On the way to Rússia

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 A Hamlet on the way to Rússia, oil on card, 15 x 18 cm   SOLD

Brazilians rarely miss an opportunity to make a noise. 

You could be in the most tranquil place.surrounded by peaceful fields, fine mountains extending before you, and some Brazilians will come with a horrible music player and some of their detestable Serteneja music and subject you to it. Or, in this case very loud cross-country motorcycles which they, for no obviously good reason, see the need to drive up and down this pretty road,

I am not sure why they are so unappreciative of silence, but in general they like a certain intensity of aesthetic experience: or rather, they don't cultivate the opposite. Thus, cities are constructed with one building on top of the other, with no parks or recreational breathing spots,while meals shy away from simplicity- there is a maximizing of ingredients and options.The hot dog here has become  a fantastical melange of sausage, peas, corn, onions and whatever else you might imagine. Horror vacui, perhaps?

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A farmhouse, Rússia

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A farmhouse, Rússia, oil on card, 16 x 18 cm - available

Rússia, as seen on the sign I followed off the road to Antonio Carlos: a very agreeable little place, It`s close to BR 101, but feels a million miles away.

I shall return to Rússia shortly.

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A view west, Antônio Carlos

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A view west, Antônio Carlos, oil on card, 14 x 18 cm  -unavailable

This is the first time I have been painting on the continent since my return from New York. Petrol prices have risen appreciably, discouraging me from travelling too far.

The picture is perhaps a little cramped. I have been pinching ideas about spacial organisation from William Gillies, an artist of extremely variable quality.

Extremely hot.

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Antonio Carlos, church

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Antonio Carlos, church, oil on card, 16 x 18 cm  available

I drove around, led along a dirt road by a road sign with the word Rússia (who would not have been tempted?) and which led to an enchanting little valley in which a few houses nestled. But in the end I decided to paint the church of Antonio Carlos again.

I worked for an hour. The first picture came out heavily. I destroyed it. The second was blessed with the intelligence the first gave, however, and I painted the second with speedy delight. The afternoon was perfect, or would have been had it not been for the constant barking of dogs. 

Antonio Carlos is pleasant- very orderly for Brazil- with little flowers planted along the road verges, and tidy houses. I don't know what the residents feel about their disorderly compatriots, but I doubt it is respect. 

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Clouds, Antonio Carlos

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Clouds, Antonio Carlos, oil on card, 18 x 20.5 cm  -unavailable

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Antonio Carlos, view

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Antonio Carlos, view, oil on card, 17 x 22 cm  -  -unavailable

This picture is fairly similar to previous pieces.

I've become more and more interested in big scale landscape views: it's partly because I dislike cramped spaces, and like to imagine myself in a much largr spatial context than I really inhabit.


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Landscape, Três Riachos

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Landscape, Três Riachos, oil on card, 22 x 18 cm

Painted from the terrace of a fine 1930s church that perches on a hill in Três Riachos.

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A day in Antonio Carlos

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Antonio Carlos, landscape, oil on card, 16 x 18 cm  -unavailable

A perfect painting day with golden sunshine and a slight breeze. 

Antonio Carlos is proving to be very good for painting with long low fields, a road winding along up and down,  a river, mountains around, and fine churches.

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Landscape from the Santuaria Santa Maria

Landscape from the Santuaria Santa Maria, oil on card, 15 x 18 cm -  -unavailable

A little to the west of Antonio Carlos, in the fairy tale landscape of hills and small farms.

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Antonio Carlos

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Antonio Carlos, oil on card, 18 x 20 cm - available

This little town features an unusually large Cathedral, in a sort of Deco style with twin spires. It`s reminiscent in some odd way of the Chrysler building. The town is orderly and very well suited for painting with many little hills and changes in level offering different views. 

Ergo, I shall continue to explore it and and its environs.

It has the second highest life expectancy in Brazil, at 77.9 years.

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