn3L9V5c0xx2OstERPE3Y1bF3xsnlnh8XkuoJEh3USHHuMicOviIHqKzg6TYvcT3XmOww30Xgh55yI/s640/4.06.2019+Juan+Calvi+%2540+Jam+MIA.jpg" width="406" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deep down, Juan Calvi © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6mHOVLYNSdYhW-k_09F1WyKK23Xq8ihkxWEgHK43wtwSRWlZ9eosns0JlvUKXRd_l_fgKtABvUgqRyIYyoUh9DgK3L6Xp_yHXxWwgUxnJW4ZU993wDo6Jkglv802RUhL5VrLVzVAtYI/s1600/4.06.2019+Juan+Calvi+%2540+Jam+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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This is the Argentinian bass clarinet player, <a href="https://soundcloud.com/juan-cato-calvi" target="_blank">Juan Calvi</a>. He's also presented his book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com.br/gustibus-s%C3%AD-disputandum-filosof%C3%ADa-improvisaci%C3%B3n/dp/8491489606" target="_blank">De Gustibus sí Disputandum</a>, at the festival.</div>
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I felt like it took him a while to get comfy enough to show more of himself during MIA. But when he did, at the post MIA Jam, (in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PENHASCO.ArteCooperativa/" target="_blank">Penha Sco</a>, in Lisbon) many things were unleashed and came to surface, from the bottom of the ocean (dark blue). </div>
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Juan showed an intense, deep and heightened vision: a power within. </div>
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<a href="https://youtu.be/Nwqru2VQW0c" target="_blank">Eyes of a hawk, ears of a wolf, strength of a bear and the speed of the puma</a>. </div>
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Deep down, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BraveStarr" target="_blank">brave star</a>, between edges.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj39N00KywpUzF9hG-rudeM4QJxFXZuQaGjw4col0J_bsc7JZX-Zaf0kLPg470EcnARvD-yJcYNcYwbQzhcrFrgfXgoDKmERS2zfeg6ZZqA0wgZbPeJwVaOKMP0i9vlv-1reO8wqaFvFHU/s1600/1.06.2019+Andre%25CC%2581+Calva%25CC%2581rio+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="988" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj39N00KywpUzF9hG-rudeM4QJxFXZuQaGjw4col0J_bsc7JZX-Zaf0kLPg470EcnARvD-yJcYNcYwbQzhcrFrgfXgoDKmERS2zfeg6ZZqA0wgZbPeJwVaOKMP0i9vlv-1reO8wqaFvFHU/s640/1.06.2019+Andre%25CC%2581+Calva%25CC%2581rio+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="393" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">André Calvário © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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The portrait above is the bassist <a href="https://abesta.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">André Calvário</a>, and was done during one of the jam sessions.<br />
I couldn't even see his face, because he was in his <i>hoodie mode</i>, bouncing with the groove of his bass! There is just some inner tension that he conveys through heightened musical statements.<br />
A one Japanese brush stroke black portrait!<br />
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Dan Cake*</h3>
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Another good thing that took place this year, was the presence of three Danish musicians. I felt like the three of them brought freshness to the festival. I loved their musical spectrum, loved their eccentric looks, and loved that they were so sweet. This part is solely about them.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7nFWXLQ8OL47Q1iTEDJm8updzavqUhsO3y1M2fDHNBO9TIyuvEuvHdZpWHunm5lfsF3r3-kum_kXtva__Cmlx1N8t6-cXyDzHKymmU4oRLJqkhRRjlwJXWk0gUZWlWo7nAPcj-DtLXkU/s1600/1.06.2019+Jonathan+Aardestrup+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1136" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7nFWXLQ8OL47Q1iTEDJm8updzavqUhsO3y1M2fDHNBO9TIyuvEuvHdZpWHunm5lfsF3r3-kum_kXtva__Cmlx1N8t6-cXyDzHKymmU4oRLJqkhRRjlwJXWk0gUZWlWo7nAPcj-DtLXkU/s640/1.06.2019+Jonathan+Aardestrup+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="454" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonathan Aardestrup © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<a href="https://soundcloud.com/jonathan-aardestrup" target="_blank">Jonathan Aardestrup</a>, plays double bass, and was the first one I drew from this crew. There is some trashy refinement in him, and to match that, this portrait actually started with me, just rubbering the paper. No drawing at all. Just a performative gesture with a pencil smudge. </div>
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There's a fun/surprise element to Jonathan, even kind of an enigmatic and reserved vibe that arouses one's attention. But it was his willpower and precision that led me to the theme of converting his instrument into a sharp sword of accuracy, in his portrait. </div>
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The color palette of this drawing were inspired by his clothing. The pattern for his ginger hair, had to match an unconventional mind. His orange socks helped me in that task!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh32Yz2rVk7FYmC1xL9SwX6wXrRrDb3bVR9JIXVDJlL6ZQoZD130cSQ9VPAhuuduftIaFY6mOHOae_AqSkBGIhaF9bzW10FP76Mw_qKXyy_5TlTQkelsPC0sBul8Hs7MeSj6wwhyW5Stu0/s1600/1.06.2019+Mads+Egetoft++%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1133" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh32Yz2rVk7FYmC1xL9SwX6wXrRrDb3bVR9JIXVDJlL6ZQoZD130cSQ9VPAhuuduftIaFY6mOHOae_AqSkBGIhaF9bzW10FP76Mw_qKXyy_5TlTQkelsPC0sBul8Hs7MeSj6wwhyW5Stu0/s640/1.06.2019+Mads+Egetoft++%2540+MIA.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mads Egetoft © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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Here's my Mads Egetoft portrait. Couldn't help to like the guy, starting by his name (pronounced <i>Mess </i>in Danish), I innerly remembered the quote, from <a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche">Friedrich Nietzsche</a>: <i>One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star. </i><br />
This quote, originated a whole work of mine, a while ago (see <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2016/02/from-chaos-to-dancing-star.html" target="_blank">here</a>); and, I feel it's pertinent to bring that up again, here, because this portrait is about Mads hitting heights, his sight and instrument reach. Not without having started his path first through darkness and chaos. And you guys, it takes a deep leap of faith to do that long journey.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rGdBKHN3nUBNN_Y1nBj_1qiVR0NdukOYsP5_fWdLmWrObNkcQjXV6qbGXMxpEOBRyvkVF0yw4qHXJ834upd7u-ca-LfxX62WegeNkx5hH5wivWOiLlUiVB1f1eEW9opuEuR65bXvdAY/s1600/2.06.2019+Thorsten+Sehested+H%25C3%25B8eg+-+TS+Hawk+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="989" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rGdBKHN3nUBNN_Y1nBj_1qiVR0NdukOYsP5_fWdLmWrObNkcQjXV6qbGXMxpEOBRyvkVF0yw4qHXJ834upd7u-ca-LfxX62WegeNkx5hH5wivWOiLlUiVB1f1eEW9opuEuR65bXvdAY/s640/2.06.2019+Thorsten+Sehested+H%25C3%25B8eg+-+TS+Hawk+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="394" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thorsten Sehested Høeg, TS Hawk © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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This one is the saxophone player, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009124299364" target="_blank">Thorsten Sehested Høeg</a>, a.k.a. TS Hawk. It was done during the concert of <a href="http://www.thewayout.dk/" target="_blank">The Way Out</a>, with the Danish crew, along with some guests. </div>
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What if our body was made out of dots, and could <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4f_1_r80RY" target="_blank">fly as flocks of birds</a> do, in a dot blotch?</div>
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In my drawing, TS could do that, with an overlapping, mixing, merging body.</div>
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In fact, I felt like he was the glue of the group, and he brought color and fun to the stage. </div>
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And there is also something tremendously sweet, sensitive and even a bit naïf about him: like if you'd be telling stories for kids, and made them dream. </div>
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These thoughts, led me to a simple visual and graphic language. The colors chosen - black, silver, red, yellow and cyan - are meaningful of of all I mentioned before.</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">* <a href="https://rspo.org/members/1171/Dan-Cake-Portugal-S.A" target="_blank">Dan Cake</a> is a Portuguese brand of crackers, biscuits, toasts and conservation cakes.</span></div>
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Self-concept</h3>
