Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Romantic and Bohemian Venice


Life could just stop on this shot.



Gondolas, gondoliers and lots of tourists passing by one of the many venetian bridges.



The almost missed sign reads "Rialto" , one of the most famous bridges lined  with shops.


"Spritz" aperitif...you will not find better spritzes in Italy but in Venice...according to locals.
It's a local cocktail made with Aperole liquor and garnished with green olive and oranges slices...very refreshing and inebriating...one of those drinks that makes you happy just for being alive.

Above FAB FOUR celebrating love! 



Weather conditions have added a rich texture all over Venice. You can see that its almost impossible to recreate some of the dazzling colors of its amazing buildings. The yellow building on this picture is an example of it. 


I am not sure but i think the statue above is a rendition of St. Giorgio. Love the triumphant aura.  


San Giorgio Maggiore seen from the waterfront by St. Mark's Square. Striking church and dreamy view.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Padova , the brain of Veneto


A golden angel blessing Padova's citizens and reaching the stars.



 Palazzo della Ragione  and its surrounds: Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza della Frutta at 1:00 am. 



Santa Giusta Church  on  first plane  and Basilica of St. Anthony's  on second plane. 


Above, Prato della Valle - Once a Roman theater this piazza is very large and surrounded by fountains and statue's of Padova's eminent citizen's...beautifully manicured.







An old Castle tower.  Maybe Saint Giorgio's home in the past.

Padova is a gorgeous and worthy city full of attractions. The whole area around  Basilica St. Anthony is  Vatican lawful territory so once you stepped on the sidewalk you are in the Vatican without actually being in the Vatican. How cools is that?! Photography is prohibited inside of the church that houses many of Donatello's art works.   

We didn't get to see Scrovegni Chapel - Capella degli Scrovegni and the next time its a must see destination. This chapel houses nearly 40 of Giotto's frescoes depicting the live of Jesus and Mary. " The frescoes are considered by many the first pieces of modern art and clearly announced that Europe was breaking out of the Middle Ages. "

So much to see !

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Timeless Italy - Brescia


Italian pastries - eatable dark Alps.






Jewelry displays on top of water fountain.








A private fresco inside a villa.




It is fascinating to see such quiet street and an ultra modern(still retro) Vespa parked on it. 


 
    








Brescia is located between Milan and Padova. Although it has a large industrial area the city is cozy and very charming. There is a Roman temple constructed in 74 BC- Tempio Capitolino e Teatro Romano - in the heart of the city surrounded by  many Renaissance style buildings. The duomo above is only one of the many city's opulent buildings.


Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Gisele on Spanish Vogue

Here is the September's cover of Vogue Spain with Gisele Bundchen. She looks totally different on the pictures within. I loved the whole  sophisticated  and careless look. 



Woman in black!
She looks ultra chic on a  head to toe Balenciaga.

Chameleon qualities...those are the ones that make the difference. 

Naomi for Yves Saint Laurent



Here are 2 of the new Yves Saint Laurent ads with La Campbell and I am amazed by the plasticity of her body in conjunction with the products.

The whole art direction and styling  is top notch and she is bringing back the brand to its place. 

Talking about striking a pose!? Wow! Naomi, always Naomi! 
Sensational and daliciuus

Sunday, October 5, 2008

GAL, OUSADIA EM CANTAR





This post is in Portuguese and it's a gift for my Brazilians friends.

GAL COSTA NO BLUE NOTE

Mais uma vez eu tive a felicidade de vivenciar a voz de Gal Costa.
Acompanhada por Romero Lubambo ao violao, Gal trouxe para o pequeno palco do BN um recital que ela ja vem fazendo ha alguns anos em diversos palcos do Brasil e do mundo acompanhada pelo violonista Luis Meira. 

Nao acredito que existe algum elogio que nao tenha sido referido a arte de Gal nestes mais de 40 anos de carreira, qualquer palavra tornou-se pequena diante da grandisiosidade desta mulher. E para mim eh esta grandiosidade que me toca mais ao poder avaliar claramente e de tao perto todas as nuances na voz, na tecnica de respiracao, na divisao melodica, nos improvisos e no fraseado de Gal aos 63 anos de idade. 

Fazer um recital de voz e violao aa esta altura eh ir alem de todas as ousadias as quais Gal ja foi a protagonista.  Num recital deste tipo nao ha disfarces, ou canta-se muito ou nao canta-se nada! E Gracas a Deus  Gal faz parte do primeiro caso. Abrindo o show com "Morena dos olhos  d'agua",  Gal ja coloca-se diante do fogo e serenamente consegue apaga-lo.  Gal revisita o disco "Mina d'agua do meu canto" e eu destacaria "Vitrines" e "Lindeza" como os pontos orgasmicos do recital. "Lindeza" foi de uma beleza indescritivel. 

