On Curacao, we have many talented artists. Some of them show their creative genious on the walls of long forgotten buildings, mostly downtown. There are angels who seem to have arrived straight from heaven, so real and so beautiful; birds are staring at you from a bunch of bricks and colors pop from a formely unfamous stairway. I truely love these paintings, each and everyone of them. It’s a great way of connecting with your audience, and bringing art within reach of everybody.
Sketch from my journal, september 2019
What made me think, is the way people use these masterpieces for their own good. It’s common practice to pose in front of it, take a snapshot and post it on social media. Not only are people standing in the way of the true artwork (half of it isn’t visible anymore), they also profit – in some way – of the very hard work that has been done by somebody else. Maybe artists don’t mind, I haven’t actually asked anyone yet, maybe they love it. But in my opinion, social media could get so much more interesting if we show our own work, our own lives, our own colors, doodles and thoughts. Surely they’re not all masterpieces, but at least they tell us something new.
They can be huge, they can be small… Once in a while, you find yourself in a magical moment, where nothing else matters. A short escape from worries, fears, and everything around you; witnessing something wonderful and miraculous. When I look back on these two moments, they are so different and yet so very much the same. They took my breath away – and made me wish the feeling would never end.