Festa da Sardinhas (Lisbon pt.3)
oil
50 x 50 x 4 cm
Current location: In Studio
Original artwork price: € 1,380
Every June, Lisbon erupts. The streets fill with smoke and laughter, grilled sardines everywhere, paper decorations swaying overhead, music bleeding out of every doorway. This is Festa das Sardinhas — and I couldn't let it pass without painting it. Each fish here carries its own personality: bold patterns, wild colors, heart-shaped tails swimming through deep Atlantic blue. No two are the same, just like the people filling those narrow streets. I painted this in 2015 and it still makes me feel the heat of that summer. Look closely — one of them is carrying a question mark. I think that one is me, always wondering what comes next, always happy to be lost in a city that knows how to celebrate being alive.