Month: July 2019

Towns of the Aegean: Dogs of the Streets

Posted on by Francisco Bravo Cabrera

A street scene in Ilica, Turkey

As I have mentioned in my other articles, I am travelling through the Aegean region of Turkey and visiting some of the nearby Greek islands. However, presently I am in a beautiful little town called Ilica on the Chesme peninsula, not too far from the important city of Izmir. Ilica’s a little town that grows to immense proportions during the summer season as thousands of tourists…mostly Turkish from Izmir and Istanbul…flock to this tropical paradise in the mid-Aegean region.

Of course, for in Ilica there are very nice sandy beaches and the waters of the sea here, is incredible. Cool, clean, crystal clear, inviting and refreshing. It is no wonder why thousands rush over every year to spend…if you are lucky and have the vacation time available…from June to September.

However, I have been noticing a rather disturbing situation that has been getting more and more noticeable within the last six to seven years that I have been coming here. It is the amount of stray dogs that roam the streets at will. They lie where they please and sleep where they please and do everything else wherever they please. In truth, they act like the town is theirs and we are all just passing migratory birds, here for the summer then off to our colder climes.

I find this situation disturbing, for although people here tell me that the dogs have been looked at by the local veterinarian and have received their shots, I am still weary of packs of dogs roaming the town as if they owned it. They go into the water and scare the little children. And I say, these are not cuddly little pooches, they are all big dogs. I think they are a mix of Labrador with Anatolian Hound, judging by their size.

In any event, I just wanted to put this out there. Maybe someone will mention this to the authorities so that they can begin to pick up these animals and take them to a safe place out in the country. Around Ilica there are many ranch type properties with plenty of space for these dogs to wonder and live happy lives. Anyways, since I have never encountered such a situation, I just wanted to express this curious detail of another wise beautiful little town, Ilica.

Thank you for your attention and if you liked what you read, please like and share and follow. Comments are encouraged and welcome. Let’s discuss things like these.

I am an artist from Valencia, Spain and if you would like to see my paintings and drawings, please go to Instagram @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera

And to see my online JaZzArt en Valencia galleries, visit…it’s free…here: http://www.ArtPal.com/rfbravo1155

The “big” beach in Ilica and the dogs

THANKS!

From My Blood-Red Orange Part 12: Magical Realism

Posted on by Francisco Bravo Cabrera

Participating in a mixed expo…2016…with painting “Cello” (2003 acrylic on canvas)

As an artist, I am interested in reality. In my private world I am fascinated by dreams, symbolism, surrealism and all manner of wonders useful for allowing the mind to escape from the tediousness which often results from the intensity of reality. But when I am at work, I am focused on only what is real. My paintings sometimes reflect colours, forms, shapes, lines and figures that may little resemble reality…to you…but that are as real to me as you are.

My paintings are of things just as we experience them. We do not experience the visual without the auditive or without the emotive. A street scene does not occur without the movement of people. We witness their activity and hear their voices. We enjoy the colours of nature or of things man made and we, at times, empathise with the emotions of the people all around. Those are the elements I put into my work. I try to recreate the forms that represent the mood of what I have witnessed. This process is what I call jazz art.

I am a Jazz painter. What I paint is not what I have seen but what I have taken from experience. I create as I go, adhering to one of the rules of Jazz, which is that the performer is the composer as well. I don’t paint looking at a model, because I looked at the model weeks, maybe even months before. When I get ready to paint I begin to do it by recreating the impression I got of what I saw. I improvise.

I create a psychological palette as I put colour to the emotions. I paint the figure with the intention they had while posing. I represent their thoughts, their movements, their feelings. Of course, all of this is subjective. Although most of the psychological aspects are represented via colour, please don’t consider my figurative realism with abstract art. My work is closer to expressionism than anything else but instead of the dark tones and shadows, typical of that genre, I love bright colours.

-Bombin Verde- 2019, Valencia, acrylic on canvas 60 x 60 cm

When I paint a jazz band, whether it is a trio, a quartet or a larger orchestra, I try to capture the intensity of the music they are creating. Jazz is so powerful because it is very similar to life. A jazz performance starts out by establishing a well defined and clearly written musical line, with phrasing and chorus. But then, the performer…usually the soloist…begins to go off in different direction. He creates, composes and re-writes as he plays. The rest follow along, also creating, even the chords, rhythms and the dynamics of the song. And of course, in Jazz there must always be rhythm, it has to swing.

