JaZzArt en València

Por eso no las quiere convocar!

Salto la verja verde del jardín de tus jazmines,

y me revuelco en sus pétalos sonoros,

sonoros porque cantan la saeta de la vida,

la vida que se arriesga a ser tu vida…

Elevo mis ojos pardos hacia el púrpura del cielo,

el cielo al amanecer que espanta mi desespero,

y le pido al camarero que me me ponga aquí otro orujo,

para saber si soy digno de ese lujo…

C.2021, Francisco Bravo Cabrera, 26 de diciembre de 2021, València, España

GRACIAS

LITTLE BLUE MOONS

(Written while listening to The Seasons by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)

We see what we want, and yet nothing is real.
What we think we are seeing are mere fragments
extracted from our dreams.
We have burned reality with the flames of our repressed desires,
and seasoned it it with slag,
and filled it with the nonsense we are fed,
like when they told us bananas are pedantic,
and robots romantic,
and sugar-filled beaches with dunes
and a man on the moon…

I think we have conjured little blue moons in a universe someone’s invented.

We live surrounded by strangers we fancy and think we know well.
But you don’t really know all these friends and these neighbours,
so let me explain.
There are wounds that won’t heal,
though we mend them throughout an eternity.
While thinking we’re doing the best that we can,
we neglect our dear elders,
forgetting the years that they’ve given us,
forgetting the love they’ve unconditionally given us.
Utility comes first in the minds of abusers,
and when they judge you’re no longer of use,
those vile, heartless users,
they cast you aside,
to a lonely exile,
in dark, scary corners.

And still, though you may not see them, there are little blue moons that surround us…

Look…
Touch…
Taste…
Smell…
Feel the wind that circles around you and that keeps eagles soaring,
you don’t know where it came from or where it’s going.
Dip your feet in the sea that is weeping;
have a drink from a river that’s roaring,
while the world,
steered by the will of the voting majority,
spins round in circles in a space that’s imagined
by the experts of science and the masters of tales,
who have jointly devised a scheme filled with lies
to deceive us,
to control us they’re trying,
though I know,
without a doubt,
they are lying…

They say there is one, but I know there are more little blue moons on this grey, stony plane.

We rush and we fret as we try to arrive
to a bland nowhere land barely alive,
where there’s nothing to say and nothing to do,
where there’s nothing to see,
where nothing is true,
where nothing’s of import,
not me and not you,
Where they’re always constructing,
where other’s have built,
Cannot we decide to coexist?

No, such thing!
Quite impossible!
For us, we right,
and we stand tall and strong,
and all others, sans doute, are obviously wrong!

So take all your moons,
blue or little or large,
and shove them quite deep,
yes, quite deep up your arse!

---

23 SEP 2025 – Francisco Bravo Cabrera – Izmir, Türkiye

CHEERS

The universe is within me… If I look within myself I know which way to go, which path to follow… If I ask it of myself it will be granted… All I need is to affirm, visualise it and give thanks. Aligning to the universe in accordance to the will of God is all I need. Wisdom has shared her beauty and her knowledge. She has spread it throughout the universe, with a clear head I can find it…

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El universo está dentro de mí… Si miro dentro de mí mismo, sé qué camino seguir, por qué senda coger… Si se lo pido a mí mismo, se me concederá… Todo lo que necesito es afirmarlo, visualizarlo y dar gracias. Alinearme con el universo de acuerdo con la voluntad de Dios es todo lo que necesito. La sabiduría ha compartido su belleza y su conocimiento. Ella lo ha esparcido por todo el universo; con una mente clara puedo encontrarlo…

C.2025 – Francisco Bravo Cabrera – 08/12/2025 – Valencia, España

CHEERS – GRACIAS

Esta canción «Iko Iko» habla del enfrentamiento de dos tribus de indios del Mardi Gras (Mardi Gras Indians) en Nueva Orleans. Bueno, no me voy a liar, hay que ser de Nueva Orleans para entender esto. Pero no para gozarlo, bailarlo, cantarlo y gritarlo por las azoteas. La otra letra jock-a-mo es un grito de guerra de los indios, bueno, al menos eso he leído…

Hay muchas versiones, comenzando por la del propio autor, James «Sugar Boy» Crawford and his Cane Cutters, (1953), The Dixie Cups (1965), el legendario Dr. John (1972), The Grateful Dead (1977), y en 2021, la adaptación del artista Justin Wellington de Papua Nueva Guinea, que la tituló «Iko Iko (My Bestie)», se convirtió en un hit internacional debido a un desafío en Tik Tok.

Y no me preguntéis que significa la letra, cantadla y disfrutadla…

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«Iko Iko» is a song about two tribes of Mardi Gras Indians who confront each other in New Orleans. But, hey, I don’t want to get caught up in the confusion, so just enjoy the song and dance to it! The phrase jock-a-mo is a war cry of the Indians, I guess…

There are many versions of this song beginning in 1953 with the one by its composer James «Sugar Boy» Crawford and his Cane Cutters, (1953), The Dixie Cups (1965), the legendary Dr. John (1972), The Grateful Dead (1977), and in 2021, Justin Wellington, a singer of Papua Nueva Guinea, recorded a version he titled «Iko Iko (My Bestie)», which became an international hit after a Tik Tok challenge.

Well, don’t ask me what the words mean, just dance and sing it on the rooftops!

Aqui teneis una de mis versiones favoritas:

But here is one of my favourite versions:

Gracias…

Cheers…

Why would I decide to be your bridge?

Why would I decide to be at all?

Why would I decide to be deciding all these things

if I were not so small…

Small as I stand shoulder to shoulder next to God’s creation,

but tall within the light that warms my soul.

I am your bridge,

so you can cross if so you wish,

or if you don’t,

perhaps half way you’ll stop and fish…

C.2021, Francis Bravo Cabrera, 06 DEC 2021, València, España 🇪🇸

Portraits… why? What is in a portrait? At first there were no portraits. Then the portraits done mostly of religious figures.

Then came the 15th-century and the Renaissance in Europe and portraits became very popular. The reasons: A growing emphasis on the individual, advancements in oil painting technology, and increased wealth. Of course this is what allowed them the privilege of having their portrait done and what they were going to do with it, which was displaying it as a symbol of status and power. Before this, portraits were largely limited to ancient cultures, and in the late Middle Ages, they began to appear as more realistic depictions of specific individuals rather than general religious figures.

Here are a few of the portraits I have done throughout this 2025. They are not religious figures, kings or noble folk. They are a thought, an idea, a search for what a portrait really is. Is it a mirror? Is it a mask? Is it a psychological reflection of the subject? I don’t know…

CHEERS

Digital Art is not something new, but it has evolved in many ways…

I think of creating art as the search, so searching can lead you to many places and to do many things, such as using digital formats to experiment with, learn and express…

Cheers…

Esto creo que nos lo sabemos de memoria (especialmente en estos últimos años) ¿No?

Cuadros de hace unos años atrás que ahora viven en colecciones varias en Europa, Asia y América.

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Paintings from years back that now hang in many different collections in Europe, Asia and America.

GRACIAS – CHEERS