From a young age, I have been awed by the human form...the delicate lines of the hands fascinate me and the faces each one of us wears...incredible! Every effort to convey the subtle messages, emotions and magic of our "species", is present in me, when I pick up my camera, pencil or paint brush...I want to share how I see the world! Having limited resources and unable to hire models, I began the wonderous adventure of self portraiture early on! I enjoy portraiture in any shape or form...fotographically, I love boudoir portraiture and try to focus *chuckles* on capturing the essence/aura/energy of the person. I've not crossed the line into erotica, but then that line is so very thin and vague...so I just go with the flow and capture what is presented to my lens. I believe that is much more genuine and real. I try not to categorize or label my work, so that the viewer is forced to think and meditate on the subject matter.
I've worked with photography, charcoal, pastels, inks and pencils, but fell in love with acrylic paints. Painting is the bomb! *LOL* However, I haven't experimented with other mediums, so a true favorite has yet to be named. I have very eclectic tastes and have [finally] learned to embrace that! I've explored abstracts and costume/clothing design more than anything, but have always dabbled in portraiture...I can't seem to draw an animal that doesn't look like a cross between a horse and a dog, so I tend to stick to people! *giggles*
My inspirations to paint...to play...to create.....aside from family? *ohmahgoodness!* are (and note that this is a verrry short list): Picasso, Erte', Alphonse Mucha and Jean-Michel Basquiat *of course*, Robert Rauschenberg, Alexander Calder, William Adolphe Bouguereau, Hermann Vogler, Thomas Eakins, Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock, Paul de Longpre and Catherine Klein (before the chic from shabby had us hoarding their stuff!), Oscar de la Renta, Carolina Herrera, Norma Kamali...and let's not forget the music of Hendrix, Joplin, Los Guacos, Agustin Lara, Oscar d'Leon, Maria Teresa Chacin, Ricardo Montaner, El Puma, Rocio Durcal, Celia Cruz and Tito Puente, Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, Pink Floyd, Alan Parsons Project, Pink, Madonna, Cher, and of course, Elvis (and all 70s-era entertainers) to name a few...shows and movies like Clockwork Orange, Gone With The Wind, Star Trek & The Lawrence Welch Show! Writers such as Andres Bello, Hemingway, Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral, Octavio Paz, Maya Angelou, Tennessee Williams, Kurt Vonnegut, Alan Ginsberg, Sylvia Plath, Longfellow, Keats, Shelley, Tennyson, Dickinson...I could go on, but you see how diverse my taste in everything is!
I have a different idea of what "formal art training" is *it's the perfektionist in me*, so I don't believe that I have had real formal training as an artist. Of course, we consider life as "real" formal training in my family, so let's not eeeven go there yet! Born in Maracaibo, Zulia (Venezuela), the arts have always been a huge part of our family and culture. Singers, dancers, painters, writers, designers and lovers of plants, bugs and birds in the family, masked as engineers, lawyers, doctors, foto journalists and students of life! Is it possible for a left brain to think or function right brained...or vice versa? *heehee*....it comes naturally to us! Although I will admit, that I am one of a handful in the family, that doesn't play a musical instrument (wait, doesn't singing count? or tamborine, maracas or the triangle thingy?) *LoL* A creative person from conception! :) I've inherited the energy and creativity of two souls...my mother, a gifted poet with the will to survive unbelieveable tribulations *high five, mami*...and my father, a singer/musician/dancer with incredibly contagious energy *woot!woot!*. Both very charismatic in their own right and blessed with inspired, God given, talents. I am on the journey of discovery...to owning what I've been given! I did not choose this path, it chose me!
FYI:
My name translated:
Selva = Spanish for "jungle"
Solimar = Spanish for "sun (sol) and (i) sea (mar)"
Briceño = derived from the Spanish word "brisas" meaning "breeze".
...see, I toldya they were creative! *noo, mom was not on drugs in the 1960s!*LoL*
"What the soul is to the body, so is the artist to his people..." ~ Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957 Chilean Poet, 1945 Nobel Prize Winner in Literature)