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The next drawings, regard persons in whom I found a strong sense of identity as well as a creative and conceptual side.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5TplfxUeDZm5A8IX0vyPkAnqTNWtvoWPVeuv5H93-I31D4Pf7oBMU9ALMoZeiAvJDnW7JqzHVz4QJWXF6TSybyHsrdn21N1iB-jEFPtPwxb8FmBUxy42fVEPEbggWytqOiPKakMmifCs/s1600/2.06.2019+Michel+Stawicki+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1036" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5TplfxUeDZm5A8IX0vyPkAnqTNWtvoWPVeuv5H93-I31D4Pf7oBMU9ALMoZeiAvJDnW7JqzHVz4QJWXF6TSybyHsrdn21N1iB-jEFPtPwxb8FmBUxy42fVEPEbggWytqOiPKakMmifCs/s640/2.06.2019+Michel+Stawicki+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="414" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michel Stawicki © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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This one is my portrait on the sax player, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009473005404" target="_blank">Michel Stawicki</a>. I did it without looking at the paper, to match the abstraction and subtleness I felt in him. A drawing like a crisp, conceptual blow.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1125" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqj8lWbjQpYgf3FvcxyT5ojE_oBvskaiJtpmPzjioFkzLXj_n4E5016-NFpTTb-i1YCRyqzwq5VeTUDefSC8y5wdNhyYih2QZTTSVP3U6HHoiz-ILGrUl_miaUD2H_c8PYdqeTbTvchss/s640/1.06.2019+Na+minha+Rua+-+Ma%25CC%2581rio+Rua+%2540+MIA.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="450" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Na minha rua, Mário Rua © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqj8lWbjQpYgf3FvcxyT5ojE_oBvskaiJtpmPzjioFkzLXj_n4E5016-NFpTTb-i1YCRyqzwq5VeTUDefSC8y5wdNhyYih2QZTTSVP3U6HHoiz-ILGrUl_miaUD2H_c8PYdqeTbTvchss/s1600/1.06.2019+Na+minha+Rua+-+Ma%25CC%2581rio+Rua+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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This is the portrait of the drummer <a href="https://soundcloud.com/mario-rua" target="_blank">Mário Rua</a>. </div>
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Many times, I consciously want to draw someone, but not always my will becomes real. There are plenty of factors involved here! Keeping the process spontaneous and improvised is paramount to me.</div>
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And well, I've been willing to draw Mário for years, and this time, it finally happened! </div>
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You know the expression "<i>that's right up your alley?</i>" That was what I thought about, when I did this portrait. <i>Na minha Rua</i> (means <i>in my street</i>) was obviously a pun with his surname, but also an analogy to portraits (to what they truly mean to me, the persons identity address), and to the feeling we have when we are home, and feel at ease to show who we are.</div>
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It was that exact feeling I had, when I heard Mário play: a loose, fast, spicy, strong voice, ready to jump into unknown new territories, with a very curious approach, making questions, proposing a tone of speech, without fearing mistakes, because they compound this whole dynamic and learning curve! Therefore, I used pencil (that can be erased) and a pen corrector. If i didn't use the pen corrector, one couldn't read most of the letters, because a wider scribble was made before.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWbLzfhmzfuV_3F2xQa-68G43tRfbeGvUo7k0BqHrsFPPHado0EvE8UxXTBQCepbGoIBJPbb1wBEAen_WwL3q-b0DaAe7yHUwTtSOyLc2DWbdbAohPHATbk_YLvTQBz7SnjWWNRFCN2X8/s1600/1.06.2019+Joa%25CC%2583o+Pedro+Viegas++%2540+Jam+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="996" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWbLzfhmzfuV_3F2xQa-68G43tRfbeGvUo7k0BqHrsFPPHado0EvE8UxXTBQCepbGoIBJPbb1wBEAen_WwL3q-b0DaAe7yHUwTtSOyLc2DWbdbAohPHATbk_YLvTQBz7SnjWWNRFCN2X8/s640/1.06.2019+Joa%25CC%2583o+Pedro+Viegas++%2540+Jam+MIA.jpg" width="398" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">João Pedro Viegas © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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Kudos to the master of ceremonies of the festival this year!<br />
Even though I consider this drawing unfinished, I decided to include it here, because I find in <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2014/06/ahahahaha-mimimimimi-miahahahau-uuhuhuhu.html" target="_blank">João Pedro Viegas</a> the same <i>e-motion</i> I feel this sketch has!<br />
I did it as fast as I think his reactions were! Strong personality flowing!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1069" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDfFWnGMBV1Za7O06RLqnjm6Ui8BVl8WG8lyJxcuM1b3DoZ-umKAb25FfEiqo3bXsMorqP8X-uZUfcqMPdupGbSEbmkCbvlJQjZKKadpJ0o99vgw5EfipEF_eRr4qow4xUoQC4gZeB8I/s640/2.06.2019+Rui+Veiga+%2540+MIA.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="426" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rui Veiga © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilDfFWnGMBV1Za7O06RLqnjm6Ui8BVl8WG8lyJxcuM1b3DoZ-umKAb25FfEiqo3bXsMorqP8X-uZUfcqMPdupGbSEbmkCbvlJQjZKKadpJ0o99vgw5EfipEF_eRr4qow4xUoQC4gZeB8I/s1600/2.06.2019+Rui+Veiga+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<a href="https://soundcloud.com/caloriouz?fbclid=IwAR0L3GJhuEwpioxBFieSUVCZUf7kmTcK4QztP7jqEPYvUhjcR4gK2FCY7vU" target="_blank">Rui Veiga</a> was in charge of the electronics. This guy has brainy, creative ideas, and has the ability to materialize them. Here, I was more interested in highlighting his brain (the concept, the space) and hands (the palpable realm, touch) connection. The green color I chose to fill that wire, is a vivid, opaque (almost waxy) hue, instilling the fresh vibe I got from him! Fresh! Fresh! Fresh!</div>
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To be unforgettable, be irreplaceable.</h3>
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Quoting Coco Chanel, <i>In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different</i>. She was one of a kind, and so are the persons whom I have portrayed next.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-Bf81WPS84VJKL9aYflCGWuhe5KBfOB5ejdQt7bBqg2CCyV7oDrQloaRu0tzwPB7SI9BY97SF90e1f3ZleaZNmDU-x9g18RDRTUJLhRDjMA0owRHhGieSeS0wYPxuG9Q98MFGb4MhGE/s1600/-31.05.2019+The+lady+%2526+The+Lord+-+Miguel+Mira+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1136" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl-Bf81WPS84VJKL9aYflCGWuhe5KBfOB5ejdQt7bBqg2CCyV7oDrQloaRu0tzwPB7SI9BY97SF90e1f3ZleaZNmDU-x9g18RDRTUJLhRDjMA0owRHhGieSeS0wYPxuG9Q98MFGb4MhGE/s640/-31.05.2019+The+lady+%2526+The+Lord+-+Miguel+Mira+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="454" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Lady and the Lord, Miguel Mira © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<i>The Lady and the Lord (</i>the title of this drawing) is the portrait of the cellist and visual artist, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/miguel.mira.1848" target="_blank">Miguel Mira</a>. </div>
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Over the years, I've made <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2013/11/miguel-mira-jazzpt.html" target="_blank">some portraits</a> from this musician. The funny thing about portraying the same person, over the years, is that there's a sense of evolution both in the portrayed and in me; and, different things can come up.</div>
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So, this portrait is focused in another facet of him... How not to be touched by the refinement of his hands, the delicacy and the humor (I will write more about this, ahead!) that Mira treats his lady cello with? What's there not to like? </div>
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I see a lot of guts and dedication here. Moving, to say the least. And, you know, <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2014/11/my-creative-source-of-week.html" target="_blank">barefoot or not</a>, deep inside, Miguel is a true gentleman, and that shows up while he's playing too.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjjxAy3I3TW_Tgdh1k4QoaAh2Ej0VG4tQAF7gTihJQjc_7UXtmI9J7yPu-hXfPQiX1qoELgaada_-f4qDCqqOjbVEDZf3S6GToB_SBsBKz1c2WKslmXCUoXZAStuPxVdrxoibrbxzkHJw/s1600/2.06.2019+Marcio+Gibson+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="993" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjjxAy3I3TW_Tgdh1k4QoaAh2Ej0VG4tQAF7gTihJQjc_7UXtmI9J7yPu-hXfPQiX1qoELgaada_-f4qDCqqOjbVEDZf3S6GToB_SBsBKz1c2WKslmXCUoXZAStuPxVdrxoibrbxzkHJw/s640/2.06.2019+Marcio+Gibson+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="396" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sound Portrait of Marcio Gibson © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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It's been a while since I hear about <a href="https://soundcloud.com/user1094250?fbclid=IwAR2lE80aHI9tvDU55nLPwg_6L-moXA4r3_uNXSgKCgSN3RcSqGr4FSR8l9I" target="_blank">Marcio Gibson</a>, through common friends. </div>
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I finally got the chance to hear, know and draw him. Every time this Brazilian drummer was on stage, I was m-e-s-m-e-r-i-z-e-d.</div>
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In the moment the drawing was made, he was playing with a chopstick, and the main drawing idea here was that his brain, arm, hand, until the very tip of the chopstick, were one. A cohesive whole lot of good stuff.</div>
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He's packed with sensibility (light blue), awareness and alertness (orange). The contention, and the precision on where and when to place each sound, each beat was mind blowing. I was astounded with his manual dexterity, his magic slides, the breathing spaces in between, and with his greatest asset: being special.</div>
