#opinion, Querido diario, pagina 13 –

(«Mediterráneo» Art Digital de Francisco Bravo Cabrera/Derechos Reservados)

La primera pagina que te escribo, querido diario, en lo que va del 2024, pero bueno… Ahora comienzo con cifras, cifras que narran vidas, tormentos, horror, desesperación y tragedias. Han muerto mas de 22 mil tratando de cruzar el Mediterráneo para llegar a costas europeas… En el otro lado del mundo, más de 1.104 personas (llamadas ilegales por muchos en EEUU) perdieron la vida intentando cruzar hacia Estados Unidos en 2023*. Tratando de llegar a España en 2023 murieron más de 6.600…

Serán cifras pero son vidas de seres amados por sus familias, amigos, padres, hijos, madres, hijas, hermanos, primos etcetera. Estos fallecidos lo hicieron no por el afán de violar las leyes de otros países, no, lo hicieron por la desesperación. Fue el padre desesperado, el hijo sin miras a un futuro prometedor, el perseguido, el que huye de la destrucción de la guerra, el que ansia poder vivir mejor, esos son los que murieron en el mar o en el desierto. No eran criminales, eran almas en pena que ansiaban solo encontrar refugio. Tienen todo el derechos del mundo. Nadie se lanza al mar a la ligera. Nadie atraviesa desiertos y anchas partes de continentes porque les gusta la aventura. Lo hacen en búsqueda de la salvación. El que busca refugio no tiene el lujo de hacerlo por las vías normales, ni dispone del tiempo tampoco. Tiene que hacerlo como pueda porque la necesidad es implacable y las ayudas muy pocas.

Hablar de migrantes y de refugiados es algo también bíblico y aquí les recuerdo a los cristianos y creyentes lo que dice la Biblia.

Exodus 23:9 “No explotes al extranjero; tu sabes lo que es serlo…»

Leviticus 19:9-18 “Cuando recojas la cosecha de tus tierras deja en el borde suficiente para el pobre y para el extranjero…”

Leviticus 19:33-34 “El extranjero que viva entre vosotros lo tenéis que tratar como uno de vosotros, como a uno que haya nacido aquí…”

Aquí lo dejo, querido diario. Ojalá que tengamos el tesón y la fortaleza para pronto, pero muy pronto, resolver este gran desafío. ¿Por que no podemos culpar al extranjero que busca mejor vida? Porque nuestros países industrializados del mal llamado «primer mundo», han sido los culpables de que tantos países en Africa, America y Asia sufran de tanta pobreza y tanta necesidad. Ahora nos toca ayudar y hay que hacerlo con alegría y con la sabiduría que hacemos lo que Dios mismo nos ha mandado a hacer. Y el que no crea en Dios, no importa, la moral existe aún entre los ateos…

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* Proyecto Migrantes Desaparecidos indican que en lo que va de 2023 han muerto o desaparecido 1.104 migrantes en las rutas de las Américas, de los cuales 370 corresponden a ahogamientos, 282 a accidentes de vehículos, 148 a condiciones ambientales, falta de albergue, comida o agua; 77 por actos de violencia, 76 a muertes accidentales, 34 a enfermedades o falta de acceso a la salud, y 117 por motivos desconocidos. (EFE)

GRACIAS…

#art, «JaZzArT Owls» as a Fine Art Print

(Image property of Francisco Bravo Cabrera/All Rights Reserved)

«JaZzArT Owls» is one of my proto-jazzart drawings and now I have made it available as a fine art print only through Pixels/Fine Art America. They are the only company that I use to create and sell my images as fine art prints. They handle the entire transaction and ship quickly to you as soon as your order is ready. This is an affordable alternative and allows you to have quality original art at home. Check out my Pixels gallery often as I often change the images there. What you see here is the art print but there are many other options as well as other items with this unique jazzy image…

(2022)

CHEERS..

#opinion, Dear Diary, page 10: We Have to Believe…

(«Desesrt» Art Digital by Francisco Bravo Cabrera/All Rights Reserved)

The first page I write to you, dear diary, in 2024, but well… I’ll begin with numbers, numbers that tell stories of lives, torments, horror, desperation, and tragedies. More than 22 thousand people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach European shores… On the other side of the world, over 1,104 individuals (labelled as illegal by many in the US) lost their lives trying to cross into the United States in 2023*. Trying to reach Spain in 2023, more than 6,600 perished…

They may be just numbers, but they are lives of beloved beings for their families, friends, parents, children, mothers, daughters, brothers, cousins, and so on. These died not trying to break the laws of other countries, no! They did it out of desperation. It was the desperate father, the son with no prospects for a promising future, the persecuted, the one fleeing from the destruction of war, the one yearning for a better life, those are the ones who died at sea or in the desert.

They were not criminals, they were tormented souls who only longed to find refuge. And they have every right in the world. No one throws themselves into the sea lightly. No one crosses deserts and vast parts of continents because they enjoy adventure. They do it in search of salvation. Those seeking refuge do not have the luxury of doing so through normal channels, nor do they have the time either. They have to do it however they can because the need is relentless and the help is very scarce.

Talking about migrants and refugees is also something biblical and here I remind Christians and believers what the Bible says:

Exodus 23:9 “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.”

Leviticus 19:9-10 “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner.”

