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Zeebra Designs & Destinations

~ An Artist's Eyes Never Rest

Zeebra Designs & Destinations

Tag Archives: Museo Portoviejo

Counting Blessings

25 Thursday Nov 2021

Posted by Playamart - Zeebra Designs in TRAVEL: LATIN AMERICA

≈ 34 Comments

Tags

artivive, augmented reality, Domenica & Amelia, Lisa Brunetti art, Museo Portoviejo, portoviejo ecuador, step into my world

Portoviejo Ecuador

Domenica & Amelia – Traitor

(Olivia Rodrigo Cover)

3,000+ views in 20 hours! Not bad for a cold start from the middle of the world!

Meet my friend Shadia’s beautiful and multi-talented niece (Amelia) and her friend Domenica.   Pass the link and help their YouTube view counter soar to the stars! (It’s already soaring without anyone’s help – just their God-given talents and beautiful energies!)

Domenica & Amelia
Voz: Ameilia Mendoza Safady
Guitarra: Domenica Zapata Duenas
Disenadora de Vestuario: Rima Safady Darwiche

Her mother (Rima, who is also a culinary artist and describes herslf as an ovarian cancer warrior) has designed some amazing evening wear, so her name on the video credits as dress designer was no surprise to me.  Peek at her instagram posts: rimasafadyatelier  https://www.instagram.com/rimasafadyatelier/

The gown on the far right is Rima’s design.

Ok – Back to the present!   Immersion in nature is a good choice for these extended Covid times.   There seems to be an acceleration of ‘back to normal’ lifestyles – which concerns me.   We, as a species, are weary of being proactive against the invisible enemy.  We yearn to attend events, sing in collective harmony, bask in traditions that are comforting and familiar.   Most of us ponder the events of the past year and hope to emerge from this virus-tainted chapter of life. Do we resume our previous patterns and behavior after this extended pause?  Have we grown wiser, more sensitive?

While many celebrate Thanksgiving, others reflect on the loss of loved ones.  Some are battling their own health challenges.   A good friend and his family are presently ‘sweating out’ Covid infections even though they were vaccinated.  They feel that the vaccinations will buffer them from what could be a worst-case scenario, but I will be relieved when they are all well again.  The virus continues to play the role of a Trojan Horse, and we should all remember to remain cautious.

…………………

“Step into My World” – Museo Portoviejo –  Ecuador

October 2021 – April 2022

Some visitors tested the app on the banner that anchors the first flight of stairs at the museo.

The unexpected egret tracks make people smile.

Sometimes our attempts fail for spacing the visitors.

After activating the Artivive app, these visitors were asked to aim their phones at Carlos Wellington’s shirt … and augmented reality leaped into their world.

“Como John James Audubon *, estoy retratando mi amado mundo natural, uno que espero capturar y compartir con otros antes de que los humanos hayan destruido este frágil ecosistema.

Like John James Audubon*, I am painting my beloved natural world, one that I hope to capture and share with others before humans have destroyed this fragile ecosystem.”  – Lisa Brunetti

Between visitors at the museum, I add watercolor to the prints of some of the drawings. (Common Tody Flycatcher)

The whimsical iguana remains a favorite. The people stare in wonder as the image changes to an iguana holding that same pose, then bobbing its head in classic iguana style.

The balsa tree trunk on the left anchors the final painting before the show weans to Giovanni’s section.  The portrait captures the tree’s essence when it seemed to exist solely for my personal viewing pleasure. Many people requests poses here.

Every so often a few people from the museum duck into the gallery for a quiet meeting. Sights like this warm my heart and also make me thankful.

A group of displaced people from Venezuela hope to one day return to their homeland. Their histories remind me to be grateful during this Thanksgiving holiday.

The study of a monkey mask (from Panama) changes into a video of Howler Monkeys in their natural setting. This one is also popular.