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I was filled with inspiration, and new ideas, and decided to do a portrait with sound in it, with a sound-producing texture in it. I had fun making a little <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxnyRHzcv3w&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">video</a> about the sound this drawing makes! It's my sound portrait of Marcio Gibson.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVv4m68Nr_SNm3qW9O9NaMJyI2Gz9XUdYfAOJK6S7eo0MvNkkXBxq-hp3tHeIzprtQ1CbsykibR8lKgOCYLz164pAtpXkxM_Cgs9Ib3CrXKH5EBXGosuU0e8Wsbd5ZfYY-LBGw_h_kG-I/s1600/1.06.2019+Patri%25CC%2581cia+Guerra+Kali+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1129" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVv4m68Nr_SNm3qW9O9NaMJyI2Gz9XUdYfAOJK6S7eo0MvNkkXBxq-hp3tHeIzprtQ1CbsykibR8lKgOCYLz164pAtpXkxM_Cgs9Ib3CrXKH5EBXGosuU0e8Wsbd5ZfYY-LBGw_h_kG-I/s640/1.06.2019+Patri%25CC%2581cia+Guerra+Kali+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="450" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kali, Patrícia Guerra © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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This is the drummer and trumpeter, Patrícia Guerra a.k.a. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kalimacaco" target="_blank">Kali</a>. She's a <a href="https://cargocollective.com/patriciaguerra" target="_blank">visual artist</a> as well. Too much on a plate? Not a problem here, for sure! As far as I've seen her play, Kali's stepped up her game with her multitask skills and, gave me, personally, much more than that.</div>
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The beauty of a girl (red, Venus) with the strength of a man (blue, Mars)? I definitely felt some of that vibe, while she was playing, and I loved it!! </div>
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So here's my <i>drawing-thought</i> out loud about this all:</div>
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It takes a lot of courage to be on stage performing and show your strength along with your scars. Turn your grays into gold? It kind of reminds me the <a href="https://archive.org/details/HOLYMOUNTAIN_201806" target="_blank">Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain</a> subject. I mean how beautiful can this Alchemical transformation be? That's what this portrait is about.</div>
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I feel like her role is much more than being a musician. She can be the voice of many that identify with such matters. And I sense she has the drive it takes, to do that and much more.</div>
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And by the way, what a better name like the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali" target="_blank">Hindu Goddess Kali</a> to wrap this gift up? Powerful women! That's what I'm talking about! Death and rebirth in a whole other scale to forever change the rules of the established. Musician Kali's in on it, and that just makes me smile with a feeling of happiness and relief, because she's so needed!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6zKXJwl7BkpPmwPaFGUckmrI-JsXnrFz84AT_RLZx1mThmvGOf8INpaY48roAuaPx56LDFl6owx_bpsR7AGvo-rEAnlYnIlNkm5_vbiAHslQqac4Ntipp5p4CHDaTuGz4iJ3W-4tXv3Y/s1600/2.06.2019+Fala+Mariam+%2540+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="982" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6zKXJwl7BkpPmwPaFGUckmrI-JsXnrFz84AT_RLZx1mThmvGOf8INpaY48roAuaPx56LDFl6owx_bpsR7AGvo-rEAnlYnIlNkm5_vbiAHslQqac4Ntipp5p4CHDaTuGz4iJ3W-4tXv3Y/s640/2.06.2019+Fala+Mariam+%2540+MIA.jpg" width="392" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fala Mariam © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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Fala Mariam is a trombonist and a <a href="https://www.saomamede.com/artista.php?ver=obr&id_artista=189" target="_blank">painter.</a> The word flickering on my mind, while drawing her, was selectiveness. The portrait was made when she played in the <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2014/06/ahahahaha-mimimimimi-miahahahau-uuhuhuhu.html" target="_blank">Pedro Castello Lopes</a> quartet.</div>
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Through a little straw, I could see her deep feelings, her surrender, her commitment. Touching and cathartic... something tremendously sensitive, poetic and mystic that hovers in her. </div>
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There's a sort of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetralemma" target="_blank">tetralemma</a> (as Buddhists advocate) going on here: a powerful and extreme vibe, that cohabits with fragility. Figurative and abstract shapes. Pencil and watercolor. Drawing and painting. Loneliness and uniqueness. Provocative and observant. Suffering and bliss. It's not OR, it's AND. Both poles are true, none nullifies the other. Both exist, and form a third thing - her presence, her id.</div>
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The inebriating scent of a smoking pipe (grey pencil), a chosen sip, a solar drink (orange color), classy furs and the glitters of an introspective old soul. Or just a possibility of a portrait - a symbolic idea of an umbilical identity, of her ultimate solar plexus.</div>
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Music Therapy</h3>
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I like to draw what's going on. Not just the musicians. And, in a concert (and a festival) there's so much more going on, than just them. In the past years, That has deserved my attention too. </div>
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Attention is a practice of consciousness. For me, drawing can be also a deep meditative process and that leads me to the subject of the next portrait.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaZFt8xhE6ccTSeETtiSWgjD6xuug5xtaPkTCXP8rVbUarln-dE56b6bN0Z4xqprLCnkvNfJYCjq7-QosZJxTmsQYBYeGW600kSbRRBch5s2ZWvDB1wpafdwZRJBG37TdK212ucQ9ZGVM/s1600/4.06.2019+Ana+Valinho+%2540+Jam+MIA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="996" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaZFt8xhE6ccTSeETtiSWgjD6xuug5xtaPkTCXP8rVbUarln-dE56b6bN0Z4xqprLCnkvNfJYCjq7-QosZJxTmsQYBYeGW600kSbRRBch5s2ZWvDB1wpafdwZRJBG37TdK212ucQ9ZGVM/s640/4.06.2019+Ana+Valinho+%2540+Jam+MIA.jpg" width="398" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ana Valinho © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ana.valinho.5" target="_blank">Ana Valinho</a> made part of the public at MIA Festival, but I met her just at the post MIA Jam, where this drawing was made. In one of the sets, her posture caught my eye. </div>
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I looked at Ana, and saw her soaking up the music, diving into this ethereal world, with her eyes closed, and a meditative posture, that reminded me of a deep trance. </div>
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I feel like, when the music is good, that's what happens to me too, so I recognized myself a lot in her.</div>
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Later on, she'd share with me, her passion for diving. (Another form of meditating?) Therefore, I created a motive with a coral. The colors were inspired by the flowered blouse, she wore that day. And the diving motif suited what I wanted to communicate here: the hidden beauties of the sea, the beauty of music, the beauty I saw in Ana.</div>
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The icing on the cake</h3>
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With all I've shared here, so far, it's easy to get my enthusiastic state of mind. But, on top of that, more surprises took place...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv-Be8Wk56rjMQS9StnqWar-3cvg2f-rTsPgs7IFq-l7ORCcGKWAaDobZDqTO8nJP5xWYtEB_49Ykme61vbeBIad8tykOpxEwelEWKzHahcYZdJsmOPHI4qvB3IiWZjaJZf1QkDUOOIi0/s1600/4.06.2019+L%2527anello.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="991" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv-Be8Wk56rjMQS9StnqWar-3cvg2f-rTsPgs7IFq-l7ORCcGKWAaDobZDqTO8nJP5xWYtEB_49Ykme61vbeBIad8tykOpxEwelEWKzHahcYZdJsmOPHI4qvB3IiWZjaJZf1QkDUOOIi0/s640/4.06.2019+L%2527anello.jpg" width="396" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">L'anello Felice © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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Musicians kept showing up, from the beginning 'till the very end of the MIA post-jam. When the Italian drummer, <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2015/05/meet-this-mia-festival.html" target="_blank">Felice Furioso</a>, showed up, he stood next to me. As soon as I looked at him, by chance, I saw he had this beautiful ring, on his pinkie. </div>
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Someone in my family (and close to my heart) used to design jewelry. I grew up with it. I love it, and am particularly sensitive to it, due to that. </div>
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I gave him a compliment about it, asked where he got it, and to my surprise, he said he had made it out, himself, from of a brass hexagon nut!! That ultrasonic beauty!!?!?!! From a brass hexagon nut!?!??</div>
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I asked him, if he could make one equal for me, and without further ado, he took it out of his finger, and gave it to me. I couldn't believe it! Furthermore, it fitted perfectly in my ring finger.</div>
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After the jam, we were starving, and we all kind of took over the nearest <a href="https://portugalia.pt/pt/" target="_blank">Portugalia</a> restaurant. That was when I had the idea to ask Felice, to do a drawing with me. I knew I wanted this ring to be its theme, so I drew his hand with his ring on it, and he did vice versa with me.</div>
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I wore red in one of the days of the festival (one of my colors) as Felice wore that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Klein_Blue" target="_blank">Yves Klein Blue</a> (one of his colors). The intersection color was inspired by the brass color, and the rings are painted in gold.</div>
