da feira da ladra, hoje - from the fleamarket, today

Fui à feira da ladra hoje. (não ía ha alguns meses e, confesso, ja tinha muitas saudades!). Acho que foi um bom dia, não concordam?

Went to the fleamarket today. (hadn't been there for a few months and, i must say, was already missing it a lot). I think it was a nice day, don't you agree?

Muitas fotografias antigas (dos anos 30 aos 70 - paisagens, muitos retratos infantis, animais, curiosidades - detalhes em breve).

Lots of old photographs (from the 1930's to 1970's - landscapes, lots of children portraits, animals, curiosities - more to come soon).

Um livro infantil de botânica (bonitas ilustrações no interior - detalhes igualmente em breve).

A botanic book for children (beautiful illustrations on the inside - details also coming soon).

Um utensilio para pastelaria, bem antigo, na caixa original. muito giro!

A "cookie and biscuit maker", old, on it's original box. cool!

Uma bobine antiga de renda industrial (isto não é bem para mim...).

Old lace (this is not really for me...).

Um forte de brincar em madeira, trabalho caseiro.

A playing fort in wood, homemade.

Postais alemães e italianos dos anos 50-60 usados em portugal.

German and italian postcards from the 50's-60's used in portugal.

Três gatinhos simpáticos e peludos.

Three flufy and friendly cats.

Uma nadadora dos anos 10.

A swimmer lady from the 1920's.

Crianças e senhoras: postais romanticos dos anos 1900-1920.

Children and ladies: romantic postcards from the 1900's-1920's.

Um prato de lata, anos 70, Boston.

A tin plate, 70's, Boston.

Mais fitas e linhas e bordadinhos para a senhora mãe.

More ribbons and thread and embroderies for lady mom.

Um pequeno pescador numa lata da Heller (anos 60? ).

A young fisherboy on a tin box from Heller (1960's?).

Uma caixa grande de lata com asa (simulando ser um cesto de verga), e com uma rapariga com flores na tampa. Andava ha uns meses a ver latas destas e achei-as sempre demasiado caras. Esta foi so 1€. Roam-se de inveja !

A big tin box with a handle (pretending to be a wicker basket) with a girl and flowers on the lid. I was trying to buy on of these for a few months, but always find the prices a bit over the budget. This one was just 1€. Yep, eat your heart out!

Louise Bourgeois - the fabric works

Em novembro, Londres. Duas semanas. Yupi!
Um dos pontos altos foi a bonita exposição da Louise Bourgeios na Hauser & Wirth. Uma aranha gigante, algumas esculturas moles, uma das "celas". E muitos trabalhos feitos com panos, roupas, restos domésticos. Muito bonito. Não deixavam tirar fotos, por isso so tirei uma a partir do exterior (as restantes roubei-as no site, hehe).

November, London. Two weeks. Yupi!
One of the highlights was the beautiful exhibition by Louise Bourgeios at Hauser & Wirth. A giant spider, some soft sculptures, one of the "cells". And many works made with fabric, clothes, domestic remains. Very beautiful. They didin't allow photographs, so a just took one from the outside (the others were stolen from the site).

http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/743/louise-bourgeois-the-fabric-works/view/

um dia de sol - a sunny day

Um dia optimo: de manhã a trabalhar no jardim; de tarde a passear (e a recolher coisas...) na praia. Sol quente.

A great day: work in the the garden during the morning; walking (and gathering stuff...) on the beach during afternoon. Warm sun.

Lourdes Castro - o Anjo de berlim - the Berlin Angel

O "Anjo de Berlim" (uma sombra auto-retrato da Lourdes feita com o Manuel Zimbro) voou sobre os céus Berlinenses no Natal de 1978. Neste Natal paira sobre um altar numa Capela no Rato em Lisboa ( http://www.capeladorato.org/ ). (faz parte de um ciclo de instalações temporárias impulsionadas por José Tolentino Mendonça e pela Comunidade da Capela). A Lourdes veio para a "inauguração" e conversou com Tolentino Mendonça e Almeida Faria ( que viu o Anjo em 1978 em Berlim, e que escreveu um belo texto sobre o acontecimento: "O Anjo à Janela"). Resta dizer que apesar (ou por) se ocupar de sombras, a presença da Loudes é sempre luminosa e quase imaterial. Leve e afável, como as mornas sombras das plantas. Um bonito e raro momento a guardar.

