Postcard from Miami, FL

When I think of Miami...

I think of the warmth of my Cuban grandparents... Mom: I am working on "Abuelo Pancho and Abuelita Shorty's" portrait


people chatting and drinking espressos and eating Cuban pastelitos...


at Versailles Cuban Restaurant (no relation to the one in Paris!)

and drinking "Cafe con Leche" (Cuban coffee made in the US and brewed in an Italian coffeemaker :) with Cuban bread...

SUCCESS: 1% INSPIRATION and 99% PERSPIRATION

The statement that life is a journey couldn't be more true. It sounds such a cliche but the fact is that we're always learning and growing. We can generally learn from our own life experiences; but also learn from children too. I appreciate the moments I get to spend with my niece Claudia (13) and my nephew Diego (12), they are both very talented and wise in their own ways. Claudia plays piano but many times dreads the fact that she has to constantly be practicing to get better, I realized than, that I had suffered from that as well. The fantasy that gifted people don't work hard is unreal! Talking to her about how important it is to practice I also had my own "AHA Moment" and I realized that I tend to at times "settled" in a comfort zone and only create art that comes easily for me, instead of one that's constantly challenging me. How do we know the extend of our capacities if we don't push ourselves and sweat it out? Our capacities and talent don't go as far as what comes easy to us, in reality its as far we set our minds & hearts: INFINITE POSSIBILITIES. What do you do to constantly challenge yourself?

Postcard from Key Largo, FL

I have missed posting and connecting with my friends online, but I assure you that this time away hasn't been in vain. A couple of months ago I received my "portfolio critique" from an agent and I wanted to give it some thought and work on my style. In other words, I have begun drawing more and challenging myself. As you can see, the banner and postcard are in a different style. Not only do I want to continue exploring this medium but I would like to begin sharing with you postcards from the place I am from: Miami, FL - but I will be telling more in posts to come.
About 3 weeks ago, one of my best friends invited my sister and I for the weekend to Key Largo, FL. The weather was beautiful and needless to say the view of the water, breath taking. During this trip my sister was re-reading the book "Eat, Pray, Love" and she read us the wonderful expression in Italian "Bel Far Niente" which means "the pleasure of doing nothing". I don't know how you feel about this, but it seems that we always need to be doing "something" and we never allow ourselves to take some time off and relax. Sometimes "doing nothing" can bring tons back to our body and soul. As we strolled through the pier, we ran into a boat called "Far Niente" - we took it as sign and practice it!

Postcard from the Greek Islands

A week ago, I was watching a video of an interview with Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell. In the interview, one of Bill Moyer's questions was: Are we (mankind) trying to find the meaning of life? Joseph Campbell responded: I don't believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive.
All these years that I have spent reading Dalai Lama's books, Man's search for meaning by Vicktor Frankel and so on! For me, this answer just hit in the right spot. It also made me think of my purpose of starting my Postcards Series: recounting the experiences of being alive. With this profound subject it also made me think of a totally silly and funny experience while visiting Greece. I travelled to the Greek Islands with 3 friends that I had met at school in Florence. To our shock, in most beaches people were generally nude - didn't matter what age you were, young, pretty, chubby, old - most people weren't wearing anything. The three of us were blushing; One of the them (the naugthy one)convinced us to at least go topless -and we did! - if we were going to do it, it had to be in Mykonos! This was quite an experience that even for a long time I didn't want my mother to know!
Have a great weekend!

Postcard from my Ship

Months ago I came across a presentation by illustrator Penelope Dullagham explaining how she became an illustrator. When she had finally decided to take a leap to become a full time illustrator she gave a card to the people she worked for saying the above quote. It touched me as a metaphor of life. Each of us drive our own ship, we built it and it’s up to us to decide whether we to stay on harbor or go out to sea. At sea sometimes, we may experience extremely rough waters and we must endure the bad weather, we also may see the most beautiful landscapes that no one who has not sailed has seen before, we may experience beautiful sunsets, the rain, the agitated roughness of the water and it’s tranquility but certainly worth it: LIVING & EXPERIENCING LIFE. I send you this postcard from my ship as I am cleaning it up and sorting out maps to be ready and open for new adventures! Wishing you many great ones too!