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In fact, it's funny, because I see a lot of his hardworking and hyperkinetic side, when he's playing drums, but there are other layers. As, for instance, his out of the ordinary sounds (made out of unconventional materials, and instruments made out of recycled stuff), the little details he's into, and of course, his personal swing - a radical intensity. I also feel here an erratic way (black scribbles in the drawing's background), that leads him into solutions that are totally creative, exotic and unexpected. So it's easy for me to transpose this talk into what he did with that ring. Same artist, just a different canvas.</div>
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This gesture of his, escalated the beauty of this ring, and of this human connection, to such a special level, that it needed to be present in my drawing book and here. It made me so happy, it would only make sense that I called this drawing, the <i>L'anello Felice (</i>The happy ring).</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqNPjXd0xkmQ4P9Bb4_6kOkm8rW4YtOwsk9_t_6hByrUyp4xe9T-TKjkg__aqjPUI01pDB9pDMTPIrhPOxD27syGsEr6jmMNG2pFykE7AkUwnzQMghGOx2JlfN9coYmJG7XyiTX3CKrCA/s1600/4.06.2019+Aquela+sandes+dos+anos+60.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="957" data-original-width="1600" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqNPjXd0xkmQ4P9Bb4_6kOkm8rW4YtOwsk9_t_6hByrUyp4xe9T-TKjkg__aqjPUI01pDB9pDMTPIrhPOxD27syGsEr6jmMNG2pFykE7AkUwnzQMghGOx2JlfN9coYmJG7XyiTX3CKrCA/s640/4.06.2019+Aquela+sandes+dos+anos+60.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aquela sandes dos anos 60 © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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That same night, some of us would later on, end at Miguel Mira's place.<br />
Talking, laughing, listening to brand new music, and hearing the ever inspiring cracking jokes of Miguel Mira!! This dude's got a sense of humor, and I felt I had to make a drawing about it!! Another side of his!<br />
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<i>Aquela sandes dos anos 60 </i>(That 60's sandwich) was just a funny thing that he said, among dozens of others...! What about if I had on a pair of 60's sunglasses, with peace and love lenses, forever altering the colors, and adding other flavors to that sandwich? This could've happened here!<br />
And I couldn't find a better way to end this post. With a smile!<br />
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Above all, I need to thank the affection I received from EVERYBODY I crossed paths with, here.<br />
Special acknowledgments to the support I had from the Festival and from Jazz.pt's trust in my work. You can see my drawings published in the magazine Jazz.pt here too!<br />
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I was given a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=969B9-V_Bac" target="_blank">pocketful of rainbows</a>, and found a sky to paint them in!<br />
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Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-82201877120343902062019-04-05T22:08:00.000+01:002019-04-05T22:49:10.639+01:00Mary Halvorson's portrait at Jazz Magazine<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FtCSWrsF0s" target="_blank">Spring's arrived here</a>! Flowers are blooming, and I had the finest gift today.</div>
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One of my drawings was chosen to feature in David Cristol's <a href="https://www.jazzmagazine.com/jazzlive/redecouvrir-mary-halvorson-les-disques-de-sa-vie-bonus/?fbclid=IwAR3Pr0TcOe6EmGpiKHq0qCNJ_LqK4jMGkoeV_c-bOvBzVVmtIG1mFPBbaKc" target="_blank">latest article</a> for Jazz Magazine. The photos are from Petra Cvelbar, and the article is about <a href="http://www.maryhalvorson.com/" target="_blank">Mary Halvorson</a>'s most meaningful albums in her life. A breath of fresh air :) </div>
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A part of the article is online (in the previous link) and the other part of the article is in store's, in the latest Jazz magazine issue.</div>
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When I did this portrait of hers, <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9Lphth5Exc" target="_blank">the sun was shining, the weather was sweet</a></i>, I was at one of the most fascinating <a href="https://gulbenkian.pt/fundacao/jardim-gulbenkian/" target="_blank">gardens</a> in Lisbon, and thrilling music festivals: Gulbenkian's <a href="https://gulbenkian.pt/jazzemagosto/" target="_blank">Jazz em Agosto</a>! And I had one of the most original guitarists playing at my front (blessed Mary!), and some of the most inspiring colleagues by my side: the photographer Petra Cvelbar and David Cristol. </div>
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The trine is now reactivated with our joint work here. As in Gestalt, the result is bigger than the sum of the parts. So happy about that! May new adventures follow.</div>
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A while ago, I wrote some more about David <a href="https://innertour.blogspot.com/2018/11/my-drawings-at-jazz-magazine.html" target="_blank">here</a>. You can find some of his work <a href="https://www.jazzmagazine.com/#" target="_blank">here</a>, and some of Petra's <a href="http://www.petracvelbar.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. Enjoy!</div>
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Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-16738498467998090552019-03-07T00:54:00.003+00:002024-01-12T17:14:29.272+00:00The right place (Joana Bernardo | Radar)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Radio Series</h3>
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A couple of weeks ago, I started a new project for my blog, and this is my first publication about it. This new adventure of mine, is something I had in mind for years. It's about my favorite Radio Hosts, and I called it Radio Series.</div>
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In the following times, I will publish some articles and drawings here, about each one of them.</div>
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I feel like the radio keeps me company, and makes me happy in a deep way, as music does.<br />
Radio programs and music are something one can't grab or touch. One can listen (and sometimes see). Differently from other visual arts, the no images attached space these two provide, allows me to fill that gap with my imagination. The result is what you can find in these Radio series. May you hear the sound in these drawings and texts.<br />
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My first stop is at Radio Radar. Enjoy and join me in the ride!<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUllYrpEAk8" target="_blank">One of those things</a></h3>
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Way before I met <a href="https://radarlisboa.fm/joana-bernardo/" target="_blank">Radar's radio host</a>, Joana Bernardo, seems like our lives were already linked. </div>
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While a child, Joana was friends with persons that used to spend Summer Vacations in a house owned by my family. We never met back then.</div>
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We've just found out about this, many years afterwards, when we studied together at the fine Arts School, in Lisbon. That's how we met.</div>
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Then, in 2009, Joana started to work with Radar, hosting the show <i>Bairro do amor</i> (in English, something like the <i>Love district</i>)<i>.</i> That's also the title of one of the most iconic Jorge Palma's <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Jorge-Palma-Bairro-Do-Amor/release/2128504" target="_blank">album</a>, a landmark in the Portuguese music scene.</div>
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Turns out, Palma, in different times, also went to that same house. He even wrote a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zy4dTTUBNM" target="_blank">song</a> about it, and recorded it in his <i>Voo Nocturno</i> album.</div>
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In the end, the link between these unexpected and seemingly disconnected facts, between Joana, the radio show, Jorge Palma and I, is just one: music. </div>
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Radio peek</h3>
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Despite our friendship of years, I had never made before, a portrait just from her. This time around, it was mandatory for me, that this series, started with the drawing and article I did about her. She was the first person I contacted to do so, and the first one to accept my challenge.</div>
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Joana and I, didn't see each other for a while. Arriving to the radio, I was a bit afraid our catching up could interfere with my focus on the drawing. But, fortunately, things came across the other way around: the conversation flowed, with my ideas, and I think I must've done her portrait in minutes.</div>
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Type of Language</h3>
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I need to mention this chick did a <a href="http://repositorio.ul.pt/handle/10451/28556" target="_blank">master</a> in contemporary editorial and typographical practices. In that context, she made a book called <i>30 anos 8 dias</i>. It's about the daily life of a group of creative people around 30 years old. I found it a true archive for the future. </div>