Well, this is similar to how we live our lives. We begin with a plan, an idea, a thought, a schedule but as we begin our day, trying to do what we’ve planned, unexpected things begin to occur. Your car can break down. The train may be late. The city suffers a power outtage. A sudden storm takes you by surprise. How many variables are there? So many you cannot count. Even when the day goes along relatively trouble free and smooth, you might find yourself wondering towards an ice cream parlour or somewhere else. So life has to be improvised, no matter how rigidly we stick to our plan. Discipline takes its cue from spontaneity and spontaneity is the offspring of improvisation. This is Jazz…

“JaZzArt” (series in black & white drawings, ink and graphite on paper)

Thank you for your time and attention. If you have liked what you have seen and read, please like, follow and share. And please comment. Let’s discussions aspects of art. If you love art, we need to promote it, defend it and take it back from the hands of those who run the art industry that promote mostly garbage and charge millions for it. Art must return to the artists. So let is generate interest through sharing and discussions. Leave a comment if you agree.

My work can be seen on Instagram @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera and my online galleries…viewing is free…of JaZzArt en Valencia, my 2019 collection is at http://www.ArtPal.com/rfbravo1155

THANKS!

My Summers in the Aegean

Posted on by Francisco Bravo Cabrera

Aegean beaches in Chesme, Turkey

When the season begins, perhaps in May, sometimes in June, the lounge chairs come out, the umbrellas are placed strategically to allow just enough sun and provide just enough shadow. It’s summer and places along the Turkish Aegean coast…like Ilica and Chesme…begin to fill up with people from nearby cities, nearby towns and even some from further away places like Spain, I’m from Valencia. Then the Efes beer flows, the koftes are grilled, the sardines are put on the skewers, with the gyros and the pides. Then the Raki…you have to try it, but with caution…is mixed with water and ice and you are ready to enjoy!

In the small towns surrounding the Chesme peninsula, summers are magical. The summer months wake up the sleepy villages and suddenly restaurants pop up, bars begin to hop, ice cream parlours, beauty parlours, rent-a-cars, and those special places where you eat a tasty sandwich called kumru and any and all manner of commerce.

Then you should consider going to the bazaars. In Ilica, the bazaar comes to town every Thursday morning. In nearby Alachati, on Saturdays and in the town of Chesme…who gives its name to the peninsula…bazaar is on Sunday. To go to bazaar is a special experience. You can shop for all kinds of jewelry, clothing, underclothing, home accessories and anything else you can imagine. But that is not all, bazaars in Chesme…and I guess in all of Turkey…have another section. You can stroll over…not easy as you must make your way through dozens of shoppers…to the fruits and vegetable section where you will see an incredibly large amount of greens, reds, yellows and oranges, creating a pallet worthy of an Impressionist painter. Of course these colours are the fruits and vegetables which bear them to perfection.

Ilica’s “big” beach

But by far the greatest attraction is the Aegean Sea. Its intense blues, greens, turquoise and the rest of the shades and hues of its waters invite like no other body of water can. They are cool, clean and crystal clear and if you are sailing, you can look down into the depths from the side of your boat and even as far as ten meters down you can spot a crab chasing a shrimp on the sandy bottom. Incredible! In Ilica there are sandy beaches, like the “big” beach. There you can place your umbrella in the clean white sands and let the sun and the sea fill you with dreams and wonders…

The sun rises over the Aegean Sea on the coast of Ilica, Turkey

From Chesme you can easily travel to the Greek island of Xios. It’s a twenty minute journey on a fast boat and a couple of hours on the slow ferries. But I am not in Xios yet. I will be there in a short time and I will certainly write about it. I have been to that beautiful islanad many times and have good friends there. It is a place that I truly love and long to return to. Wait for my words on Xios…coming soon.

As an artist I believe in travelling to places that inspire. I know that inspiring are the great Gothic Cathedrals of Europe, the castles, the museums, the great parks, avenues, palaces…BUT…just as inspiring is nature, the sea and the knowledge of the history that has happened in such waters as those of the Aegean Sea. Great heroes, villains, beautiful maidens and armies crossed these waters so what better place for an artist to be.

If you have liked and enjoyed what you have read, I thank you, first for reading and if you would, please like and share and follow. Throughout my time in the Aegean I will be posting pics and words. I would like to leave you a video I made in 2016, when I was living in Miami Beach and visited Ilica. Hope you like and enjoy!

If you would like to get to know my artwork, please visit my Instagram @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera AND you can see my online galleries…you do not have to purchase anything…please visit http://www.ArtPal.com/rfbravo1155 where I have posted my 2019 collection called “JaZzArt en Valencia.”

THANKS!

From My Blood-Red Orange Part 11: Express Yourself!

Posted on by Francisco Bravo Cabrera

“Thinking of Spain” “Julen” “Twin Personalities”
Acrylic on canvas 30cm X 50cm

Expressionism is an artistic genre and style that seeks the opposite of Impressionism…mostly…and to represent thoughts and emotions of the artist. Expressionism began in the early days of the XXth C. in Germany. Its most iconic works are films such as: “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, 1920, Directed by Robert Wiene), and “Nosferatu” (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, 1922, directed by F.W.Murnau and starring Max Schreck as the vampire). This film was the unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” Because Bram Stoker’s widow protested the name of the vampire was changed to Count Orlok, however, the legal battle to stop the film continued resulting in most copies being destroyed.