Postcard from Precious Ramotswe

Sometimes, when I can't physically travel there's no better comfort than books. Here is one of my favorite book series The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. This beautiful series has taken me to great places in Bostwana! Thanks to all for the wonderful comments!



"Tea, of course, made the problem seem smaller, as it always does, and by the time they finally reached the bottom of their cups and Mma Makutsi had reached for the slightly chipped tea pot to pour a refill it had become clear what they had to do".

"You can go through life and make new friends every year - every month practically - but there was never any substitute for those friendships of childhood that survive into adult years. Those are the ones in which we are bound to one another with hoops of steel."

from the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Book Series
by Alexander McCall Smith

Postcard from Paris

Before emails and internet, there were letters :) When I was 15 years old my sister encouraged me to get a pen pal. One of the pen pals that I received was a french boy about my same age. For years we wrote back and forth and unexpectly grew a wonderful long distance friendship. About six years later since our letters started; I went to studied abroad in Italy and Fabrice invited me to stay with his family and visit Paris for the first time. I was soo nervous when I arrived at the station! This postcard is from that day, that very first day that I arrived at the train station in Paris and I was going to meet in person my dear friend Fabrice. This postcard is to my great pen pal friend who along with his family embraced me as if I was part of their own and gave me an unforgetable experience.

You wonder if we are still good friends? yes! Fabrice has also visited Miami. The picture above is Fabrice and I when he visited Miami for the first time.

Postcard from "The Alchemist"

This is a place where I frequently visit :) - It's the place where I find myself, where I believe in my dreams, and the pursuit of my own personal journey. Where I believe that when we listen to our heart it will always leads us into the right direction.

When I was a teenager I didn't read as often as I do now; however I came across a few books that still today have touched, inspired me, and made a difference in my life. One of them is "The Alchemist" by Paolo Cohelo. This is a story of a young shepherd who lives in Spain, on a journey to fulfill his Personal Legend and find his Treasure at the Pyramids in Egypt where it takes him to all sort of adventures and life decisions: basically LIFE. If I could ever pick a story to illustrate; it will certainly be this one! This postcard is dedicated to all of us dreamers who are in their pursuit of their "personal legend" and most importantly in becoming a better person. Here I leave you with some quotes from the book:

"It's the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary."

"There is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth."

"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

"When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too."

“When you want something with all your heart, that’s when you are closest to the Soul of the World. It’s always a positive force."

"Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You’ve got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense."

Postcard from Italy

What makes a place so memorable? the people. I have so many wonderful memories of places and people I have encountered in my life that now they have become an inspiration for my art. When I was studying in college I took a semester abroad to Italy. Of course, I fell in love from the "carabinieri" to the teacher, the waiter and on and on - we all did! but aside from the fantasy of falling in love with a handsome Italian man it was the experience, the food, the landscape and the incredible art and history that surrounded us everyday. In one of our group outings we met three young guys with guitars who serenade us under a beautiful full moon with the song "Volare..oh oh cantare..." as we walked through the cobbles stones "strata" I can still remember enjoying every single moment and saying to myself: I will never forget this. I wanted to share with you this, because life is full of tiny wonderful moments such as this.
The above is a postcard I created to capture this moment. Thanks to Linda from tartagialla for sharing the beautiful airmail piece that I used in my collage above. Have a happy Monday!

Postcard from Romania

It's been almost 10 years since I took a trip to Romania and still I can remember it like it was yesterday. This trip was like no other I had taken, this was to join a volunteer group in Bucharest that would led us through the other side of the country to a small town close to Iasi (close to Russia). The ride was about 8 hours, going through the country side, I saw the beautiful landscapes, the wood carvings of the front entrances of homes, lots of children, than the scarce and destruction from the dictator years. Still with all its suffering that this country has gone through; Romanians are one of the most amazing & warm people I have encountered in my life. Remembering the warmth of the Romanians, here is a "postcard to my sister"; an illustration depicting the many Gypsies travelling by carriage that you will find throughout the country. Oh, did I mentioned I volunteered at an orphanage? maybe I'll write it in another post. Happy Monday!