Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Wanna come? / Queres vir?


Near the place where I live there are still tiny houses like this, often well treated and still with people living there. I can't help that my imagination tells me that who lives there is always a nice old lady with one or more four-legged friends ...
Perto do lugar onde moro ainda existem casinhas minúsculas como esta, muitas vezes bem tratadas e ainda com gente a viver lá dentro. Não consigo evitar que a minha imaginação me diga que quem nelas mora é sempre uma simpática velhota com um ou mais amiguinhos de quatro patas...
Fabriano cold-pressed 7"x 5" - 140lb (18x12,5cm - 300g/m2) paper
Sold / Vendido

10 comments:

Stephen Dell'Aria said...

Paulo, this is great. Your ability to compose a scene with such life amazes me. I am also struck by the small interesting details on the buildings on either side of the small house. They both appear to have decorative ceramic trim. You'd be hard pressed to find that on any home built in the last fifty years (or at least that would be so in America). It looks like a train or trolley is passing by behind the viewer.

Paulo J. Mendes said...

You have a good guess, Stephen: It's a trolley that passes behind the viewer. This was a familiar scene in the outskirts of Porto until the 60's and 70's, but fortunately they still can be found in some streets within the city limits.
The ceramic tiles are still very common in the old houses, especially the late 19th/early 20th century stencilled pattern style in the house on the left side, which exists in a thousand varieties.

Terry Banderas said...

Beautifully painted. Love the cat.

Paulo J. Mendes said...

Thanks, Terry. Although the color is different, the cat was inspired by a very friendly one I find everyday.

Unknown said...

Amazing... You have so much information on such a compact canvas! Your storytelling style is reminiscent of Norman Rockwell. It's amazing how you have the cat leaning toward the lady's hnad to be scratched behind the ear.

Paulo J. Mendes said...

Thank you, Sheila: I am a lucky person because everyday I had the chance to touch my cats the same way the lady does... So I use that experience in this painting :-)

Julio Rodrigues said...

O gato parece estar a desfrutar muito a atenção. Que bonita cena. Fiquei intrigado pela misteriosa sombra á direita…o que será?
Parece... carro electrico!

Paulo J. Mendes said...

Confirmado, amigo Villager, é efectivamente um eléctrico. Uma evocação dos tempos em que estes serviam os arredores da cidade onde estas pequenas casas abundavam.

Anonymous said...

Paulo

Indiquei o seu blog para o Prémio Dardos.
Um abraço
Carlos Silva

Paulo J. Mendes said...

Obrigado pela atenção, Carlos.
Um abraço!!