CHAOS AND GRACE

 HELLO & WELCOME!

Another Saturday, another art section.

Im so happy because my painting Chaos & Grace it's finished and I am very happy with it.

I started this painting basically inspired in the beauty of white swans, to me, swans have been almost as an equivalent as unicorns, they look almost surreal and since child I pictured them as fantastical creatures with those long necks making heart shapes when they are with a partner, I love those big white heavenly feathers, I never saw real swans when I was a child, only in books, cartoons and paintings where they appeared in beautiful dreamy landscapes.

I’m not sure when it was the first time I saw a real swan… maybe a few years ago here in St. Louis when I visited a local park.

This painting is a striking fusion of realism and abstraction, rendered with oil and acrylic that blend together to create a visually rich and emotionally evocative scene. I have enjoyed the time and process of this painting during cloudy and rainy days after several tornado alerts and a devastating tornado we had in the city.

It's funny how every time I do a painting, the painting becomes part of my reality, for example when I was working with this, I was feeling very distracted and annoyed on my studio, I felt I needed to put order, clean, make space, re decorate, but it was not happening only in my studio but also my emotions. I felt chaotic, like the background of my painting, with feelings scattered everywhere in the air.

In a way, I knew while I was painting, that this had to be happening in order to discover and work with my inner chaos.

So I let the paintbrushes to dance.

This is the first abstract painting that I plan, every brushstroke it's planned, every color, every line. Why? Because this was my way to control and to put order to the chaos. I worked by sections of 9 squares, painting one by one, the chaos has to be perfect even in the mess.

But here comes Grace…

At its heart is a graceful white swan, painted with lifelike detail—its feathers rendered in delicate, layered brushstrokes that capture the softness and purity of its plumage. The swan's elegant neck curves with poised dignity, and its wings are slightly raised, suggesting movement, power, and poise. I like to think I am the swan, I'm the only one who can change or embrace the chaos and go through it with grace, calm and gentleness.

The background contrasts boldly with the realism of the swan. It's an expressive, abstract mix of vivid colors and loose, painterly gestures. Large, blooming flowers in shades of magenta, crimson, buttery yellow, and deep green seem to emerge from the canvas, merging with splashes, drips, and bold brushwork that give the piece a sense of modern spontaneity. There are ink-like black splatters and swirling lines that add dynamic energy and texture to the piece.

The swan floats on a reflective surface, anchoring the composition in calmness amid the visual chaos—symbolizing serenity, beauty within disorder, or perhaps the persistence of grace in a turbulent world.

This work is both dynamic and contemporary, inviting you into a dreamlike space where natural elegance meets abstract emotion.

At the end, I have embraced chaos, I have played with it turning it into art, I have given it a place, order and meaning.

Chaos reveals how little we truly control. Plans can collapse, people can change, and life can shift in an instant.

From natural disasters to personal breakdowns, chaos often destroys old systems, ideas, or relationships. But that destruction can be the soil for something new and better: 

• New growth after loss. 

• Reinvention of identity. 

• Innovation through necessity

Our Reactions Shape Reality 

• The universe itself began in chaos. 

• Many spiritual traditions see chaos as the womb of possibility.

It reminds us that order and chaos are not enemies, they are partners in transformation.

Chaos itself is neutral—it’s our response that defines whether it becomes a crisis or a transformation: 

• Some grow stronger through adversity. 

• Others get stuck resisting change.

Learning to pause, reflect, and act wisely in chaos builds resilience.

Emotions Are Messy but Meaningful

Chaos in our inner world—grief, confusion, anxiety—shows us what matters: 

• What we fear losing. 

• Where we've outgrown something. 

• What truths we've been avoiding.

Impermanence is Real

Chaos breaks attachments. It reminds us: 

• Life is always moving. 

• Nothing lasts forever—pain, joy, love, or loss.

This awareness can help us live more fully in the present.

“From chaos, life stirs; from life, art speaks".

My painting it's available for purchase HERE

These week has been so nourishing and I have new insights, new ways to see life that I like, also I have found inner strength and tools to have emotional support to.

