About the Craft
After coming to live in the Middle East, going to the desert became a habit for my family, our haven of peace and contact with nature. The desert may seem sometimes quiet and with no life, but this is absolutely not true. One of the animals that live there is the Arabian Oryx. I was so impressed about how they can detect rainfall and fresh plant growth up to kms away, they are amongst the largest desert mammals and UAE’s National Animal, they were extinct from the wild as of 1972 and recently were reintroduced and it’s estimated 1220 Oryx live in the wild. The butterflies bring balance and delicacy to this composition.
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Born and raised in south of Brazil, Renata Athanasio always had a link with design and arts. The studies and professional life in Architecture were the base that allowed her not to be afraid of a white paper or canvas. Throughout the different buildings designed, looking for harmony and function, or the different spaces conceived for a better life, the creativity and the free hand sketches started to become part of what Renata has into her artwork. With the migration from Architecture to painting, the lines and the view of space got transported from the physical world to the unlimited expressions allowed in a canvas.
Living in 3 continents and travelled in many countries has also contributed to the diverse expression in her work. While living in Paris, having access to an incredible amount of expositions and a diverse pool of museums worked out as a charger for what was coming in her way. Being able to study and practice painting with wonderful artists was an incentive that was missing to accept the true passion as a choice of life.
In Saudi Arabia, the willingness to share this passion with others made she engage as a painting teacher and share her view of colors and shapes with others. Her work got fueled up, and like gasoline on fire, her desire to produce new work every day only grows stronger. “I learned who I am as an artist, and I know what I want to share, those frames are windows to a different space that was initially created in my mind and I hope that people can see through these windows with their own eyes, bringing joy, happiness equilibrium to where they are.”