Leviticus 19:33-34 “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

I’ll leave it here, dear diary. I hope we have the will and fortitude to do something about this great challenge before us. And why cannot we blame the foreigner that seeks a better life in our lands? Because our industrialised «First World» countries are to blame for the poverty and need that exists in som many places in Asia, Africa and America. Now it is our turn to help and help we must, with a smile on our faces and a disposed heart. We must do what God himself taught us we must do. And for those who do not believe in God, it’s ok, there is morality also among atheists…

* Missing Migrants Project indicates that as of 2023, 1,104 migrants have died or gone missing on the routes of the Americas, of which 370 were due to drowning, 282 to vehicle accidents, 148 to environmental conditions, lack of shelter, food or water; 77 to acts of violence, 76 to accidental deaths, 34 to illnesses or lack of access to healthcare, and 117 for unknown reasons. (EFE)

CHEERS…

#art, Women Artists Series: Suzanne Valandon

(Photo Arremate Arte)

Perhaps one of the forgotten or overlooked by art history… Marie-Clémentine was born in Bessines-sur-Gartempe, during the Second French Empire (1865). She lived with her mother in Montmartre and started as an artist and model for many artists as well. At the age of 15, she was a trapeze artist at the Circo Pigalle and was contemporary to Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt, and like them, she painted mostly women. The difference was that Morisot and Cassatt were both from the upper middle class while Valandon wallowed in harsh poverty…

She gave birth at 18 to Maurice, who would become the famous painter Maurice Utrillo… She married a bourgeois but got bored and ran away with a painter who was a friend of her son, and who was also her male model. A well-known painting of her from that time is Adam and Eve, with André as Adam and she as Eve…

Valadon died on April 7, 1938, from a stroke, and among those attending her funeral were the painters André Derain, Pablo Picasso, and Georges Braque. She is buried in the Saint-Ouen Cemetery.

(«Woman on the sofa» 1917)
(«Nude on the sofa»)
(«The Acrobat» 1927)

#art, Grandes artistas femeninas…

(Foto La Provincia)

Quizá una de las olvidadas o ignoradas por la historia del arte… Marie-Clémentine nacio en Bessines-sur-Gartempe, durante el Segundo Imperio Francés (1865). Vivía con su madre en Montmartre y allí se inició como artista y modelo de muchos artistas también. A los 15 años fue trapecista del Circo Pigalle y fue contemporánea de Berthe Morisot y Mary Cassatt, y como ellas pintó, en su mayoría, mujeres. La diferencia era que Morisot y Cassatt ambas eran de la clase media alta mientras que Valandon se revolcaba en la pobreza dura…

(«Dos mujeres sentadas»1897/Jl FilpoC/wikimedia.org)

Tuvo un hijo a los 18 años, Maurice quien sería el famoso pintor Maurice Utiillo… Se casó con un burgués pero se aburrió y se fugó con un pintor amigo de su hijo que a su vez fue modelo masculino de ella. Un cuadro conocido de ella de esa época es Adán y Eva, André es Adán y ella es Eva… 

(«Adan y Eva»/Suzanne Valadon/Dominio público/wikimedia.org)

Valandon murió el 7 de abril de 1938 de un derrame cerebral y a sus funerales fueron los pintores André Derain, Pablo Picasso y Georges Braque. Está enterrada en el Cementerio de Saint-Ouen.

(Autorretrato de Suzanne Valandon/Dominio Público/wikimedia.org)

Bueno, ya sabéis que ha mi siempre me ha gustado destacar a las mujeres artistas de la historia del arte que no me las presentaron durante mis años de formación universitaria y esta es definitivamente una de ellas. Cuando la he llegado a conocer he visto que su trabajo es fenomenal y que tiene que ser considerado igual que a los hombres artistas. Os he dado solo un pedacito de la historia, os urjo a profundizar mas…

GRACIAS…

#music, Music For The Middle of The Week: «Imagine»

(Art Digital by Francisco Bravo Cabrera/All Rights Reserved)

«Imagine«, written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono is an anthem to life… It is a song which expresses how we ought to think and act. It is a song about loving one’s self but at the same time being conscious of those who surround us. And believe me, the «world» is us, we all share DNA and we are all one. If there were no borders, there would be no conflicts, no countries, no wars, no religion, just love surrounding us and all of us, no possessions, just «sharing all the world.»

I know everyone knows the words to this song, but I think some may have forgotten, so I will leave you the lyrics…

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin’ for today
Ah
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin’ life in peace
You
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

(This is the cover art for Imagine by the artist John Lennon. The cover art copyright is believed to belong to the label, Apple Records, or the graphic artist/s)

Since this song was played to death on the radio (in those days we listened to music on the radio) a lot of people just tuned it off. I did. For many years I could not listen to it, but I was reminded of the lyrics today and I thought I should give it another listen. And the song remains as fresh and as real as it was the first time I heard it. I think that in these days of extreme selfishness and the «I, me mine» (like the song by The Beatles) attitude, we should all reconsider our beliefs and open our minds to new and better possibilities…

The song was released as a single in the US in 1971 and in the UK in 1975. The Guinness World Records British Hit Singles Book named it the second-best single of all time. And, before the Times Square Ball drops on New Year’s Eve, everyone gathered sings «Imagine». This has been done since 2005. New Yorkers, as well as the entire nation and visitors believe the world could be a better place…

Yoko described it like this: «Just what John believed: that we are all one country, one world, one people.»

President Jimmy Carter said, «in many countries around the world—my wife and I have visited about 125 countries—you hear John Lennon’s song ‘Imagine’ used almost equally with national anthems.»

Ringo Starr said in a 1981 interview with Barbara Walters: «he said ‘imagine’, that’s all. Just imagine it.»

So imagine it and enjoy…

CHEERS…