"Caminhávamos de cabela baixa em direcção a Mariannenplatz quando, ao levantar os olhos, vi um anjo esvoaçando diante das vidraças de um edifício imenso. Ou seria uma sombra? À tarde visitáramos num dos cemitérios de Kreuzberg a campa de Chamisso, autor desse Schlemihl que se excluíra do convívio dos homens por ter vendido a sua sombra a um cavalheiro de casaca cinzenta. Senti um arrepio e olhei melhor. A sombra à janela não era rilkeana, nada tinha de terrífico, de soturno ou sombrio. Era clara e luminosa, talvez uma anunciação. (...)

O enigma estava explicado. Aprendi, a partir de então, a dar mais atenção às sombras, ao que elas encobrem e revelam, não enquanto negativo mas enquanto o outro lado, o lado misterioso da luz, que nelas se revê como num espelho. (...)"

Almeida Faria

The "Berlin Angel" ( a shadow self-portrait by Lourdes made with Manuel Zimbro) flew over the Berlin skies during 1978 Christmas. This Christamas it flows above an altar in a Chapel in Lisbon.

Lourdes came for the "opening" and talked with Tolentino Mendonça and Almeida Faria (who saw the Angel back in 1978 in Berlin, and wrote a beautiful text about the event: "The Angel by the Window").

What's left to say is that despite (or because) she ocupies herself of shadows, Lourdes presence is always luminous and almost immaterial. Light and gentle, like the soft shadows of plants. A beautiful and rare moment to remember.

"We walked facing down towards Mariannenplatz when, looking up, i saw an angel flying on front of an immense building's windows. Or was it a shadow? During the afternoon we had visited in a Kreuzberg cemetery Chamisso's grave, author of that Schlemihl who excluded himself from man's company for having sold his shadow to a gentleman wearing a grey coat. I feslt a shiver and looked better. The shadow at the window wasn't rilkean, had nothing of nightmarish, gloomy or dark. It was white and luminous, perhaps an Annunciation. (...)

The riddle was solved. I learn, since then, to pay more atention to shadows, to what they cover and reveal, not as a negative but as the other side, the misterious side of light, that sees again on them like on a mirror.(...)"

Almeida Faria

seagulls

a few more photos from the secret beach... this time with it's more frequent inhabitants.. i really love to watch them all together on the sand, perched on the rocks, and even more to hear their shrill. lazy summer days.

blackberry

picking blackberries is a kinda new thing (that's weird, since i remember them always around in summer, and occasionally trying them). this is the second bunch, and i think much more will follow. oh, the joys of summer in the country...

a summer treasure

a few objects found these last days at the beach : a small adition to the large collection already at home. yep, just garbage... but beautiful garbage!

a hot summer afternoon

a beautiful afternoon at my favorite secret beach. (almost always desert because you have to walk for a while trough the hills to get there : it just makes it better! so happy that few feel the same..). walked a lot by the sun; read some more of Philip Robinson's "the faber book of gardens"; collected a small "summer treasure" (will show it later..), bathe for a while on the cold, fresh, inviting waters. what a perfect day!

inside

yes, i also like stuff. lots of stuff. from the street, from the beach, from the fleamarket. it seems i just can't have enough.

strawberries

we really like strawberries. this spring i planted a few and this is one of the first baskets of them. watching them like this, all together and shiny, reminds me of flemish still-life paintings. and Chardin. and Fantin-Latour. i bet we'll get to them sooner or later....

a bit late - last spring

the garden was really beautiful this spring (yep, all the hard work has been giving some results). took this photos a while back, and the end of the day light just gave them an amazing beauty.