Master Heart

True story! :)
I find there's no better guidance in life than my heart's soft loving voice. My brain had to learn to quiet itself in order to really listen to the heart and translate its feelings in wise words of advice. :) The heart knows better for ourselves than the mind; it's when the heart and the mind join in cooperation that we become the true masters of our lives.

"Learn to use your emotions to think. Not think with your emotions."

Cymatics!

CYMATICS: Science Vs. Music - Nigel Stanford from Nigel Stanford on Vimeo.

This is so cool!!
I'm an absolute fan of sound, vibration and electromagnetic energy and also their effects over matter as we know it. It's fascinating! This music video plays with some of these science experiments and it's so cool to watch. :D

If you watch more about cymatic experiments at Youtube you'll see that it's not hard to imagine how deep this can be in terms of creation itself...

Like master Nikola Tesla used to say: "If you want to know the secrets of the Universe think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration."

*heart*

Mermaid

This painting was made quite quickly comparing to most of my illustrations... took me around 3 hours. I just wanted to let it flow and paint for the joy of it. It's fun and peaceful creating like that, not planning the outcome. :)  I was obviously enjoying calm music while making this piece and it was the music that led me to this theme. :D
Enjoy!

Stuck or Free? The choice is ours.

This is a quick sketch illustrating an idea I had yesterday when I was relaxing a bit and reflect on the reasons why people feel stuck in their lives but so many times choose to remain "stuck " . This analogy came to me and I've found it funny ...

It's as if people stayed with their foot stuck in brambles ... The only way to break free is taking off the boot , but that means losing something important to them ... and what society would say on them walking barefoot ? And worse, the floor would wound them their foot, it would hurt and bleed ... who wants to be in pain? So, in fear of facing what would come if if they took off their boot they choose to remain stuck, possibly waiting for something or someone that will improve their situation.

But what if they were not afraid of losing their boot? Is the boot so important anyway? Would it not be better to be free, truly free, because they chose so? Not fearing what society would say or how it would react? Would it not be better to walk barefoot, even if it hurts and bleeds, but also knowing that feet earn callus, get stronger and eventually stop hurting? Then there would be the feeling of complete freedom and that is priceless ... they would see that it is the most valuable thing possible. Only then it’s possible to truly feel the earth pulsing beneath their feet and the life flowing up through them ... only then they really feel their own essence and start being themselves, free from worries on what others would think or expect from them. Only then they will have the chance of meeting other people like them, barefoot, knowing what pain is and also what it is getting stronger from it, cherishing their earned freedom and authenticity more than anything.

It is the “barefoot” people who make a difference in this world because they are genuine and true to themselves; they live as an example and they inspire others to be more authentic too. It’s something everyone wishes to be, deep inside…

It is not easy to walk barefoot ... there are sacrifices and pain. But the feeling that this is the best choice for us makes it all worthwhile. And then, everything becomes so much easier and falls into place! Living our truth is freeing and it is a powerful and beautiful way of living.

Would you take off your boot?

Duet

Isn't this film just absolutely gorgeous? :)

Another inspiration of mine, my animation idol: Mr. Glen Keane! (also the idol of so many people, I wonder why!)

I felt quite flattered because when this movie came out, somewhere in June this year, so many people on Facebook sent me private messages or tagged me on this video, saying they thought of me immediately when they watched it. :) One even said half joking: "was it you who made it, Carina?" Ahah, oh my, I wish! But this movie moved me deeply and I feel inspired... who knows what might come out in the future. ;) I do have plans on doing beautiful things involving dancing. *heart*

Glen Keane, thank you for being you!

(It just hit me how powerful this is, thanking someone for being himself fully. This is someone who's been following his passion all his life... That's what the world needs, the people being truly themselves and following their heart's joy. Everybody's greateness is in those passions. Are you following your heart's joy and truth? :) The world needs you living like that!  One day you'll have someone being grateful to you for inspiring them to do the same. God knows in what ways... There are infinite possibilities and you are a part of this infinite equation.)

Thought of You

Really... this film by Ryan Woodward is one of the most inspirational things I've ever seen. I still watch from time to time and never get tired...
Each time it hits me stronger how much it is the story of my life...

How true Love is all about perfect timing.

Portuguese Talents!

And my friends Sérgio Martins and Edgar Martins (twin brothers) really rocked with their animation skills and film making for Tom DeLonge's Angels & Airwaves new album "The Dream Walker". I'm so proud of them!! This is really the beginning of something great for them, because they are great and they shall be doing great stuff. :) I can't wait to watch what the twins will bring to the world in the future! *heart*

See the full article at Cartoon Brew - here you can watch the trailer (the animation short will be launched somewhere in December) and the little animation done by Sérgio Martins, just for fun, which ended up opening the doors for this great oportunity. :)
Funny how the brothers have always been big fans of Blink 182 and ended up working for the guy... how cool is that?? :)

Nothing happens by chance indeed...

A Unique Book

This is my art contribution for the only book in the world made uniquely based on trades, no money involved. True story! :D It's my friend Andresa Salgueiro who lived for 1 year, 11 days, 1 hour and 1 minute with only 1111€ and many trades! :) And guess what: she actually did it! She still does it, and her project became a social project named "Believe", for she inspired a lot of people to trade and live with less money and also attracted to her those who believed that this was possible. These people help each other with whatever they have so together they can ease any financial crisis. :) Her story is now in a book all in Blue that is not for selling of course... it's for trading! And there's only 1111 books, no more no less. I'm the proud owner of one of them and had the pleasure to contribute for it with a drawing depicting chapter 11 - Dreams - hence my drawing's theme. In the end it was not for chapter 11 nor there was a chapter named "Dreams", but the illustration is there for her final reflections on her life projects, so... it fits! ;)

Yes she has a thing for number 11, she sees it everywhere! I can relate, as many other people can, although not necessarily 11. Numbers do have meaning and there's something about them when they appear frequently as apparent coincidences. In Andresa's case, it's not that she forces the number 11 to appear or makes herself see it everywhere (unless she wants to use it in it's "honor" as she did in her project)... it actually appears when she least expect it, as if the number is implying itself on her... ahah. Her friends can witness this so many times, they cannot deny it. The most recent example is our group dinner celebrating the book launch. The bill came and guess what... it was 111.10€. We all were mesmerized at the coincidence once again. It's really fun!!! :D I'm glad I changed my mind and didn't ask for that coffee, ahahah!

Nothing happens by chance...

And dreams do come true when we really Believe!
Most important of all: when we believe in ourselves!