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In the context of this radio series, that book's relevant to mention, to emphasize the curiosity of this radio host, in knowing different things, different people, and different ways of doing things, daily. I see that same openness in her musical choices in the radio - that can include, pop, new wave, rock, jazz, hip hop, reggae, folk, grunge, or r'n'b. All wrapped up, in that clear voice of hers. Worth to mention her diction, that reminds me the finest porcelain.</div>
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Nowadays, one can hear Joana at <a href="https://radioonline.com.pt/radar/">Radar FM </a>, live from Monday to Friday, from 14h to 17h (GMT), in <i>Comércio Livre</i> - Monday to Friday, and in <i>Álbum de Família</i> - Wednesday at 14h, Sunday at 12h and Monday at 23h. Podcasts can be found <a href="https://radarpodcasts.podbean.com/">here</a>.</div>
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In the Radio's studio, there were some typography elements, that reminded me, of our common graphic design background. Somehow, I wanted a reference of it, in this drawing. So, I later stamped <i>This must be the place</i>, with types of several alphabets of my personal stamp collection - that I have been making, ever since I am a little kid. Loved playing with them, and still do! </div>
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These typographic choices are, therefore, are an allusion to that diversity I find in Joana, to the text, and to our childhood - the period where our lives started to be connected, at distance. </div>
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The right place</h3>
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About the portrait, itself, I started to chose which color I wanted it to have, and why. For Joana, I wanted something airy, sweet, and unattainable (a cloud, a scent, a steam one can't grab, as the radio) - a hue almost confusable with the background white. Something reservedly mysterious and alluring, at the same time.<br />
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Here's someone who looks at things with sharp eyes, and makes them objective - as if that was simple! In my vision, that required a fast drawing with simple lines, to match.<br />
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During our drawing-talky session, I got to know <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TalkingHeadsofficial/" target="_blank">Talking heads</a> is one of Joana's favorite bands. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9gK2fOq4MY" target="_blank">This must be the place</a> (Naive Melody), is both the title of the Talking Heads' song, and my portrait of Joana Bernardo. The song is 36 years old, and still so actual. It's also one of my favorites tunes of this band. I chose this specific song to her portrait, due to its airy, exotic & in vogue tone. I see so much of that in her.<br />
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This must be the place is said to be Talking heads' first love song. But not a common one.<br />
They had had the genius of writing a love song, out of pure joy, without making it look tacky. So many bands trying to do now, what they've accomplished almost 40 years ago. They were breaking ground for the future to come.<br />
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And Joana Bernardo is also that type of being, who thinks ahead - as if that pinky steam in her drawing, could vaporize the world to come, and inspire it to be, the place to be in.<br />
The better place I'd want you, Joana and me, to be in too. As in the lyrics of this song, <i>Feet on the ground, head in the sky. </i>I guess <i>this must be the place</i>. A match made in heaven.</div>
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The next Radio series</h3>
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Curious to know who am I writing and drawing about next?<br />
I am preparing some really cool stuff for the next chapters, and more exciting contents will come soon! Stay tuned, and don't miss a bit!</div>
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Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-13790075736388441592019-01-29T18:55:00.001+00:002019-02-03T19:14:49.351+00:00The magic pass of Beautify Junkyards & Nina Miranda (Smoke City)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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A bit more than a week ago, between pouring rain, and a bit of wintery cold, thankfully, the band <a href="https://beautifyjunkyards.bandcamp.com/">Beautify Junkyards</a> did a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/2317508991652553/">concert</a> to warm my heart!</div>
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And special guests, such as <a href="https://www.ninamiranda.com/" target="_blank">Nina Miranda</a>, from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_City" target="_blank">Smoke City</a>, and other surprises, were there to spice things up. Want to know more? Keep reading, and join me in this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8WMGBuNaus&list=PLg5pp7nrH0IoJks_jOeyeZPtWSpNa2utK" target="_blank">magical mystery tour</a>. </div>
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<a href="https://open.spotify.com/artist/2Rrf9CkzPdPihESHDo5KZl" target="_blank">Beautify Junkyards</a> created an event called Sonhos Tecnicolor (Technicolor Dreams). It was in that context, that they prepared this special night. There was cinema in the beginning, two concerts and a dj set. My drawings you can see here, accompanied its making of, and premiere. </div>
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The process</h3>
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I'm getting more aware that my musicians' drawings are not just about the musicians, the music, and the concert, but they hold something more conceptual, and deep, that requires time. </div>
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Usually, I just draw musicians while they are performing on stage, during the concert (and paint them after if necessary). This time around, was a bit different, since I had the privilege to also draw them during their rehearsal, and sound check. It made sense to witness their creative process, and hopefully that translated into better portraits. Here are some of the drawings made, and my thoughts about them. Enjoy!</div>
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Beautify Junkyards</h3>
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I was the only <i>non musician</i> element besides the band, during the rehearsal. It was a privilege. When I entered the room, and saw all those posters from the band <a href="https://myspace.com/hipnoticapt" target="_blank">Hipnótica</a>, I said something like: <i>hum, this band was nice!</i>, and the bass player of Beautify Junkyards, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sergue.ra.9" target="_blank">Sergue</a>, said, <i>well, that's us</i>! It was a good sign to begin with!</div>
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My portrait of Beautify Junkyards' male singer, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/jbkyron" target="_blank">João Branco Kyron</a> was started during this rehearsal, and was finished, the day after, at <a href="http://musicboxlisboa.com/mb/" target="_blank">Music Box</a>, where the concert took place. </div>
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During the rehearsal, he mentioned this <i>7 herb</i> incense, and lit one stick, during the session. While in the concert, he did that too, and read a little bit of the text in the box. It said something about chasing away bad energies and evil spirits. Good old Egyptians have a saying that says that <i>when the angels present themselves, the devils abscond.</i> Bogus or not, the truth is, that things ran smoothly! </div>
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He also spoke about fixing some stuff in the world. Found it interesting, and made me rethink about his chosen name, Kyron. I immediatly thought of Greek mythology's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiron" target="_blank">Chiron</a>, the wounded immortal healer, that was also a teacher. Connecting the dots, I thing we've all experienced how music can be therapeutic and educating. </div>
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Regarding this portrait, his launchpad gave me the basic motto for the background. I also thought about conveying some <a href="https://www.pinterest.pt/pin/360780620118663448" target="_blank">70's energy</a>, and a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl-eVipq5cE" target="_blank">Kraftwerkish</a> vibe, that João exudes. But it wasn't just that. The colors chosen, had in mind the nature (the indie folk - green hues), versus the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZuEkC-o5mE" target="_blank">metropolis</a> (the electronic - the silver color, hard to perceive correctly through a scan...), with the joy showing up (the happy pops - all the other colors), and João infusing himself, in the middle of it all. (overlaps, contaminations) There's something oneiric about him, in the most utopian sense possible. I also made sure the circle colors in the the portrait's base, are seven. </div>
