"Ciudad Naranja" Acrylic/canvas 48" x 56"

"Playing" Acrylic / canvas

Farmington Valley Arts Center
Join us for the 30th Annual Candlelight Opening Friday, November 16 6-9pm
A festive night of art, open studios, music, refreshments and fun.

Open Studio Weekends:
Nov. 16, 17 & 18
November 24 & 25

For other special events including "Wine and Art" December 13 and "Black Friday Alternative" November 23, please go to www.fvac.net for details.

"Estrella" Acrylic 30" x 40"

"Azul" Acrylic 24" x 36"

I don't usually do portraits but I couldn't help myself to do this one. Of course it is my daughter Azul Sofia the other love of my life. I can see now that she will become one of my favorit subjects. This painting is the first of a series of many more.

"Chicago" Oil 36" x 48"

I made this painting after a trip to the city of Chicago. Even though it is an overview of the city I tried to emphasize the yellow church at the bottom. Cathedrals and churches used to be the tallest buildings in the world until not long ago. Compared to the skyscrapers today they seem minuscule. I wanted to show that in my painting. It makes me think about what Human kind had achieved over its short existence on Earth. It also makes me think about religions and beliefs, and how values have changed over the centuries. Where our hearts used to be and where there are now.

I don't use much symbolism in my work, at least not consciously, but sometimes it's good to point at certain direction in order to express ideas. I have to say that I usually don't like to explain what I'm trying to say with my artwork. I like to leave it open to any interpretation, actually I think that's what art is all about . Another reason is because I think that any explanation coming from an artist about any piece of art he/she made is partially false. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying artists shouldn't give explanations about their art. What I'm saying is that those explanations often come short. Because an artist can start a work with an idea of what he is trying to express but he doesn't know where that idea it's going to end, what it's going to become once the piece is finished. You can get from the artist the idea that triggered the work, the concept, what he tried to achieve with certain piece but after it's finished, the piece separates from the creator, it becomes alive and open to any interpretation, so at the end the artist's point of view is just that, another interpretation as valid as any other viewer interpretation. It doesn't really matter what the artist was "trying to say" with a painting for instance, it could be interesting to know sometimes out of curiosity but that knowledge many times ruins the experience because it would be setting boundaries to our imagination.

All art is open to any interpretation, I heard that phrase many times and as I said I think it's partially true. What I don't like about it is the implied

misconception that it carries. The idea that art is a kind of a code that has to be cracked. For me art it's a sensory experience that can't be described with words. Real art works at different levels beyond comprehension and intellect. Real art moves you at the same level as a string of a piano. Like music, a painting or a sculpture can touch hidden parts of our being not reachable by reason. We feel the resonance from within. Then we become the instrument were the piece is played.