It is especially touching when someone reads my words out loud:

“… Ya no es ‘suficiente’ admirar esta porción de cielo en la tierra. Hoy el área permanece desprovista de los sonidos de la invasión humana. Los sonidos de las motosierras regresarán; el aroma de los incendios anunciará otra área despejada con éxito, “Desmalezado” de la vegetación original, el paisaje ilustra el silencioso mensaje por parte del hombre: “Esto es mío”, con poco respeto hacia lo que una vez floreció aquí.
Nuestro futuro depende de reconocer que las viejas formas no siempre son las mejores, y que es hora de encontrar nuevos modos de ser dignos guardianes de este planeta “.

“…It is no longer ‘enough’ to admire this slice of heaven on earth. Today the area remains void of the sounds of human encroachment. The sounds of chain saws will return; the aroma of fires will announce another area successfully cleared. Wiped clean of the original vegetation, the landscape illustrates man’s silent message: “This is mine ” – with little respect to what once thrived here.

Our future depends on acknowledging that the old ways are not always the best, and it’s time to find new ways to be worthy guardians of this planet.”  Lisa Brunetti

Nov 20, 2021

A new series incubates: Vanishing Manabi

Here in my daily museum routine, most everyone observes the importance of masks.  There is often a lapse in good judgment, however,  for the sake of a group photo.  I struggle with this, as it seems to be for vanity’s sake, but I also note that most of my friends who have lost loved ones to Covid are the ones who keep their masks in the proper place.

Another recent event about violence against women.

An event in the nearby Parque las Vegas for Womens and Children’s rights.

As we finish this year and prepare for a new one, please continue to be smart and proactive.  This virus wants to survive and is playing hardball.  We wouldn’t run a marathon and then stop when the finish line is in sight;  we can’t afford to have made it this far, only to let down our guard.   As a good friend and fishing guide once said to me when we were tarpon fishing, “Lisa; you rest, and the fish rests.”

My niece Karen – Jumping Tarpon – Rio Colorado Lodge Costa Rica  (Her brother Don and his wife Dana are in the other boat.)  Great memories!

Stay proactive everyone, and may you all stay well.

Love, Lisa

Yellow-tailed Oriole – hand-colored print by Lisa Brunetti.

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Orchestrated Timelines?

10 Friday Aug 2018

Posted by Playamart - Zeebra Designs in INSPIRATION, One Bird At A Time, PAINTINGS: WATERCOLORS, TRAVEL: LATIN AMERICA

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

Grey-backed Hawk, Museo Portoviejo, Nomadas en Manabi

Museo Portoviejo sponsors and encourages the arts. (Image from 2012)

El Ministerio de Cultura y Patrimonio
a traves del Museo Portoviejo y Archivo Historico
(Portoviejo Ecuador)
Invita a la inauguracion de la exposicion
NOMADAS EN MANABI
Expositores:
Sigrid Tidmore (Estados Unidos)
Alfonso Endara (Quito)
Crystal Hayes (Canada)
Lisa Brunetti (Estados Unidos)
Yuliana Shevchuk (Rusia)
Abigail Herrera (Venezuela)
………
Direccion: Calle Olmedo entre Sucre y Cordova (Edificio la Previsora)
Fecha: Agosto 15 de 2018
Hora: 19h30
(05) 2652235 – 2652279
………………………..
“

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once. ” – Albert Einstein

When one steps into a gallery or museum, they probably don’t think about the stories behind the paintings. Painting can be hard work, especially when ‘the good brushes’ no longer hold a point, and locally-purchased new ones make poor replacements. It is difficult to ‘nail’ the snippet of light on a bird’s eye or sign one’s name when using a brush that flares at the point! Even one AWOL hair on that brush will leave its renegade signature where it doesn’t belong!  Aside from my friends and family in the USA, I also miss the convenience of buying my favorite art supplies!