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After all, this portrait, could be a film frame, something poetic, spiritual, sharp and visionary, all at the same time. Like him.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8TeS0yxrYQSyuEbSGllxhv_CjdFPAfc5LCjE7zzaEQWoL7c-OwiUSNqzMP8vWk3ppbmRWGlODF4k9qLCxjcczrsIzGMY19aXTbu-xPWnC5VcMH9IljjmRV_l3rtFVB-HeKtD1EhFvJdA/s1600/19.01.2019+Beautify+Junkyards+-+Anto%25CC%2581nio+Watts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1135" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8TeS0yxrYQSyuEbSGllxhv_CjdFPAfc5LCjE7zzaEQWoL7c-OwiUSNqzMP8vWk3ppbmRWGlODF4k9qLCxjcczrsIzGMY19aXTbu-xPWnC5VcMH9IljjmRV_l3rtFVB-HeKtD1EhFvJdA/s640/19.01.2019+Beautify+Junkyards+-+Anto%25CC%2581nio+Watts.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">António Watts © Rita Draper Frazão</span></td></tr>
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Here's António Watts, the drummer. It was hard to draw him! If it wasn't the fact that I was present during the sound check, this drawing just could've not been possible, because he was in the back and the lighting wasn't good. (That was why I couldn't draw <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sergue.ra.9" target="_blank">Sergue</a>...)</div>
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So, during the sound check, I was on stage, right next to Tony, drawing him - an impossible thing to do, during the show.</div>
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He doesn't play with cymbals, and uses a funny brass object (that inspired the one you can see in the drawing) as a percussion item. In my drawing, a lack of hair is giving him the special power to transport a bit of him and his abstract concepts into the music! Spreading the groove!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYrT0kJDPOXpzBBgw8moeAyD8pu1jN2lnw8gr52ITibTlZfOWzWNRKEsgKBFZvzjBtFSfJ93UQlfJkZ7vlCw-k5b_mrgE790VQ8c3bhcU5PaZWHid-V3uO_856x_tMwBX452GgjEMXxaw/s1600/19.01.2019+Beautify+Junkyards+-+Fe+Helena+Espvall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1137" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYrT0kJDPOXpzBBgw8moeAyD8pu1jN2lnw8gr52ITibTlZfOWzWNRKEsgKBFZvzjBtFSfJ93UQlfJkZ7vlCw-k5b_mrgE790VQ8c3bhcU5PaZWHid-V3uO_856x_tMwBX452GgjEMXxaw/s640/19.01.2019+Beautify+Junkyards+-+Fe+Helena+Espvall.jpg" width="454" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Fe Rita (Helena Espvall) © Rita Draper Frazão</span></td></tr>
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Ahhh... Helena... <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_Espvall" target="_blank">Helena Espvall</a> is beauty, hope, lavender, sweets, sea breeze and all the things I can remember that resemble to the/my meaning of the word <i>fe</i>. </div>
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I know Helena for a little while, now, and have made some <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2017/05/a-few-more-of-these-please.html" target="_blank">drawings</a> from her, through the past years. We became friends, and I affectionately usually call her, ever since, <i>my fairy</i>. </div>
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But, it was only on our way out of the rehearsal of Beautify Junkyards - where she plays both as a guitar and cello player - that I told her the only word I knew in her mother tongue (Swedish) - <i>Fe</i>. </div>
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<i>Fe</i> means fairy in Swedish and faith in Portuguese. (And I can relate both meaning so much to her!!) But the most surprising thing for me, was that, right away, she said: <i>Oh! But do you know what Rita means in Swedish!? </i></div>
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and I said: <i>No!</i></div>
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and Helena topped off: <i>It means to draw!</i></div>
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I just couldn't believe it! This was too good to be true. Without even having anything made any drawing from her that night, the concept of her portrait was already casted in my mind.</div>
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This, by itself, is extremely unusual in my work process, when drawing musicians. I don't think of anything previously, I actually usually avoid doing so. But Helena was the first exception.</div>
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That same night, I came home wondering how could I include these two words (with sense) in her portrait. I first thought of a sentence or a poem in the drawing. So, at really late hours, that same night, I asked Helena's help to form a sentence with these two words. But I wanted all this to be a surprise, so I couldn't tell her why I was asking such things. She must've thought I was mad, asking her at 2 am to join in a sentence two unlinkable words in Swedish! Tetric!</div>
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Turns out that, according to her, to make a Swedish sentence with sense, the word Rita had to change and that couldn't be, because Rita is my name, and that's how it's written in Portuguese. I thought: <i>No problem, I'll sort a sense out through the drawing itself. </i>I mean, I had to!</div>
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I slept on it, and the next day, while in the sound check, I had the idea that made the whole concept of the drawing. I decided this was going to be my first portrait, not only from a musician, but clearly about my relation with this person. And mine and Helena's definitely started due to my drawings, so I included my hand and pencil with the <i>brand</i> Rita, writing the name I always call her!</div>
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The colors and materials chosen, have to do with the magic she has. It's just unexplainable and so present in her. A spiritual lilac with a magic potion inspired by the glittery eye shadow she wore that night.*</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(* This is another drawing hard to be fairly perceived though a scan, due to its sheen) </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT6MHvPAIe4ljqLVZO-l5wLR1-VA-qaawi_GctkJPP5xpAONN3qM_V_bLAAqRBLzPhGav5XnXUqG7maIzGPdUoXzpVDx9y3MBkL3gm2JyUdFFvpPMEWwZv17IXlPrwJaxm3gE-5vR39Jg/s1600/19.01.2019+Beautify+Junkyards+-+Rita+Vian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1152" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT6MHvPAIe4ljqLVZO-l5wLR1-VA-qaawi_GctkJPP5xpAONN3qM_V_bLAAqRBLzPhGav5XnXUqG7maIzGPdUoXzpVDx9y3MBkL3gm2JyUdFFvpPMEWwZv17IXlPrwJaxm3gE-5vR39Jg/s640/19.01.2019+Beautify+Junkyards+-+Rita+Vian.jpg" width="460" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Rita Vian © Rita Draper Frazão</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/naivatir" target="_blank">Rita Vian</a> has a literary surname. <a href="http://innertour.blogspot.com/2014/02/boris-vians-heartsnatcher-illustration.html" target="_blank">I love Boris Vian so much</a>, that I think, that was almost the first thing I spoke to her about, when we met. She's the female singer of Beautify Junkyards. Fresh, sweet and strong, detail oriented, even in her clothing! I was amazed with the fact that she did her own dress that night. It deserved life in my drawing too! An inspired golden hue is enlightening Rita and she's gracefully transforming it back to the public, in a swan dress movement. As she, in real life, did. Beautiful!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5e0kn671tw_z1Yxy-XRMO-xjz5RLphQy3NulGomidEn88C7pgPETIUozcS-zWpbe8DxNAlTLbuOLprjx466BKXLsj9_IKW5VOhHipbVNqICjoUacyy-j-_PIRr71iny3f_oqKD1_6gNo/s1600/19.01.2019+Beautify+Junkyards+-+Joa%25CC%2583o+Pedro+Moreira.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1134" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5e0kn671tw_z1Yxy-XRMO-xjz5RLphQy3NulGomidEn88C7pgPETIUozcS-zWpbe8DxNAlTLbuOLprjx466BKXLsj9_IKW5VOhHipbVNqICjoUacyy-j-_PIRr71iny3f_oqKD1_6gNo/s640/19.01.2019+Beautify+Junkyards+-+Joa%25CC%2583o+Pedro+Moreira.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">João Pedro Moreira © Rita Draper Frazão</span></td></tr>
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And about this drawing, I'll tell you a secret: it's unfinished. But there are two reasons why I still included it here.<br />
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The first one is, that I didn't know, but one of the very first contacts I had with Beautify Junkyards' music, was through <a href="https://www.facebook.com/joao.p.moreira.73" target="_blank">João Pedro Moreira</a>'s work. He not only plays guitar is this band, as he's a <a href="https://vimeo.com/jpmoreirawork?fbclid=IwAR1Sr6tvCoSJco7HAKnFpnkHbk2YcaOIDpvOcSH9LQAPYGR5gbGgdGUcrBs" target="_blank">director</a> and did this amazing video for their song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij-FzrRHdbw" target="_blank">Aquarius</a>. I just love it so much!!<br />
He is also the author of other videos, like <a href="https://vimeo.com/211508217" target="_blank">this one</a>, for Buraka Som Sistema.<br />
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The second one, is that the fun of its making is worth telling you here.<br />
I tried to draw João several times, during the concert, but my task was creatively hampered, to the point he was joking at me, while performing, during the concert, daring me to draw him, moving as hell, deliberately. We both laughed so hard!! The result is here - João active and in motion! Like in the movies :)<br />
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Second Part with Nina Miranda</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QqzaoE9m0BsuK6qIxu-15XgGMW5yVEJo-bzWD4LVPjKoa2WOomcCzeZ2qOQrp0FMZN4WoKQ2rsdwx1d9PA6xugHgyVETLuB23oWBkemV6Ag09ehSjJgSxFhImAtv-MD_IqF7KrPDzO0/s1600/19.01.2019+Natty+Fred+Munguambe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1004" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5QqzaoE9m0BsuK6qIxu-15XgGMW5yVEJo-bzWD4LVPjKoa2WOomcCzeZ2qOQrp0FMZN4WoKQ2rsdwx1d9PA6xugHgyVETLuB23oWBkemV6Ag09ehSjJgSxFhImAtv-MD_IqF7KrPDzO0/s640/19.01.2019+Natty+Fred+Munguambe.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Natty Fred © Rita Draper Frazão</span></td></tr>
