Many of you don't know that my blog was named by my daughter Eva. We were trying to think of a good name, and she said "I've got it, call it "Breathtaking", I said "don't you think it's a little presumptuous" to which she said "not at all Mummy, you take wonderful photographs"! She is always so supportive of anything I do, even my paintings :=) After several other names were considered, in the end I settled on the name Breathtaking, It was my daughter Eva who encouraged me to start a blog in the first place. She had been blogging for a few years herself, writing short stories, and poetry, and she had many followers, so she was able to get me started. I love her writing and have several of her books. One year she gave me a poem to add to my birthday gift. Originally it was written in Portuguese, but because I wanted to share it with you, it was recently translated into English, but even though it loses a little in translation it still manages to convey a message.
Breathtaking
"I land in silence on those who welcome me
but whom I welcome, I choose
my wings in motion.
Art surrounds those who are inspired
and whoever breathes art, meanders
between the valleys and the fields like the wind
tilting the wheat and the chest in one direction
not always that of reason...
Beauty never surprises
It only takes breath away...
Nature is so vast.
At the top of the hill I see and charge
I give up, I give in to the lack of oxygen
Watercolours, pastel or charcoal,
I bow down to genius canvases,
I hold my breath...
I fly over the perfect painting
incalculable value if auctioned
Packed in an unsuspecting way
handled without care, the unthinkable...
An insatiable (ir)rational species
smudges this palette,
destroys our planet
in a butterfly effect...
I'm out of breath...
moths, birds and flowers
I land to enhance my colours.
At the foot of the hill I collect my wings and brushes,
spiders, lizards and praying mantises, you will say,
you, believers in something more
evidence of signs of the Divine,
captured by skilful lenses in patient hands."
Eva Gonçalves 2012-05-03