Painting for me is easy when compared to the next step of matting and framing those works – and having places to store the paintings. There are no ‘Michaels’ or ‘Fads and Frames’ that offer good quality brushes, paints, mats, ready-made or custom-made frames. The larger cities have better options, but what if those cities are hours and hours away? Over the years I’ve adapted, and now use thin plywood as ‘mats,’ which I sand and paint. Just like selecting custom mats at a frame shop, I usually draw and hand paint those windows; when the paint is dry, the original is carefully taped in place.

Ready to paint that window!

“Tres Toucanes”

Because many panes of glass have broken over the years (ha, and in earthquakes!) I now use very-thick clear plastic, which protects the paintings from dust and fingerprints. The curious public can sometimes damage a drawing or painting by touching it…

Ugh; I often forget to photograph the work until it’s beneath the plastic.!

Frames are made by local carpenters; I dole out the requests a few at a time, and almost always they are ready when promised. Continue reading →

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What Happened to Google Earth?

11 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by Playamart - Zeebra Designs in Ecuador, INSPIRATION, NATURE, PAINTINGS: ACRYLIC, TIMEOUT FOR ART - Quotes, TRAVEL: LATIN AMERICA

≈ 41 Comments

Tags

ecuador butterflies, google map where are the images in google maps, Lisa Brunetti art, Museo Portoviejo

Google Earth has sent ‘congratulations’ notices to say that a few of my images – like this one of Poza Honda – were very popular.

Poza Honda/ManabiProvince Ecuador – Have any of you ever added images to Google Earth-Maps?   It’s always been interesting to peruse those images and explore areas that we know well or to ‘cyber travel’ to new destinations without leaving home!  The Satellite Image option helped me fine-tune my search for a new place to live, and reference images were very helpful.

This past week on Google Earth, I entered some GPS points for where I live –  before passing them along for scientific reasons; almost immediately I hit a glitch.  I could not find a place to type the coordinates.  Perhaps that option is somewhere on the page, but I did not find it.     Next I looked for my pinned images, and they were gone!  In fact, there were no pinned images to anything on the map.  Towns and places of interest were marked by name only.  The letters were small and difficult to see – and my laptop has a large screen!

Google Chrome browser… note how tiny the bottom right options appear. That’s where one finds the photo options.

Eventually I found the image option, which on my windows browser showed in a long horizontal strip at the bottom of the page.   There were photos from different areas, and mine could not be accessed until scrolling east on the map, leaving the house site out of view.  After I selected and enlarged one of my ‘popular’ images, a little arrow-type bar zipped from the photo and pointed into the middle of the lake!  Ha, I had to laugh – it was several kilometers from the right location and was obviously submerged at the bottom of the reservoir!

Opera browser provided slightly-easier to view options.

The Dec 3rd earthquake, which rattled the house for almost a minute, must have nudged this particular GPS point into the lake!

Unable to drag it back in place via the old system that worked well, I opened a new window and did a search which took me to a Google Earth/Maps forum.  Oh my, demons must have firmly attached themselves to those who make decisions for Google Earth/Maps, and they have made a lovely mess of what was once a well-managed site.

I moved to another quadrant that I know well – the area around Jama, and I remembered that someone had posted a picture of a Royal Poinciana/Flamboyant.  I was curious to see if it still marked the correct spot.  In real life, the tree was within view of where I once lived near the mouth of Rio Jama.

Royal Poinciana (Delonix regia)still stands, though the nearby farmhouse was destroyed in the April 16, 2016 earthquake.

