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Altered dreams

Altered art by Vera Lucia Emerim. Altered books, card holders,albums, ATC, collage and other mixed media artworks.

Name:
Location: Araranguá, Brazil

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Goodbye

Hello,

My name is Tamara, I’m Vera Lúcia’s daughter. I’d like to inform you about my mother’s death in the last June12th. 2008. She died from complications on her cancer treatment. I do know she would like so much that I let you know about this, because you represented an important part of her life.

Thank you everybody

Tamara Emerim Guerra.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Photos

These are some photos my husband took some time ago, before I knew I was sick. In fact, I was already sick by that time but I didn't know it. I was so happy that day and this is the way I want to be remembered,a happy person among my cats and my art.





Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Altering Death

This blog should be called Altering Death. I have pancreatic cancer, I started chemotherapy two weeks ago and I was already taken to the hospital with an opportunist infection this week-end.


To make art is rare a luxury these. I try to make some things in the moments when I feel strong enough. Unfortunately since the diagnosis in January, it has been more and more difficult to have time to paint, to decoupage or make my dear Altered books.

If somebody is reading this blog out there, please understand that I am terrified. Not with death, because it is as a friend said about it, “it will be as coming back home", the "dwelling of the spirit", where all the matrices of the art will be waiting for me. What terrifies me is the path that I will have to tread here on earth until arriving there. Pain, much pain, so much pain that I didn’t know that I could support. Suffering, sadness; to see other sick people in different stages of the illness; the hours in hospitals for a long list of illnesses associated with cancer , hours in the clinic for chemotherapy, nausea, weakness.

I pray to the God to give me courage to face my ordeal until the end and pray to God to give my family and friends the necessary courage, strength and love to support me. And I ask you who are reading this blog, whichever your religious beliefs are, please pray for me.

Until next post.

Altered Book Spring

This altered book is my homage to spring and Easter time. I could only finish it right now. I have been going and coming from hospital since January it make very difficult doing art in a regular basis as I always did before. For example, my Valentine’s book is being finish yet. Today I arrived from hospital after complications with chemotherapy. I feeling a little better now and decided to publish this altered art piece.



















Click Here to see this artwork at eBay!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Decoupage purses

These are 3 decoupage purses I did lately. I was given the tiny purses, they had something written on them, so I painted the written part with matte acrylic black paint and glued the vintage pictures from a beautiful Brazilian decoupage paper. Then I applied 5 coats of matte acrylic varnish. The picture blended very well with the purse fabric. It is all I want of a good decoupage piece.



Monday, March 24, 2008

New painting: Goddess with Siamese Cat


This is my latest painting. Egyptian Goddess Bast holding a Siamese cat. This is a recurring theme in my art. This dark beauty symbolizes the mysteries of ancient Egypt and the cat is my Titi.
If you would like to see this artwork at eBay please click here

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Altered Book Christmas cats

The last altered book of the year. It is a little one, about 5'X5'. All the images are from my original oil paintings, except the cover that is a collage with 3D elements. Please click on the title to see it at eBay.










Saint Mary Magdalele and the artist





Early this year I was caught by Saint Mary Magdalene. I was thinking of her all the time. I had read some of the modern books about her but they had not impressed me. The inspiration just came to me as many others. I just had to paint Mary or I would go crazy. All the time I thought of her I saw a face, a very sad face, the face that saw Jesus die in the cross. It made my heart bleed. Some months passed till I could draw the face on a canvas and start painting. Meanwhile I kept on reading about her and got the gospel that is attributed to her, one of the Gnostic gospels. It is incomplete but shows the image of a tender woman yet a leader.
Then I did other 4 paintings of her, each with a meaning to me. In one she holds the alabaster jar, with the perfume she used to anoint Jesus feet, another shows her with her hidden gospel, another shows her in France, where it is said she died. The last one shows her with the Holy Grail. All interpretations of the paintings are open to you.
Here I am posting the analysis done by Allyson Erland, a collector of Magdalene art and who owns the 5 paintings dome by me.


“I wrote a little personal analysis concerning the paintings earlier today before I received this e-mail. I thought you might enjoy it so here it is.

Personal Meditations and Reflections on the Magdalene Paintings

After spending time in the presence of your Magdalene’s I thought I’d share some of my thoughts with you, the artist.

Painting #1 (“Intimate Mary”): I see this one as the most intimate and untraditional of the four and my personal favorite. I find her face absolutely beautiful, so gentle and welcoming even though seemingly expressionless. Her eyes are soft and inviting but somehow piercing at the same time. I can feel her examining me from within, discerning my innermost secrets.

Painting #2 (“Iconic Mary”): The style of this one reminds me of an Eastern orthodox icon. As in the first painting her gaze is positioned straight ahead, however she has lost the personal intimacy and emotion permeating the original. Her closeness to her audience has been replaced by a more otherworldly look, as though she doesn’t really see you but is looking beyond to something of a more spiritual, intangible nature.

Painting #3 (“Gnostic Mary”): In this piece you’ve adopted a De Vinci look. Magdalene is envisioned as the ‘Mona Lisa’ with the addition of the alabaster jar in her hands. An intriguing choice since De Vinci was deeply influenced by Gnostic symbolism and beliefs, most likely a closet Gnostic himself well informed in the “Mysteries of Magdalene”. There’s the possibility that the Mona Lisa was Magdalene incognito.

Painting #4 (“Pastoral Mary”): Though I’ve only viewed this image on-line it’s easy to see that the pastel coloring gives a softer, soothing feel to this piece. I also like the way you distanced your perspective to include more than just Magdalene’s face and shoulders. The way her left hand is reaching for her veil in a gesture to cover her countenance from prying eyes is very seductive. This one may eventually become my favorite.

Comparison of the Four: The first Magdalene is warm, vulnerable and accessible, the second beautiful but remote and transcendent, the third secretive and distracted and the fourth calm but somewhat shy and guarded. I think you’ve really captured the essence of Mary Magdalene in your artwork, especially in the first and fourth painting.


Painting #5 Very beautiful! I immediately noticed how bold and confident Mary is as the "Keeper of the Grail Mysteries". Not as all the shy, lenitive Magdalene as she appeared the previous painting. I also like the choice of a blue dress representing water and baptism into new life for the one who discovers the Grail's secret.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Another Christmas graphics countdown

Another Christmas graphics countdown. Just go
http://artist-how-to.com/Christmascountdown07.htm to download an image a day. The owner only asks for a link or for you to tell your art groups.