Is a pleasure for me to share with all water gardening friends, aquatic plant and nature lovers, my work in acrylics that is inspired by the plant kingdom.

I live in Valencia, Venezuela, in a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains, on the north coast of the country. I am a daughter of Portuguese immigrants, from the paradise island of Madeira. In some way I inherited the love for plants and nature that all Madeirenses have. I am fortunate to live in another natural paradise like Venezuela, with its Gran Sabana, savannas, beaches, mountains and that marvelous light that overflows in an infinite range of colours. Discovering God's work in a flower, a tree, a seed, in all His creation, is the main inspiration of my artwork and there cannot be another one than plants.

When I paint, model a sculpture or make a mosaic work, when I plant a seed or just simply watch a plant, I feel as I am going back in time and I am again the girl that loved to watch with such amazement the simplicity of a flower or a butterfly. Nothing can express better this feeling that the following fragment of Walt Whitman.

There was a child went forth every day;
And the first object he look’d upon, that object he became;
And that object became part of him for the day, or a certain part of the day, or for many years, or stretching cycles of years.

The early lilacs became part of this child, . . .
. . . And the noisy brood of the barn-yard, or by the mire of the pond-side,
And the fish suspending themselves so curiously below there - and the beautiful curious liquid,
And the water-plants with their graceful flat heads - all became part of him. *

I am growing lotuses from some seeds that my dear friend Tarun Kumar, who is also an acrylics artist, sent me from Andra Pradesh-India. There are two lotuses, one white and another pink one. They are not flowering yet as they are small. For many years I have desired to have a lotus plant and my friend Tarun made that dream come true. Now I can hardly wait to see its flowers and to have a beautiful garden for them. I am also very please that my lotuses came from India, a country that I love so much due to its beauty, culture, people and spirituality.

I hope that all water garden enthusiasts can enjoy my work, as much I enjoy doing it. 

Image from the garden

* There was a Child went Forth.
Walt Whitman.
Leaves of Grass. 1900.