Flamboyant/Royal Poinciana paired with the Green Kingfisher for a great photo op –  The rear balcony of Casa Loca. 2013

There were zero photos of that area, but there were new ones from 2018 of the community of La Division.   Checking various photos in the town a few kilometers inland, I discovered that the lovely flaming Poinciana tree had been magically transplanted to Jama!  (Jama, still recovering from the earthquake, could actually use several dozen of those lovely trees!) Continue reading →

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Timeout for Art: A Species of Writing

24 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by Playamart - Zeebra Designs in Ecuador, INSPIRATION, PENCIL DRAWINGS, PEOPLE, TIMEOUT FOR ART - Quotes, TRAVEL: LATIN AMERICA

≈ 60 Comments

Tags

art therapy, Museo Portoviejo, Pencil drawing, transferring tension to art

P1790278 portoviejo girls tour pencil

Student Exercise Sheets – (10 samples)

“Drawing is the artist’s most direct and spontaneous expression, a species of writing;  it reveals, better than does painting, his true personality.”  (Edgar Degas)

P1720035 transfer frustratons - pencil

This time last year (July 2012) many students toured the Mola Series exhibit at the Portoviejo (Manabi/Ecuador) Museum. The director of the museum said that a group of girls would be visiting the museum and asked if they could tour the exhibit. She said that the girls had ‘problemas.’   Some came from abusive homes, one was pregnant, and they all deserved some positive experiences. I suggested that we buy pencils and paper and give them a quick drawing class! Continue reading →

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Zeebra’s 2012 In Pictures

28 Friday Dec 2012

Posted by Playamart - Zeebra Designs in Hand-Painted Floors, NATURE, PAINTINGS: ACRYLIC, PAINTINGS: CUSTOM DESIGNS & FLOORS, PAINTINGS: WATERCOLORS, PEOPLE, PHOTO CHALLENGES, TRAVEL: LATIN AMERICA

≈ 57 Comments

Tags

2012 in Pictures, Don Koen, Flooding in Manabi Ecuador, Hand-painted concrete floors, Light Post Painting in Jama El Matal, Lisa Brunetti, museo bahia de caraquez, Museo Cancebi, Museo Portoviejo, Peace March, The Mola Series, Wear White for Peace, WordPress Photo Challeng My 2012 in Pictures, zeebra art

blue olive ridley sunset nestingggggggggggggggggggg

Reflecting on a twelve-month journey through WordPress.

WordPress tossed us a tempting challenge for this end-of-the year photo challenge.   With pleasure, I present some of the highlights of 2012.

02 ceibo Lisas fav 2

This amazing tree was felled this past year.

The Magnificent Ceibos  Read about Ecuador’s amazing ceibo trees, cousins to the ceiba that grows in other parts of the tropical world. Continue reading →

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Counting Blessings

13 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by Playamart - Zeebra Designs in Ecuador, PAINTING WORKSHOPS: "I CAN DO THIS!", PEOPLE, TRAVEL: LATIN AMERICA

≈ 29 Comments

Tags

art therapy, Lisa Brunetti, Museo Portoviejo, working with troubled teens

On Wednesday, a group of teen/preteen girls visited the museum;  Jacqueline, the director of the museum, warned me that the girls were ‘troubled,’ and she was unsure what to expect. Continue reading →

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Showtime: Museo Portoviejo

08 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by Playamart - Zeebra Designs in Ecuador, PAINTINGS: ACRYLIC, PAINTINGS: WATERCOLORS, PEOPLE, TRAVEL: LATIN AMERICA

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

Acrylics, Lisa Brunetti, Museo Portoviejo, Series de Mola, The Mola Series, Watercolors

Paparazzi!

(PORTOVIEJO ECUADOR)  Preparing for this second show of the Mola Series should have been a simple task, but—!  It’s not that things went wrong; just that things didn’t flow the way they were planned! Continue reading →

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Showtime: The Mola Series – Portoviejo Ecuador

05 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by Playamart - Zeebra Designs in Ecuador, PAINTINGS: ACRYLIC, PAINTINGS: WATERCOLORS, PEOPLE, TRAVEL: LATIN AMERICA

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

Lisa Brunetti, Museo Portoviejo, The Mola Series

Enclosed are random images from the past week.  Tonight’s showtime #2 for the Mola Series!  Z Continue reading →

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‘Step into my World” – Seeing Through the Eyes & Heart of an Artist’ – Museo Portoviejo Ecuador – October 28, 2021 – Jan 2023

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