A segunda metade do recital foi dedicada aa obra de Tom Jobim, com uma so excessao para Ary Barroso.  Cantando alguns dos standards de Tom, Gal demonstra uma alta sofisticacao em sua tecnica que eh mais do que suficiente para fazer calar a boca de qualquer critico de musica que a acuse de apenas caminhar pelo  lugar comum dentro da obra do maestro soberano. E impossivel dizer que  Gal nao cante muito bem qualquer coisa de Tom ... cada faixa trouxe uma sutil diferenca e Romero Lubambo com seu violao ultra jazzistico contribuiu lindamente para que estas novas leituras de Gal tivessem novamente um cheiro fresco de amor. 
Nao se importando com a opiniao do NY Times que ressaltou apenas "desnecessaria" a execucao da badaladissima "Garota de Ipanema" em sua segunda estrofe em Ingles, Gal convidou a plateia para cantar com ela e o resultado foi Gal acompanhando a plateia,  que muito cheia de graca cantou toda a letra em Ingles, deixando claro que ela estava ali acima de tudo para agradar ao publico que pagou para prestigia-la.

Podemos dizer que nos ultimos anos "Aquarela do Brasil" esta para Gal Costa assim como "O que e, o que e" esta para Maria Bethania que nao a cansa de canta-la no bis de seus super produzidos shows. Desta vez Gal pintou uma aquarela com novos matizes e sem floreios ou repeticao da letra inteira. Gal usou sua garganta para improvisar junto com o violao de Romero uns sons de percussao, mas sem exageros, sem overdoses, alias o que se pode afirmar categoricamente eh que Gal hoje mora no terreno da delicadeza pois nao existem jestos bruscos de corpo nem de voz e nota-se que ela tem aparado as arestas e deixado somente o essencial em seu canto.
Parafraseando o critico do New York Times, quando Gal pronuncia as palavras terminadas em "A" tudo se tranforma em puro som, e o mais impressionante eh ler isto escrito por um americano que foi capaz de captar a essencia da arte de Gal bem melhor que muitos dos criticos do pais em que suas aquarelas veem por decadas enfeitando a alma de muitos outros brasileiros- dos seus verdadeiros fans.

Ao final via-se plateia extasiada   e Gal e Romero aplaudidos de pe. A plateia pediu "mais um mais um" e Gal, para surpresa geral,  retornou para cantar "Corcovado".

Eu sai do Blue Note com a sensacao de que tinha visto a um recital de "musica de camara", pois pode-se dizer que a voz de Gal eh mais de um instrumento e estar acompanhada de um violao eh apresentar esta mesma voz em estado natural e atual. Era mais uma Gal hoje!

Repertorio da noite de Sabado, 4 de outubro...

Na ordem apresentada por Gal:

* Solo de violao
* Morena dos olhos d'agua 
* Vatapa 
* Triste
* Vizinha do lado
* Samba do grande amor
* Lindeza
* Vitrines
* A Rita

* Chega de saudade
* Wave
* Desafinado
* The girl from Ipanema
* Samba do aviao
* Felicidade
* Aquarela do Brasil

* Bis: Corcovado

Papo salao de beleza :

Gal estava lindissima num conjunto preto de calca e blusa..a blusa foi o destaque pois era estilo kimono japones..tudo a ver com a Gal que todos nos sabemos adorar o estilo - a roupa era toda forrada com um tecido rosa o que causou em efeito lindo. Romero seguiu o estilo e estava todo de preto  e  a manga cumprida da blusa dobrada ostentava um forro em tecido na cor purpura ou vinho que dava um contraste  bem legal e acompanhava o look de Gal. 

Cabelo: Otimo. Nao estava quebradico como das ultimas vezes que vi em terras americanas. Talvez desta vez  ela tenha acertado no stylist e tambem sem excessos de cachos. Era o famoso cabelo enorme mas ultra chic de Gal. Corte e cor perfeitos que rejuvenesceram a nossa baiana.