In any event, I look at “expressionism” as a useful tool to create interesting art as I never paint what is there (as in Impressionism) but what is inside my head. In my three paintings above (Valencia 2019) I have used the techniques of expressionism combined with what I call “Jazz Art” to create three portraits…of imaginary people…that represent thoughts, feelings, emotions and even fantasy.

“Thinking of Spain” is my most gentle and serene of the three portraits and it represents the stoic, firm disposition of a person combined with the dreams and fantasies that populate that other part of the brain creating a perfect duality. People never have just one face, one thought, one form of behaviour. Behaviour is adapted to the situation and to the mood, affected both internally and externally, it is the only psychological characteristic that is clear and observable.

“Julen” represents a mind tormented by doubts, fears and irritations. Anger produces depression, depression produces anxiety and despair. Human traits that come and go throughout a person’s lifetime…sometimes a person’s day…and that in healthy (mentally) individuals, leave no secondary negative effects. However, in some it becomes a way of life. Such is the face of “Julen.” Is “Julen” your passing phase or your living hell?

“Double Personality” seems to look back at “Thinking of Spain” to say, “you’re not the only one that can look forward and to the side.” Yes, but the thought and the expression, as seen in the painting, is quite different. When you look one way and I mean not just with your eyes but with your intentions, you may seem to others to be something that perhaps you are not. Yet, when you look and act, the other “way” you become, the one people consider to be, the real you. But since no one knows what is inside your head, they judge you only on your behaviour. Behaviourism is the only psychological theory that can be most effective as it deals with observable phenomena.

In any event, art is there to give you pause for thoughts and reflections and if it is good enough, every time you look at a painting it should serve as a catalyst for more thoughts, impressions, expressions and meditations. A good work of art should always say something to the observer. So I give my explanations…which I think are important…very lightly, not wishing to influence, but to be there only as a starting point. You provide the rest. After all in life, no one can explain it all to you, some things…most…you must discover, interpret, figure out, yourself.

Thank you for your patience and for your interest. Please like, share and follow if you will. You can also comment, as it would be nice to generate discussions on art. You can see more of my paintings and drawings on Instagram @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera and if you would like to see my 2019 collection titled “JaZzArt en Valencia” you can visit…you do not have to buy…my virtual galleries at http://www.ArtPal.com/rfbravo1155

THANKS!

From My Blood-Red Orange Part 10: Dreaming of the Sea

Posted on by Francisco Bravo Cabrera

Day trippers out on a cruise around Ilica, in Turkey’s Aegean Sea

I am always dreaming of the sea. I have to live near the sea and preferably with a view of the sea from somewhere in my house or apartment. I think that although I love a mountain scene, I could never live on a mountain, unless, of course the mountain was next to the sea.

Presently I am looking out my window to the the mighty Aegean Sea being held back by a thin strip of sand on the shore before me. The Aegean is a special place to me though I do not understand the reasons. I came to the Aegean almost twenty years ago and I immediately felt that I belonged here. More so, I felt I had been here before, swam in these waters, enjoyed seeing the seven shades of blue that form their unique colour. Maybe I was here some time ago, perhaps in another life.

Every time I walk on the shore of the beach in front of my house and wet my feet in the Aegean, I feel close to ancient history, to the gods and goddesses that once, like I do now, walked along the shore or waded into these same waters. It is no wonder that every summer, when I am here, I feel more creative, more in tune with nature and with the events that shaped our western past, which after all, started in the Aegean.

Undoubtedly, these are…of course together with the Mediterranean Sea…the waters of history. On these waters sailed Jason in the Argonaut in search of the Golden Fleece. On these waters rode Zeus on a beautiful white bull, taking with him Europa to the west and giving her name to the continent. On these waters drowned King Aegeus, thinking that his son, Theseus had perished fighting the Minotaur, he threw himself into the waters of the sea, which gave the name to this body of water. Magical, no?

Presently in the Chesme penninsula of Turkey…where Ilica is…there are several archeological sites as well as the site of the ancient Greek city of Erythrai. All, or most, are open to the public and easily accessible from Izmir, where there is an international airport and from where day trips are available as well.

I thank you for your attention and if you have liked what you have read, please give me a like and a share and perhaps you can follow my pages as well. I am an artist and you can see most of my paintings and drawings on my Instagram @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera AND you can see my new 2019 collection of paintings called “JaZzArt en Valencia” by visiting…you do not have to buy…my online galleries at http://www.ArtPal.com/rfbravo1155

THANKS!

