Personally, art is something I could discuss, and definitely something I could write about, for hours! But I will try to keep this concise enough to be worth reading. And I am keen to hear the points of view of all and any who read this entry, because the enjoyment of talking about art is enhanced by knowing that there are people that can understand what you’re saying and join in!

Here goes…

I think there is art in everything. Or at least the potential for art. There can be as much art in a skilled painting of a breathtaking landscape as there can be in a finely decorated and embellished vase. The collection of words carefully penned on a creased page can stir emotions just as deep those provoked by a finely tuned composition played by a symphony orchestra. Architecture, photography, fashion, gastronomy, music, literature… art takes so many forms that it is a luxury like no other, one that can be available to people of every culture, class, gender, age and race. Art is not prejudiced, it does not create barriers for any who wish to indulge in it.

A lot of the appreciation of art is dependant on personal taste. A person’s preferences are the product of their individuality. Another marvellous aspect of art is that, even when two people both admire a piece of work, regardless of how alike or well acquainted those people are, the likelihood that they admire that work for the same reasons is probably not high! There is little science or maths in determining what art draws which people, and even less to what draws artists to their chosen artistic outlet! Art is a gift. It is all around us, in the brightness of a stunning sunset and in the wrinkles of laughing eyes. I believe that art is something that everybody can access, creativity is a key element in producing it and I am convinced that every single person alive can tap into the creativity within them, sometimes they may just need help to find it.

I looked up art in the WHSmith Concise English Dictionary and there were a total of ten sense numbers to delineate different definitions. The one I preferred was the first, “the creation of works of beauty or other special significance”. That’s it. That’s what art is. The primary focus is it’s aesthetics, and if it’s useful – great! I watched a fantastic documentary last year that discussed that very point, the importance of beauty. Shallow as it seemed to me at first, when I watched it, I was persuaded to believe that, yes, beauty is important! It was called Why Beauty Matters and you can watch it for free here.

But these are the thoughts of others, the thoughts of professors trying to define a word academically, the thoughts of philosophizers producing documentaries on their points of me, the thoughts of one girl with a laptop and an online blog. How would you define that three-letter word? A.R.T. Please add your thoughts and comments below!

(No date) Atmosphere Shoes; S.Almeida

Here is a pair of shoes I love that were given to me by a good friend… but can’t actually manage to wear them for extended periods of time.

I challange you to find a girl aged mid-teens and above who does not have an inexplicable love for shoes. Go on… If you find her, she’ll be in the miniscule minority, and even then I bet it’s only because she’s not looked in the right places!

12-02-2010 - Dangerous Sliding S.Almeida

In April of this year there was an art exhibition for the work of the late and great Keith Tovey, a brilliant local artist who was not only a great inspiration but a lovely person. Kindly his daughter, who was setting up the event, gave me the opportunity to put up some of my work on a separate section of the exhibit for other artists. This is one of the preliminary sketches for one of the ideas I wanted to develop. It was inspired by a comment a friend made about how she envisages Free Range Eggs as little eggs with arms and legs running through fields. Initially, it started with me trying to put the eggs running on fields etc but as I continued to make sketches, I put the eggs in a field with a playground, and as I went along, the ideas kept becoming increasingly eccentric. Here are a collection of some of the sections of the sketches I made for that piece which is yet to materialise! Please excuse the poor picture quality, all these images were taken on my mobile phone!!

12-02-10 The Happy Egg

12-02-10 Football and Slides

12-02-10 Cycling Eggs

12-02-10 Flying Kites

29-04-2010 S. Almeida

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After watching Memoirs of a Geisha and being completely awed by the phenomenal visuals in that particular film, I was compelled to try and capture the beauty of the ancient artists on paper. I have not done justice to the incredible scenery or intricate make-up and clothing featured in the film, but I find myself very content with this unfinished sketch made with some pencils I scavenged from the corners of my friend’s study and a red colouring pencil from a pack.

Those we love we grace with speech
Albeit, technology still use with them
But live expression will always lack
And that is where most problems stem
Hate is have and love is loud
We do our best to understand
He is if and wiped is wired
The art of language hangs by a strand

When at a distance
You can still keep in touch
That is very helpful
I’ll agree with that much
Sharing significant news
Is accelerated a hundredfold
The entire connected planet
Can access each secret you hold

What when one is out of the loop?
One we love, cherish and respect?
Do we share the news with speech?
Or wait and expect them to connect?

- 06/05/2010 S. Almeida

Deeply thought-out poetry and well-pondered prose are a kind of artwork in a league all of their own. Not quite a painting, not quite a song, poetry and prose can picture the writer’s deepest thoughts, feelings and fears in either a very graphic or a very subtle way. Depending on what art form you use that is most connected with releasing your innermost self, it can either be a very courageous thing to share your written work with others or something quite casual. It also takes a great deal of skill and ingenuity to write a poem that not only impresses but inspires the reader.

I am blessed to have some very close friends and family members that have this talent. In spite of my efforts, my work cannot compare to some of theirs… nonetheless, poetry is a medium of artwork that I have always used to express my frustrations, my ideas and my love for things and people… which is mostly why there will be a lot less poetry on here than prose! I, reader, am a self-confessed coward when it comes to most of my art, but especially my poetry.

Prose, on the other hand, is a very flexible medium. It can recount a pleasant day, a tiring journey, a chance encounter, a memorable dream, but it can also be a means of reviewing an experience, of persuading, of informing or of debating. I find it much easier to use prose and to manipulate it to convey the message I want to give. On the contrary, I have at times found myself beginning a poem that was intended to be shared with others but soon became something too raw and too personal to be shared.

All the things I have commented on do apply to both poetry and prose (as well as any other art I suppose) but I have merely commented on my perception of them and I welcome your comments on how you view them yourself!

Here you will find a selection of artwork I have produced. Not all of it will blow you away, but it is a place to gather together much of the work I do in a portable way! I hope you enjoy browsing through the pages, feel free to give your opinion if you so wish, if you don’t wish to that’s fine as well. Please don’t forget to check out the links on the right, there’s some very talented people out there that deserve a little credit and are worth a bit of your time and consideration!

Through this website you can contact me for further information on my work and for commissions, you can also share ideas and perhaps even get a little inspired. Art is all about ideas, and I’m told there’s no such thing as an original idea.

Happy surfing,

Sara