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This one is Fred Munguambe, a.k.a <a href="https://soundcloud.com/nattyfred?fbclid=IwAR3SaRtiY79q27nvWbAVvOH8DlE7Cu63vM16BYlLx2JtbgeArF6UTnL7YUM" target="_blank">Natty Fred</a>. He played with Nina Miranda on the second part of the night. This drawing's about his languid earthy vibe. I envisioned <i>earthy stuff</i> when I chose the color and material to draw him: beige and a pure graphite pencil. </div>
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Somehow, his performance and vibe made me think of the things that still have to come up from an almost blank page, with time, patience, resilience and work. Concepts like sustainability, a healthy planet, increasing nature, more electricity less fuel fossils, enriched human resources and social justice, crossed my mind, as the omnipresent things, in the white of this portrait, one can not see. There's still so much work, all of us have to do!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Real MC (Anselmo Hael) © Rita Draper Frazão</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100020012291455" target="_blank">Anselmo Hael</a>'s entrance on stage was majestic, to say the least. His hat had to be swapped for a crown in my drawing!<br />
Even though he had a small participation in Nina's show, his energy was strong and his speech incisive. And he sprinkled everything with hope and so much gusto. A true master of ceremonies. My <i>Real MC</i>.<br />
I, actually, thought of the double meaning of the word <i>Real</i> in Portuguese - both mean true and royal. A pun as a gift, for a gifted word player.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyF5BpCCLSz_9vog0LE3QYEwdJ6vydZXK9a2LvHhIr96vBYQO54tlpKs-7NGyHJ0DtAlQl_KrLqFtOOun4theMI9Or5_7nw-FTdgWsGWj6q_aDnmk1igT7srKRFb8EuxfDUBEyfIkMmZ8/s1600/19.01.2019+iZem+-+Je%25CC%2581re%25CC%2581mie+Moussaid+Kerouanton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1114" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyF5BpCCLSz_9vog0LE3QYEwdJ6vydZXK9a2LvHhIr96vBYQO54tlpKs-7NGyHJ0DtAlQl_KrLqFtOOun4theMI9Or5_7nw-FTdgWsGWj6q_aDnmk1igT7srKRFb8EuxfDUBEyfIkMmZ8/s640/19.01.2019+iZem+-+Je%25CC%2581re%25CC%2581mie+Moussaid+Kerouanton.jpg" width="444" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">iZem © Rita Draper Frazão</span></td></tr>
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Jérémie Moussaid Kerouanton a.k.a <a href="https://soundcloud.com/izemsounds" target="_blank">iZem</a>, had previously masterminded a version of the song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZrmeKnof44" target="_blank">Água Viva</a> with Nina Miranda. Based in Lisbon, it seemed only natural that, in this concert, he also sang and played guitar along with Nina Miranda.<br />
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His face sketch, was started during the soundcheck (where he had a red cap, and later changed it). His guitar was also red. The drawing was completed during the concert, and the rest was finished later.<br />
Turns out, the color red also suited what I wanted to say about him. Red: the color of ignition, of daring initiatives, and of alert.<br />
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And his resume can also be considered a red alert for those who don't know his work yet! He's worked with people such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_Peterson" target="_blank">Gilles Petterson</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9t-eHKOnvE" target="_blank">Solange Knowles</a> (Beyonce Knowles' sister), <a href="https://soundcloud.com/izemsounds/dj-izem-vs-jose-james-trouble" target="_blank">Jose James</a> and Mayra Andrade, just to name a few. He is also one of the artists of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfAoa8n5X2o" target="_blank">Enchufada</a>, <a href="https://youtu.be/T18UA3Wqg64" target="_blank">Buraka Som Sistema</a>'s label.<br />
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Having in mind iZem is an all-in-one package (a music producer, a dj, and a musician) I wanted to portray here, the true music octopus, that he is - with his tentacles (here represented by the strings of his guitar) reaching out to the world!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDbnNnNEFOREnkvkNlLcvjiRyuCZJKyU6798c-wGTL4Zb2q1AYPRsbM90gm7NzQY5OYjRmYHMH_CCXaslT8tze1Yk295Vk0_hqcf0P7uUcYWnGH8zMxXhEbvOYU33MsJBYvg-WDQOkIzY/s1600/19.01.2019+Bird+Nina+Miranda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1147" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDbnNnNEFOREnkvkNlLcvjiRyuCZJKyU6798c-wGTL4Zb2q1AYPRsbM90gm7NzQY5OYjRmYHMH_CCXaslT8tze1Yk295Vk0_hqcf0P7uUcYWnGH8zMxXhEbvOYU33MsJBYvg-WDQOkIzY/s640/19.01.2019+Bird+Nina+Miranda.jpg" width="458" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Bird Nina (Nina Miranda/Smoke City) © Rita Draper Frazão</span></td></tr>
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Last, but not the least, my birdie <a href="https://nina-miranda.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Nina Miranda</a>, from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAznD1RoPKc" target="_blank">Smoke City</a>. The special star of the night!</div>
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She not only sang her own things, as in the first part of the show, she also sang with Beautify Junkyards.</div>
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So good to see her again! I have the feeling Lisbon loves her, and she loves us too :)</div>
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In the middle of the concert, she asked to the audience: "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZDaNufiA90" target="_blank">Where are the bird sounds out there?</a>" Needless to say, the most beautiful <i>birds </i>are inside you, Nina! And more! The whole Amazonas, the skies, the colors, the stars, the animals, the children, the oceans, the waves, the rhythm, freedom, love and so many other things. </div>
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It somehow reminded me, of the sounds and of this passage in Smoke City's <i>Giulietta</i>:</div>
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<i><a href="https://youtu.be/rAYo2eFjJ6A" target="_blank">Do you know</a> </i></div>
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<i><a href="https://youtu.be/rAYo2eFjJ6A" target="_blank"><i>To be happy we must wake up</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16.12px;"> </span></a></i></div>
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A mixture of an underwater blue Pisces finding her school fish and my bird Nina finding her flock of birds. That's what this drawing's all about.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxWN_jSqCAcH_Ubs1VB7Ao0ILh-2m041v1TwofYEq5AjqikXb_13Bg0HXiGHPaGpsZUYthCHWhPCho5rqmIPEwGJ96bM6ifLK-r2egf2PNcP9lnKpCuz-qQHcFBWB_ll_NA26mex643A/s1600/45892510375_5828fd39b7_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxWN_jSqCAcH_Ubs1VB7Ao0ILh-2m041v1TwofYEq5AjqikXb_13Bg0HXiGHPaGpsZUYthCHWhPCho5rqmIPEwGJ96bM6ifLK-r2egf2PNcP9lnKpCuz-qQHcFBWB_ll_NA26mex643A/s640/45892510375_5828fd39b7_o.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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Finally, I need to mention that during the concert, I was intrigued with this girl taking pictures with a crystal in front of her lens. I'd later see her work, online, afterwards the show... And I truly loved it, to the point I wanted to mention it here. I mean this has nothing to do with the regular concert photos one's used to see. (Find the ones from this gig, <a href="http://musicboxlisboa.com/mb/sonhos-tecnicolor-beautify-junkyards-nina-miranda/" target="_blank">here</a>) I just loved her framing and lightening composition sense. Like in fine art :) Here's a photograph she took me, while I was drawing.*</div>
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See more of Ana Viotti's work <a href="http://www.anaviotti.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. It's worth it!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">* Used here with her permission.</span></div>
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During the concert of Beautify Junkyards, João Branco Kyron made several references. One of them, made me think about the contribution this music makes, in order for us to live in a happier and better place. A magic pass. That was the exact sensation I had when I came back home from the show. Wide technicolor dreams, but better: these were real.</div>
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Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-75221544571667835462018-11-28T10:26:00.001+00:002018-11-28T10:26:23.775+00:00My drawings at Jazz Magazine<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7hUJYnKG9qbj_rZio___WXBeCK5m2Rub1oQgkv0NsiFQh_vmh9sUXf2CGpa3UKK1_JmWYngkeijcTgF95LbReyO3KY7w4AI4v9teBG7YgV4LOH7D0AKKxuvEqDVf6a3-PO6KJR2CcETA/s1600/JEA+27.7.18+Upper+East+Side+-+John+Zorn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1120" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7hUJYnKG9qbj_rZio___WXBeCK5m2Rub1oQgkv0NsiFQh_vmh9sUXf2CGpa3UKK1_JmWYngkeijcTgF95LbReyO3KY7w4AI4v9teBG7YgV4LOH7D0AKKxuvEqDVf6a3-PO6KJR2CcETA/s640/JEA+27.7.18+Upper+East+Side+-+John+Zorn.jpg" width="448" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Upper East Side (John Zorn) © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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Jazz Magazine is one of the oldest Jazz Publications in Europe. It's based in Paris, and exists since 1950.</div>