In other news...I visited again the Science Center of St. Louis, I didn’t took many pictures as I have been bore so I did just a quick, but here some about one of the main entrances, shoes and birds.

TO MAKE: This week I made natural vegetarian sunscreen and I just love it, plus smells delicious!

I followed this video, but instead tallow I added extra coconut oil.

TO LISTEN:  Ahhh! I have been listening "Another chance" by Roger Sanchez many times lately. I always loved this song since was released, but watching the video makes me realize how much I identify with the girl and how difficult can the world be when we feel to much, how people can make us love
"bigger and brighter" and put all into it that its so visible to the world too and also how people can makes us feel smaller, hiding to protect our feelings, the pain of disappointment and the fear of being real and being rejected.

I loved that at the end the girl keeps a big heart, I see it as a personal message too: What matters to me is to be courageous, show a open heart specially TO MYSELF and carry hope with even after pain. This is a big message of SELF LOVE and authenticity, so...this song that I love has won extra points and now that I think it's also about chaos and grace. ALL CONNECTED!

TO WATCH:  You can watch my video Chaos and Grace where i paint from beginning to end.

EMBRACE YOUR CHAOS AND GRACE!

ALL ABOUT WOLVES AND MY NEWEST PAINTING IN PROCESS.

 Hello people! Happy weekend!

Ahhh...

This week has been relaxed but fast, every day working with my painting waiting for the moment when it was finally time to paint the wolf. I was very lazy during the mornings, but at night is when I feel more comfortable with the canvas and the paints. I spent the days studying my sketch and the colors, area by area. It's strange how one doesn't know how the work will develop until one is in the middle of the action.

I did quite a few 'sweeps' with the brush, something I didn't think I would do but the piece called for it. I also had my moments of doubt as to how to develop the flowers, whether in a more realistic or more abstract way... I think I always struggle with this and I've been doing it in an intermediate style.

I I really like fluid brushstrokes that are not so structured and precise for this piece. I prefer more organic and bold shapes.The time came to paint the wolf and I felt excited, I remember the first two wolves I painted, one on a sheet of paper that turned out horrible, I have it stored somewhere, it looked like a rat's face, then I did another wolf accompanied by a girl, which also turned out horrible like a bad cartoon, but the illustration itself and the model were beautiful, so what I did was watch painting videos to refresh and learn more about the subject. I cant't believe how useful was and was a game changer! was not about painting a wolf but about how to build brushstrokes and this made the whole difference for my painting "Strawberry night" you can see the difference in the pictures! 

"Strawberry night" its available HERE

I also painted a watercolor about wolves with a woman "The whisper" and it turned out beautiful. I already sold that piece but I have prints HERE

Ah! I didn't remember another two I made of a girl with a wolf "Never alone" and I also sold it, I have prints HERE. And the other one is "Desert boy" this one is a very colorful watercolor about a boy with a wolf and desert landscape, I have the original for sale. HERE

It is nice to see the variety and difference between images and styles, so I guess my newest wolf also will be different, but now I have learned more about brushstrokes, so here the first layers and pictures where Im building the wolf.

And so far I'm happy with the look, I have been working faster then I thought and I will share more about it soon on my instagram and facebook.

TO QUOTE: I am still reading "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" so here what I liked:

-"The word superman and that man is something that has to be surpassed. Man is a bridge and not a goal"
-"Overcome yourself even in your neighbor and a right that you can take away for yourself you must not allow it to be given to you"
-"Who cannot command himself, he must obey, and many can command themselves, but there is still a long way to go before they also obey themselves"
-"Abandoned to the grace of the spirit, to the madness of each generation that comes and reinterprets everything that was, transforming it into its own bridge"
-"Little is the value of everything that has a price"
-"Everything goes away, everything returns, the wheel of being rolls eternally, everything dies, everything blooms again, the year of being runs eternally"

TO EAT: I did carrot cake, so delicious, this carrot cake has cheesecake in the middle, so it was an experiment. You can fin the recipe in my recipes blog HERE

TO LISTEN: I liked a song called "Part of me" by Armin Van Buuren, this was new for me and not my common music style.