New Haven Open Studios
I can’t believe September is gone. Three quarters of our year just went by in a flash. We know that the last quarter of the year is going to fly away as well. With the fall season also comes the opportunity to enjoy art in its many forms. I have the privilege through Project Storefronts to set up camp during New Haven Open Studios at 23 Temple St. in downtown New Haven, CT. I want to invite you to come by and visit the exhibit, enjoy the creative process, and ask questions. We have some special events too and I hope you can join us for that as well. I’ll be body painting some of those days and you can watch the process. You can also enter our raffle to win a body painting experience* (details bellow).
In addition, I have some hours available for those interested in private lessons and private viewing (in case you can’t visit during scheduled hours). Oct 24th we have a reception and it would be an honor to see you there too. Lastly, check out our painting and sculpting parties also happening during the month and join the fun.
You can enter online HERE.
Not too long ago I wrote about a pencil drawing that inspired a few more sketches and a few other ideas. It ended up being a three way interpretation of the same image. I played around with four or five more sketches and then decided to paint. After an amazing private painting night with the ladies of the Orange CT Chamber of Commerce 
one has the extra long hair. It was a lot of fun adding all that extra paint around the figure. I tried to keep the figure as monochromatic as I could. Based on this result I decided to paint the other two on longer canvases I wanted to recycle. That’s something you maybe didn’t know. When people talk about the mysteries of Leonardo’s multilayered paintings I just laugh. Sometimes, not to say many times, I paint over paintings I don’t like that much, and over again. 
First, I want to apologize for my sporadic absence in this blog. I’ve been busy and honestly, I had no inspiration to write. Last week I completed 3 paintings and this week 1 sculpture (after destroying a nearly finished one). I’ve been also working on the sculpting and painting parties, and also started teaching a basic computer skills class for the 
I tried to understand each shadow and each brush stroke leading to the shades I wanted to achieve. I was looking for an almost monochromatic figure and at the end it was accomplished. I wanted to pay close attention to the face and the detail of the eyes and I am very satisfied with the results. I really enjoyed working on this painting. I can’t stop staring at it, specially at the details. There is no title yet for this painting but I am considering working on a new painting following these steps. That is another upside of the awareness I mentioned before: by keeping track of the steps and technique it is possible to reproduce them in a new project. Now that the painting is ready for sale, I am ready to begin a new one.
Acquiescence
Life Incomplete
“I am not satisfied yet.” “I am not done.” “I am still working on this.” “In progress.” When I am working on a sculpture or a painting I post pictures on social media of the progress and process. Sometimes I take short videos to give viewers a feel of it. Interestingly, some people acquire the pieces before they are complete because of the connection that grows on them seeing the process. It is like they are participating in the creation process. I find it an honor for people to trust me with the finished piece.
On the other hand, I find some people who are not interested in acquiring a piece but are very fast to make comments on them. I appreciate the comments as well. The comments that I find more interesting are those on unfinished pieces saying “Leave it like that”, or “I like it as it is”. Why are those comments interesting to me? If a piece is in progress it means that I am not done yet, therefore I am not going to leave it like that. It is not finished. There is only one person who can tell when an art piece is finished and that is the artist himself. Incomplete is not better than complete.
Those comments make me think of acquiescence. Acquiescence is one of those words that I can hardly pronounce correctly. I found it by looking at the dictionary searching for other expressions for a phrase I heard recently: “passive resignation”. How many times do we apply acquiescence in our lives? How many times do we accept things “as is” without questioning? We often “go with the flow” without asking or questioning if there is something else for us. We often prefer to live unfinished. There is no reason, no need, and no rush to accept less of what our lives could be. Even when we might feel or think we already reached completeness, whatever the process we are in right now, only The Artist can tell when we are complete.