Let's go to New York

So in less than a week I am leaving from Rio to NY to exhibit my textiles at a 3 days expo called PrintSource. That was decided only 2 days ago - yeah totally last minute, I know.

It was a tough decision to put these expenses on my credit card and just go for it - all alone. This is vacation time in Brazil so the airfare was extra expensive - not to mention that just the concept of putting together the artwork for an exhibition was crazy enough. But it just feels like things are falling into the right place - like someone up there is just taking care of it...

And all of this is about a dream. And a game to reinvent myself. I want to show my textiles to the world, I want to put my babies out there, go beyond my comfort zone, beyond what it is safe. And then see what happens... afterall it is my dream and I am allowed to dream big!

I have been to NY only once - about 15 years ago and I loved it so very much! So now I am beyond excited but I will only have 2 days when I get to walk around town. The other days I will be working 9 til 6 (by the way if you want to see my print & pattern collection meet me at PrintSource, August 1-3).

Want to meet me in NY?

Any suggestions of what should I see and where should I go?

 I want to see Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty. Any other ideas?

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Here’s to the crazy ones

Here’s to the crazy ones The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? We make tools for these kinds of people. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. - Apple Inc Why Be Ordinary? Be Extraordinary

Amelia Earhart

Ansel Adams

Aung San Suu Kyi

 Beethoven

Bob Dylan

Buckminster Fuller

Charles Chaplin

Charles Darwin

Dalai Lama

 Dr. Wayne Dyer

 Federico Fellini

 Frank lloyd Wright 

 Helio Gracie 

 John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Leonardo da Vinci

 Louise L Hay

 Mother Teresa Of Calcutta 

 Mahatma Gandhi 

Maria Calas

 Martha Graham

 Martin Luther King

 Michael Bernard Beckwith

 Mike Dooley

 Muhammed Ali

 Pablo Picasso

 Pele

 Richard Branson

 Rosa Parks

 Shakespeare

 Sri Sri Ravishankar

 Thomas Edison

Who inspires you?

For the love of couture... and Valentino!

As you may have noticed I am a huge fan of Valentino (see here, here and here). I cried when he retired on 2008 (have you watched his fabulous documentary yet? 'The last emperor' is a must see!) but Valentino Garavani left a legacy of luxury and the show did go on! Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli displayed a breath-taking Haute Couture FW11 collection and kept the house of Valentino's integrity and commitment with perfection, craftsmanship (one coat took 750 hours to make), luxurious fabrics and intricate details: beads, lace, feathers, burnout velvet and metallic brocade. All that paired with simple silhouettes and classic shapes that left me wondering if I will ever wear such a couture piece...

Who is your favorite designer?

The glass is half full!

Oh I haven't been blogging in so long and I sure miss it! So much has happened, I went to Cali, my boyfriend picked me up at LAX (after almost 4 months without seeing each other) and we drove to Vegas to host a tradeshow, visited Utah and Arizona and while back in L.A. I stayed in Marina del Rey with my friend Barbara, had lots of fun with her (shopping, eating at our fave sushi spot and getting me a coffee cup reading - we did it all!), visit my boyfriend's parents in Ventura and saying goodbye to them once again! Along those busy 2 weeks I spent as much time as I could with my boyfriend and while he was at work I was running errands and somehow I found time to take a 2 days communication course and encountered some breakdowns but afterall so many breakthroughs! I am happy to see clearly that the glass is indeed half full!

So here I am to count my blessings and to celebrate...

1. A Lovely Feature!
Rachael from Roco Rennie invited me to be part of her lovely 'It’s all in the details' series. So today she featured some of my favorite things in life (including the vintage frames I am wearing on the pic below). So click here to check it out and also get to know Rachael - a dear blog friend from Ireland!

2. My Fabric Collection
As I mentioned earlier I exhibited my work at a trade show in Las Vegas last month. It felt great to get out of my comfort zone and put out there my textile and illustration work. The feedback was amazing and I smile everytime I look at my fabrics!

3. The magical Grand Canyon & Bryce Park
My boyfriend and I left Las Vegas and drove our hybrid straight to Utah, we visited Zion National Park (marvelous!), spent the nite at Kanab (Utah's Little Hollywood), drove to Arizona and visited the Grand Canyon North Rim (exquisite!) and then we went back to spend the nite at Kanab and at the last day we drove to Bryce Canyon (just beyond!). I love all the these magical memories I shared with my boyfriend... I got to meditate and walk barefoot at the Grand Canyon and I could write a whole post just about it (by the way I kept thinking of my friend Sarah from A Lost Feather).

4. Pillows & much more - soon to be launched!
So I recently changed my hair color (once again) and I updated my headshot to promote my soon to launch online store. See the pillows on the shot? Those pillows among many other fun items will be available for purchase here.

5. Book Mentions
So 2 textile publications from Europe recently featured several of my textile patterns - you can view the books here: Texitura 47 and Pattern Design & Beyond - very exciting! Also so happy because some of my logo design was published on 3 LogoLounge books!

6. A Beauty Day for Gia
When my friend Rose Gracie mentioned about Gia - a 6 years old fighting leukemia we knew we needed to do something to help. So we gathered our contacts and through the work I have been doing from Kindle my Heart we were able to provide a beauty day for Gia and her friends at the Bella Academy (as I mentioned earlier here)! Want to help Gia? Click here.

7. The power of a gift
I am so glad there are people like Rayn - the founder of the amazing non-profit called Things of my very own - they are a safe retreat for children that are victims of abuse. Can you help me in this cause? We can uplift those kids by sending gifts to: 1011 Cheyenne Road Glenville, New York 12302

8. The power of communication & a 1 year commitment

So I took another course from Landmark Education - this time the Advanced Communication. To say it was a breakthrough in my life it would be an understatement. It changed how I see communication in general, made me realize how much I avoid certain subjects and certain people and it made me get in touch with all that was behind it. It also made me dig some truths and find out not so pleasant news - but at the end of the day I felt free and learned to have a better listening of others. Overall I noticed how much we all have the power to create miracles in our lives. After this course I signed up for TMPL - a program where I will be 1 year being coached to create something grand with my life! Inspired? Check this out!

9. 24 hours with my man...

It was wonderful to just be with my boyfriend at my very last day in L.A. We woke up together and had brunch by the Marina, went for a wine tasting at Cornell, then back home and enjoyed 30 min of jacuzzi and then we went to watch Midnight in Paris... it was just lovely to spend 24 hours hanging out with my adorable boyfriend and I can't wait for more!

10. And now... I am back in Rio!
Although it has been pretty cold and rainy I am so happy to be back with my family and my dog Fanny. This is home... and I am back in school to finish my Industrial Design bachelor degree. I have been writing my thesis and working really hard to design a fabulous urban furniture piece for a local park - will share with you once it is done!

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