Repertorio:

Para mim foi maravilhoso ouvir esta primeira parte do recital. 
Um presente inimaginavel ouvir  Gal cantar "Lindeza"( agudos, graves e medios todos perfeitos. Eu tenho que citar meninos...Gal teve um momento bem Gerald Thomas..ao pronunciar a palavra "petala" ela estendeu o braco esquerdo e com a palma da mao aberta ela mantem o braco estendido no ar e tem um silencio de um 1/2 minuto... a plateia pensa que ela terminou e aplaude mas ela ainda canta mais uma vez o verso final..foi o maximo...Bethania aprovaria),  "Morena dos olhos d'agua "(maravilhozo, delicada,  minimalista e super bem cantada...lembrou bastante ela no filme "O Mandarim"), "Vitrines"(um luuuxo, de uma delicadeza..ela abalou na dose certa de emocao e tecnica), "Vatapa" e "A vizinha do lado" ( a Gal brejeira de Caymmi ainda existe, ela deu um tom malicioso e alegre, o violao de Romero pisou nas praias de Caymmi muito firme).

A segunda parte foi otima mas poderia ter sido superior(opiniao pessoal) com  3 musicas do Tom(ando cansado da bossa gentch!)...mas ela citou os 50 anos da Bossa Nova e ela estava pisando numa casa de jazz onde a plateia espera pelo Tom, entao aquelas coisas.

Plateia:

Bom eu nao sai perguntando a nacionalidade pra todo mundo ne, mas ouvi pessoas falando em Ingles(dahhhh), Frances, Alemao, Espanhol, Japones,  Italiano e Portugues.
Achei um luxo os dois fans de Gal virem de Sao Paulo para ve-la no Blue Note e que estavam na mesma mesa que eu. Tambem igualmente luxuoso foi Fran and Victor Martins que vieram de Boston naquela tarde para ve-la tambem e que foram meus companheiros em Gal naquela noite.

As letras :

A unica musica que Gal deu uma coladinha  na letra foi "Morena dos olhos d'agua"..todas as outras musicas foram cantadas ate o fim, sem erro e sem ler as letras.
 
O musico:

Eu achei que houve bastante quimica entre os dois..tudo estava bem relax no sabado a noite. Eles brincaram muito no palco, Gal ate disse pra plateia " He's in love with me. I've told him that." Foi super engracado e a plateia riu muiiito. Romero mostra-se superior e mais contagiante quando toca as musicas do Tom, mas seus acordes sao belissimos. 
 
Por adorar muitos violonistas brasileiros e alguns que ja acompanharam Gal, eu adoraria ter visto o Marcus  Teixeira ou o Luis Meira com ela neste recital. Mais fantastico ainda seria ve-la cercada por 3 ou 4 violoes. 
Acho que seria um escandalo! 
De qualquer forma nossa Gal ainda pode muito e quem sabe ela nao nos presenteie ainda com um recital assim.
Seria um luxo ela ter Marcus Teixeira, Ze Paulo Becker, Ricardo Silveira, Pedro Joia e Marcello Goncalves( os musicos que tocaram com o Ney em "Canto em qualquer canto") num recital so acustico.
 Assim, eu querendo dirigir a Gal ne?!
 Mas enfim, quem sabe nao desperto nela uma vontadezinha ne mesmo. Eu como todo fan sempre querendo mais da Gal 

Bom, pessoal eh isto. Se eu esqueci alguma coisa me digam.

Beijos e abracos galcostianos!


Thursday, October 2, 2008

ADVOCATE


I loved the cover of the latest issue of "Advocate". I have only scanned the headline article but I can tell you guys, it's all true, true, true ! I will come back to the topic with a few comments.

The price tag hanging off the sun glasses is hilarious. It's the epitome of  a shopaholic.

Yes, it is a status symbol BUT isn't it for many str8s as well?!?  

EBONY GODDESS


 Naomi Campbell in " The Empire Strikes Black" for V Magazine. 







Naomi Campbell got a spread on V Magazine last month and she nailed it. 
All photos are incredible and she transformed herself in many others to give life to the shoot. I love Naomi and I think she is a trully top model. Beautiful and daliciuus™ styling.


Tuesday, September 30, 2008

ACOUSTICALLY , GAL COSTA
















Beginning today, the "Muse of all seasons" and Brazilian diva Gal Costa will be performing at the Blue Note Jazz Club in NY - Manhattan. 
Located in the heart of the West Village, The Blue Note  is the stage for all the big names of the jazz scene and Mrs. Costa has entered this very restricted world being herself and doing what she does best: singing.

Gal was born to sing like the most rare tropical wild bird and its a blessing to testify how she has kept the purity and lightness, swing and phrasal rhythm of her craft in perfect condition for somebody who has been in this business for over 40 years.

Gal now is not only the muse of Tropicalism or the most loyal translation of Joao Gilberto's music but Gal Costa  has established herself as a Brazilian cultural legacy and I am happy for having her as my all time singer.

