Saudades

"Saudades" is a Portuguese word that has no direct translation in English.  It describes a deep emotional state and a melancholic longing for an absent something or someone.  It is "a recollection of feelings, places, experiences and events that once brought excitement, pleasure, well-being which now triggers the senses and makes one live again.  It brings sad and happy feelings all together, sadness for missing and happiness for having experienced the feeling."

I grew up in the beautiful country of Portugal.  It's been over forty years since I left there to come to the United States to live and yet I still find some of my greatest pleasure in painting Portuguese subjects.  I suppose you could say I have "saudades".

A window in the quaint Portuguese town of Óbidos.

"Lace Curtain"   29" x 21"   Watercolor

The Making of The Modern

I think my painting of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth looked more like "modern art" before I finished it.  I started on a canvas that originally was going to be a painting of a girl showing her sheep at the Fort Worth Stock Show.  It kind of has a contemporary feel at this point.  Maybe I could have stopped here.

I used masking tape to help me paint the straight lines.  (being able to draw a straight line is overrated)  

 And again, the not-so-modern-looking finished painting of The Modern.

"The Modern"   24" x 18"   Oil

The Modern

Here in Fort Worth we're fortunate to have three world-class art museums within walking distance of each other - the Kimbell, the Amon Carter and the Modern Art Museum.  This is a view of the Modern with "pavilions that seem to float on the water".

"The Modern"   24" x 18"   Oil