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I feel like it's so hard to be a music critic, in the sense that judging might be easier than transporting the reader to the place, the people, and the specific sound, when the person wasn't there.</div>
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The author of this article, David Cristol, did more than that. </div>
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As if incarnating Proust, he made me dream, and provided a wide variety of references that framed the context in an extremely rich way. To the point that I feel like writing about him, instead of writing about the concert, the musicians or my drawings, as I usually do.</div>
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I just loved this text, it was a pleasure to read it (even though my French is so rusty!). It also reminded me the days I lived in <i>Milano: i gelati, il duomo, la scala, i Sforza e Leonardo e sopratutto quella lingua la cui pronuncia e suono</i> is to die for.</div>
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One could tell, David's references are wider than music. The sensibility to, for example, connect the dots between a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley" target="_blank">Aleister Crowley</a> and this concert, could only come from a very observant personality, a cultured person and from a peculiar being.</div>
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Along with this review, are two drawings of mine. One from John Zorn and the other one, from Bill Laswell. You can see the whole thing, my drawings and David's wonderful text, <a href="http://jazzmagazine.com/jazzlive/john-zorn-bill-laswell-milan/?fbclid=IwAR26BLnoSczEB5EcThe902YuMg_2D0FkMNxfy4n0Sq50-0eBYinTBwpwUsw" target="_blank">here</a>! </div>
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It was a team work. Thank you so much for inspiring me David! Hope it inspires you all as well! </div>
Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-10117055102436797772018-11-21T12:32:00.000+00:002018-11-21T12:40:23.652+00:00Bauhaus in Lisbon<div style="text-align: center;">
Revitalizing English post punk, last Saturday, the band <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus_(band)" target="_blank">Bauhaus</a> played in Lisbon. </div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/294452691109586/330130747541780/?notif_t=admin_plan_mall_activity&notif_id=1542662103195616" target="_blank">This concert</a> made part of their 40th anniversary tour, Ruby Celebration, and counted with a completely sold out concert. </div>
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The public averagely went from their 30's to their 50's, and everybody dressed up to the occasion. This was no detail since, being a visual artist, I figured the ambience vibe was visually quite interesting. It seemed, to me, like a trip back to the punky 80's: lot's of black, leather, spikes, skulls, smoke, make up, chains, glittery mohicans, and vampire looks. This had to inspire my work. </div>
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I've made live drawings during the show, from two of the original members, still in the band.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_awQbwkeH_n3aiGTfh1vN2wxGW9krHgAhQ7yf8tNOLug9d8ZC6woinstdPr6VYvljaqsMAv3r4GROgZD9u5tidmkW0LRnmGytZ6zUrOVbtJ4Y4GCMjrFRpKk_i_GE4cPRrknsHsH2_I/s1600/17.11.18+David+J+-+Bauhaus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1133" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_awQbwkeH_n3aiGTfh1vN2wxGW9krHgAhQ7yf8tNOLug9d8ZC6woinstdPr6VYvljaqsMAv3r4GROgZD9u5tidmkW0LRnmGytZ6zUrOVbtJ4Y4GCMjrFRpKk_i_GE4cPRrknsHsH2_I/s640/17.11.18+David+J+-+Bauhaus.jpg" width="452" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">A guy with a vision © Rita Draper Frazão</span></td></tr>
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The first one is my portrait of the bassist <a href="http://davidjonline.com/" target="_blank">David J.</a> , or a guy with a vision. </div>
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Love his playing, and somehow I feel like he puts a "J stamp" in everything he does. High contrast and black just had to be there. This is about his striking ideas, and his visionary sight. Unforgettable.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCuBM5x5dZp0PzIfsav5CTDPm85uKgWvQkIRBTbBZNj-ZBfoEpIv4_QEZh9WglH5SWVtfJe5j3SuytXVBg-2RvlSuWOQ7PJJ70YsdN4sRqwG0jNBdAYFCh-gx4zCVAX7WfWdAkZdhyphenhyphen0nA/s1600/17.11.18+Peter+Murphy+-+Bauhaus+final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1060" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCuBM5x5dZp0PzIfsav5CTDPm85uKgWvQkIRBTbBZNj-ZBfoEpIv4_QEZh9WglH5SWVtfJe5j3SuytXVBg-2RvlSuWOQ7PJJ70YsdN4sRqwG0jNBdAYFCh-gx4zCVAX7WfWdAkZdhyphenhyphen0nA/s640/17.11.18+Peter+Murphy+-+Bauhaus+final.jpg" width="420" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Murphy © Rita Draper Frazão</td></tr>
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Last but not the least, here's my portrait of the lead singer of Bauhaus, <a href="http://www.petermurphy.info/" target="_blank">Peter Murphy</a>.<br />
Seemed to me, since the minute he popped on stage, he was flirting with the audience, purging his demons and challenging the public to do the same. And what else could be as alluring, as bloody red (lipstick)? I didn't have one with me, but thought I'd be a trooper to borrow someone else's, which I did. Besides that, pressure determines the tone: pencil always gives me some hues and opportunities, like no other material does. It's about a lonely and errant speech, theatrically trying, and captivating other's attention, as <a href="http://www.angelfire.com/hi/littleprince/framechapter21.html" target="_blank">the taming fox</a> in Little Prince's did. My materials of choice were picked. </div>
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Concerning one of their greatest hits, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKRJfIPiJGY" target="_blank">Bela Lugosi's dead</a>, David J once said in an <a href="https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/david-j-bauhaus-love-and-rockets" target="_blank">interview</a>: <i>A vampire can never retire from being a vampire, because that's for eternity. </i>So it is Bauhaus' music and legacy.<br />
I think <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi" target="_blank">Béla Lugosi</a> must be, by this time, very grateful. And so are we.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">This article and drawings are dedicated to my dear friend Renata Candeias.</span></div>
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Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6593779520503256110.post-72258394912060687992018-04-25T17:09:00.003+01:002018-08-07T16:03:50.065+01:00Prince João Figueira Nogueira<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It was back in the days of <a href="http://osdiasdaagua.blogspot.pt/" target="_blank">Casa d'Os Dias da Água</a> that I've first met <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0276590/" target="_blank">João Figueira Nogueira</a>, but it was only years later, that we became friends.</div>
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João passed away, days ago. </div>
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We said the final goodbye to him today, in Portugal's day of Freedom, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnation_Revolution" target="_blank">25th of April</a> with a glorious sun shining, and flowers (carnation revolution) all over town. </div>
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A day full of color and light to him. Sure deserved and appropriated.</div>
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João worked with costume and set design. I remember his set of different shoe laces, with several colors he combined according to his outfit. It was just a slight manifestation of his acute aesthetic sense, always present.</div>
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Still so vivid in my mind, his scratched voice, amongst his will to see <i>things,</i> until the end. Last time I met him, was a couple of weeks ago at the theatre.</div>
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Wherever he went to, even when he was most ill, João had an aristocratic countenance that led me to affectionately, call him <i>Prince</i>. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Wr_-4nXsOWjfgN6n4jWrt1tKb8oY8-mBCXeYQ4tUY9F_hs4v9BS7py02xz63363eRLBNMgUEzAubGw5956Qr7aseeTvdHM_Oph7SvTYCvTjdmwr_j49XJXNDYIWqQvnuwxlZc_k5xZQ/s1600/20476410_10212463503598558_6259502777542466758_n+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="960" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2Wr_-4nXsOWjfgN6n4jWrt1tKb8oY8-mBCXeYQ4tUY9F_hs4v9BS7py02xz63363eRLBNMgUEzAubGw5956Qr7aseeTvdHM_Oph7SvTYCvTjdmwr_j49XJXNDYIWqQvnuwxlZc_k5xZQ/s400/20476410_10212463503598558_6259502777542466758_n+%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Not long ago, I have made a portrait from him, and he took this picture of me, doing it. </div>
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According to his visual precepts, I had to chose the majestic golden color, to wrap him.</div>
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So here it is, my tribute to a friend who will always be a bright star, for all of us.</div>
<br />Rita Draper Frazãohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00107561870332632628noreply@blogger.com0