From My Blood-Red Orange Part 9: How safe are we?

Posted on by Francisco Bravo Cabrera

“The most excellent protection,” of course I have paraphrased the original Latin inscription. The above detail is of the ceiling of the Shrine to Our Lady of the Helpless (Nuestra Madre de los Desamparados), the Patroness of Valencia (Spain) and it shows the mother bird protecting her chicks and feeding them. It serves as an example of how protected we should also be.

But how well protected are our cities, for many years now our civilian populations have been exposed to incredible violence. The worst of these have been during the World Wars but in times of peace we have also seen attacks upon civilians. Civilian populations are specifically targeted for maximum damage, i.e. to kill the most amount of people possible. Think of Baghdad, Kabul, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Oklahoma City et al. This intent was clearly evident when on the ninth of September, 2001, New York City was attacked.

The first time a civilian population suffered at the hands of terrorists was on the 26th of April, 1937. German bombers attacked the city of Guernica in Spain’s Basque Country in support of Francisco Franco, the Spanish right wing dictator.

The blanket bombing was done in the late afternoon when it was market time and hundreds died. Franco, heavily engaged in the Civil War, (1936-1939), lied to the world by saying that the Basques dynamited the city themselves in a sort of false flag attack to blame his forces. Picasso, infuriated and disgusted with Franco and as a protest, painted his famous “Guernica” which hangs at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid. (I suggest you visit the museum to see this magnificent work of art. Yes, looking at a photo on the internet is fine but no substitute because the painting is enormous and its impact is intense)

So, I am leave you with these questions: 1) Does death by war surpass death by any other means? and 2) Is society willing to continue to accept such massacres of civilians? and finally, Who will protect us?

I am an artist and as such I believe artists should be engaged in any and in all aspects of our life as human beings living within a society. Although we all have a responsibility to express our views and opinions, those who create for a living and to live, are perhaps more informed and prepared. I do not advocate arguments for argument’s sake but I do believe in civilised and intelligent discussions for there are many things worth discussing that should be brought out in forums where art is as well discussed. Artists do not live in a vacuum. What affects artists, as one part of the population, generally ends up affecting all. We live in a global village.

Please visit my Instagram @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera to see most of my paintings and drawings and I also invite you to visit…you don’t have to purchase…my online gallery featuring my 2019 collection, “JaZzArt en Valencia” at http://www.ArtPal.com/rfbravo1155

Please share and like if this is to your taste and most importantly, feel free to discuss as it is very important to generate discussions on art, history, current events and anything else worth thinking about.

THANKS!

From My Blood-Red Orange Part 8: Origins of My Jazz Art

Posted on by Francisco Bravo Cabrera

Playing with AJA, Coral Gables, Florida 2005

Well…I guess you can call it a late start…I began really getting into Jazz in the late nineteen nineties. Actually in the early nineties I didn’t even know who John Coltrane was, I’m ashamed to admit but it is the truth. I was always a rock and roll lad. I grew up listening to the Beatles and through their songs was how I learned to speak English, mostly.

The group I formed in nineteen ninety nine, which lasted through to two thousand and four, I called AJA (Abstract Jazz Arrangement). We recorded two CD’s (www.cdbay.com/cd/aja http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/aja2) and there I started developing my version and idea of what Jazz was all about. (I left the link so, if you like, you can get an idea from the samples offere

Then by 2003, Jazz changed for me. It became a language, a way to express my art, not just music. I studied Jazz and discovered the definition that most of the originators agreed upon was that Jazz was the performer’s music, that it had to have improvisation, rhythm and that the player (soloist) would create as he played, therefore, it had to have spontaneity. That definition is what I use to create my artwork.

“Expressing Blue” 2003, acrylic on canvas (private collection)

Of course, I am inclined to include the players as well in my paintings and drawings. I paint (and draw) them as I imagine them, playing the music that is deep in their soul and magically letting those musical phrases travel from brain to fingers to instrument. I try to capture the expression of the sound and the expression of the inner world of the artist as they join with the others onstage and then separate into their own inner world. And since Jazz is also dance, I have my dancers participate in the temporary world created as the music travels through time creating itself and destructing itself, improvising, succumbing to the rhythm, and then creating it.

“Los Tres Musicos” 2003, oil on canvas (private collection)

Jazz is a world like none other. It resembles life but life orchestrated and rehearsed in order for it to be artistic for even though Jazz is spontaneous and improvisational, it is still art and raw emotion is not art.

Please feel free to comment and like and share, I will greatly appreciate it. Also you can see many more of my paintings and drawings in my Instagream @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera AND if you would like to see my 2019 collection, JaZzArt en Valencia (my city in Spain), please visit…you do not have to buy anything…my online gallery at http://www.ArtPal.com/rfbravo1155

THANKS!