Gal has not only influenced many other singers who started after her but has also created a singing school that has been followed by generations, who tried to emulates Gal on their style, on their repertoire and on their attitude.

Her name is Gal is she is the best singer of my world.

If you live in New York or visiting don't miss the chance to check Gal Costa and Romero Lubambo's acoustic performance.  I guarantee you: It will be a gift for your body and soul.

Check the Blue note website for performances schedule. 

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Brazilian National Day in NY










Manhattan was Brazilianized on  August 31th.
The Brazilian  Independence Day is celebrated on September 7Th but the organizers decided to celebrate a week earlier this year. Lots of street vendors, food, dance and beautiful people accessorizing the famous Little Brazil and its surrounds. 

I was there enjoying the party for the first time in 8 years. I loved it!


Saturday, September 27, 2008

Gal Costa at The Blue Note


My ultimate Brazilian diva will be performing in New York City next week. She will be playing The Blue Note- the most traditional Jazz Club of all times. 

Gal will be sharing the stage with Romero Lubambo, a guitar virtuoso. 
If you are in New York don't miss the chance to see a truly amazing artist who has been in business for over 40 years. 
Her music is the soundtrack of my life and I will be there once again. 
For more information on performance schedules visit the Blue Note website. 

Check out the video bar here with different moments of Gal's carrer. 


Saints Cosmas and Damian


The twin Saints have a huge number of followers in Brazil and their devotees  give away candies, toys and clothes to homeless children and orphanages around the country every September 27Th. In some houses brown bags filled with candies and all kinds of sweet treats are given to kids that knock at their doors. Like everything else, the cult to the twins Saints in Brazil has been fused with African religion and both segments celebrate with the same faith, lots of food and music and happiness. The twin saints have a reputation of blessing their devotees with health, prosperity, abundance, youth and lots of joy. 

Shall Cosme and Damian bless us with youth, energy and health !!!

Salves as criancas!!!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Wedding Jewelry by Fernando Dasilva




Necklace for the bride made with rhodium plated chain and sectioned by white fresh water pearls and accented with 9 top drilled natural quartz marquise drops.



Earrings made with rhodium plated CZ's clippers, Crystallized™ elements and fancy cut natural quartz.

This designer and blogger with the gorgeous bride wearing a subtle jewelry set made to match her royal dress.  I was honored to be part of her special day.



Above, one of the 3 designs created for the bridesmaids...the idea was to have all of of them wearing the same gemstones and metal color but create different looks with it to make it more special... also it's important to create pieces that can be worn after the ceremony...in another words, make something  that can be DALICIUUS  daily.


Three of the seven bridesmaids bedazzled by this designer. The natural beauty of these 3 goddesses called for simplicity and class. Around their necks rhodium plated silver chain, green amethyst drops and multicolored green tourmaline roundel ls.

Make your client happy adapting your style to her(his) and then keep your design aesthetic flexible. Remember that when you're designing for a wedding it's all about the bride...it's the most special day of her life. 

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Fun Lariats (long necklaces) - How to wear it?


This lariat was made with Murano glass pendant, Crystallized™ elements with Swarovski and Beadalon® substantial cable chain.
This necklace can dress you up or dress you down.
The style above call for caftans and long Summer dresses in clear colors. 


This is the same necklace shown previously but here it looks more sexy and dressy. Think "v" neck tops or strapless dress. If you are Brazilian, think very sexy and tight Levi's, high heels and a seductive top that expose your cleavage and then be daliciuus !!!

*****************************************************************

The lariat below was made to showcase the center piece, a Bella Venetian "Missoni" diagonal glass pendant. I named it watermelon pendant and I added 2 CZ Gem dropz to complement the center piece.

Bella murano glass




The Bead Fest Show Summer 2008 was great. The first 2 days the place was packed of people looking for beads, finished jewelry, kits and of course bargains.

Beadalon gave away tons of new catalogs and the public acceptance of the new products was wonderful.
I found a new company that sells beads from Brazil, Ecuador(Amazon area)..the beads are naturally picked on the ground and the production is green and environmentally safe..thank, God! The company name's is Acai beads and you can check their website for a variety of cool beads.

Once again, I bought few pieces form Bella Venetian beads. This company is owned by a lovely couple, Kathy and David Fox. Their inventory of  Murano glass beads is incredible and they have tons of colors, shapes and reasonable prices. 

I didn't have time to make many new pieces during the show but I made 2 lariats using  2 fabulous BIG beads by Bella Venetian. You can check both of them on the next post. Again, I do buy jewelry components only from companies that treat me well and David gives an outstanding customer service.