Reflections of the Soul Collection  -  Digital Manipulated Photography

Reflections of the Soul - Respect for Others
Award winner - DIGITAL ART –
​NON-REPRESENTATIONAL
2020 American Art Awards

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". 
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The Golden Rule is the principle of treating others as you want to be treated. In Christianity, this rule is found in Matthew 7:12 as part of the Sermon on the Mount, and it states: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do unto you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Alternatively, in Luke 6:31, we read, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Reflecting on these sentences and the dire human rights situation in my country came the inspiration for this collection; yearning for a society where government officials have due regard for the rights, feelings and wishes of its citizens. Thus, I tried to represent duty, responsibility, balance and equilibrium.

Living under a cruel dictatorship, Venezuela daily experiences extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions and excessive use of force by the security forces as part of a policy of repression to silence dissent.
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Growing social protest are daily met with a wide range of human rights violations. Prisoners of conscience faced unfair criminal proceedings. Freedom of assembly and expression remained under constant threat, while the population faced severe shortages of food, medicines, medical supplies, water and electricity. 

"La Solana" Collection -  New Media: Digital and Oil on Paper. 

"La Solana" is a country house surrounded by coffee plants and tall cedar trees in the outskirts of Caracas, with a gorgeous view of a valley covered by a sea of clouds. 

But La Solana is much more than a secluded beautiful place conceived to relax and share with family and friends. It is a place that awakens your senses; a place to develop your imagination and travel in time; a place to feel and to love; a place to reflect and to get to know yourself better. 

The collection "La Solana" is a tribute to that unique place and consists of digital compositions made with photos, drawings and oil paintings on paper, taken or made in La Solana over several years.

Reflections in Blue and Gold
Award winner - Digital Manipulated Photography
2018 American Art Awards

Claro de Luna Collection -  Photography and Digital Art

Claro de Luna
Poem by Paul Verlaine

Your soul is a chosen landscape
Where charming masquerades and dancers are promenading,
Playing the lute and dancing, and almost
Sad beneath their fantastic disguises.

While singing in a minor key
Of victorious love, and the pleasant life
They seem not to believe in their own happiness
And their song blends with the light of the moon,

With the sad and beautiful light of the moon,
Which sets the birds in the trees dreaming,
And makes the fountains sob with ecstasy,
The slender water streams among the marble statues.
                                        ---

This collection is a tribute to the french composer Claude Debussy and the poet Paul Verlaine, whose poems inspired Debussy to write the famous  piano piece, Clair de Lune.

Debussy’s music was a turning point from the Romantic music that had dominated the 19th century to the music of the 20th century.

Horses Collection -  New Media: Digital and Oil on canvas.

Horses are graceful, glorious creatures; living art forms that remind us of the wonders of nature.  Equines also represent freedom, escape and adventure, inspiring artists and poets through the ages. 

The Horses Collection is a feast of colors and contrasts, and consists of digitally manipulated images made from an oil on canvas picture of "Thunder" by the artist (the last image in the thumbnails).
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Digital media provides unparalleled tools for experimentation, discovery and creation. Digital makes the process of creation fast and fun; hundreds of options of forms, textures and colors can be selected, combined and tested while the art work is being created. It is essentially a very efficient trial and error process from the creative point of view; an artist's dream made come true!  

Blue Horse #7, The Horses Collection
Award winner - DIGITAL ART - REPRESENTATIONAL
2019 American Art Awards

Natural Patterns Collection  -  Digital Manipulated Photography

Patterns like symmetries or spirals are pervasive in living things; they are everywhere in nature. There are many types of natural patterns including trees, spirals, meanders,  waves, foams, tessellations, cracks and stripes.

When we view the patterns found in seashells, woods or mammals we perceive structure and balance; characteristics that we associate with beauty. 

This Collection is a continuation of the work commenced in the Audubon Park Eggs Collection; this time using wood patterns as the subject of bilateral symmetry. 

Tiles Collection - Digital Manipulated Photography

The earliest evidence of glazed brick is dated to the 13th century BC at Chogha Zanbil in Iran. Glazed and colored bricks were used to make low reliefs in Ancient Mesopotamia, most famously the Ishtar Gate of Babylon (ca. 575 BC). Mesopotamian craftsmen were imported for the palaces of the Persian Empire such as Persepolis.

Early Islamic mosaics, also in Iran, consist mainly of geometric decorations in mosques and mausoleums, made of glazed brick. Medieval Europe made considerable use of painted tiles, sometimes producing very elaborate schemes, of which few have survived.

The Victorian period saw a great revival in tile work, largely as part of the Gothic Revival, but also the Arts and Crafts Movement. Since the Victorian period tiles have remained standard for kitchens and bathrooms, and many types of public areas.

In this collection the artist plays with digital tails made with natural textures to create different type of objects and surfaces.

Painting with Motion - Digital Manipulated Photography

The collection is a study of lights, shadows and forms produced by moving a camera that was set at slow shutter speed.

In the creative process I was not interested in capturing motion but "painting" with motion.

In the last stage of the photo manipulation process colors were altered and, in some cases, copies of the same image were superimposed.

​This is a work in progress...

Tropical Forest ​​ Collection  -  New Media: Digital and Ink on paper

This Collection of digital images is the result of experimenting with some of my early forest and tree drawings and digital filters, particularly embossing.

Digital Embossing is the process of creating the appearance of a raised relief design, creating another dimension to the digital image.

After testing with different patterns, colors and backgrounds the resulted low relief textures were awesome.

The earliest form of embossing can be traced back to the 15th century, where stamping plates were heated and used for the creation of personalized  stationery. This was seen as a mark of high quality and professionalism.