Happiness
Happiness is the new rich
Inner peace is the new success
Health is the new wealth
Kindness is the new cool
-Unknown
Those of us that have grown hearing about the dangers of our excesses, learned that our current lifestyle was not only affecting our health, but our well-being and our future. Our choices and values are finally changing and we are searching for something better.
The search for Happiness is not something new of our generation, but maybe it has taken on a new meaning or reached a new level of importance. Maybe it is because we are so connected to technology, we have forgotten to be more connected to life. Not linked to wealth or status, well-being does not come easy to everyone and there is not an exact way of finding it. It is like water in that it can easily slip through our fingers... or the air we breathe in that it is just there. Just like we are not always conscious of when (or what) we are breathing... we are not always conscious of what we are feeling.
Happiness is letting go and being ourselves; seeing our reflection, internalizing and finding our truth. We are all connected internally to create wonderful and marvelous things. It is important to believe in ourselves, to appreciate and take care of what surrounds us and understand how extraordinary it is to be alive.
Constantly bombarded with another’s ideas of what one needs to be and feel Happy, sometimes we fail to realize that true Happiness lies in appreciating the world around us and finding ourselves. It is reached through acceptance, being grateful and living each day to the fullest. Seeing and protecting the beauty and world around us. Living and being faithful to our inner child by keeping our eyes open and letting ourselves play, explore and learn.
Felicidad / Happiness
130 x 130 cm (51 x 51In)
Acrylic and Oil on Canvas
2019
"Felicidad", was one of the 42 selected for 2019 Salon Nacional Biennal in Costa Rica.
April 14, 2020 update: Considering the state of our world today, you may find it interesting that my initial inspiration for Happiness came after a three week feverish stint with some un-diagnosed virus in November of 2017. The delirious dreams that resulted were initially much wilder, (they included laughing unicorns). Even so, they led to this art work. Re-reading my words from several months back, I am amazed at how much of what I said still applies, even during our current Covid-19 Pandemia. Not wishing to repeat that experience or something that will probably be much worse, I am taking advantage of this time to learn more, research, experiment and to explore.
Happiness Details
Child
Drawing
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The background behind the child, references the symbolist painter Odilon Redon´s painting "Evocation of Roussel" (c 1912).
Jellyfish
There are at least five species of jellyfish that are harmless. I came across an article that described them evolving in a lake where they were not threatened. Still… I enjoyed playing with their multiple interpretations.
VIDA
110 x 110 cm (43 x 43 In)
Acrylic and Oil over Canvas
2019
Catching Time
120 x 120 cm
Acrylic and Oil over Canvas.
2020
Art is a reflection of a moment in time, our individual worlds as well as the world around us. Catching Time speaks towards my own realization over time’s volatility.
The background clocks in this work pay homage to Remedios Varo (an admired artist and a reference to Mexico, where she made her home).
Catching Time was painted early 2020. I began this work right before I traveled to Mexico to undergo surgery. A time of reckoning between personal needs and different selves.
We began 2020 by chasing dreams. The year ended with the discovery of our own resilience and inner strength.
Piñata
100 x 100 cm (39.7 x 39.7 In)
Acrylic and Oil over Canvas
May 2020
This work participated in ACAV’s “Apropiaciones en el Arte” exhibition at the Municipal Cartago Museum in 2020. It was later sold to a Private Collection.
I actually had a real piñata made, which was exhibited alongside this work, with the intention of creating a “happening” moment. The pandemic restrictions prevented us from having such a moment, but an artist friend as well as the Museum´s director got to enjoy breaking the piñata at the end of the exhibition.
It is my quirky response to the pandemic
Who doesn’t want to whack Covid and destroy it like a Piñata?
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”Piñata” is that yearning we experienced of going back to the happy gatherings. To spending time with friends and family. To getting your frustrations out in a fun way and going back to some form of normal. Yet, it also recognized that the normal we knew would probably not come back entirely, at least not right away.
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There are only three kids in the painting. They all have longish hair to better reflect our current situation (I already cut my son’s hair twice and even though I am getting better at it, I am still somewhat afraid of having to do it again).
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Nature, in abstract form, is present through-out the painting. What we must fight to protect. Yet, how to realistically achieve this is quite the conundrum.
La Herencia (Inheritance)
40 x 40 (16 x 16 In)
Acylic and Oil over Canvas
August 2020
La Herencia, or "Inheritance" questions the future we are leaving our children. A call to action regarding climate change, pollution and a challenge to our current way of living.
“The Games We Play”
130 x 130 cm
Oil on Canvas
November 2021
