My rose colored glasses . . .

I love my rose colored glasses and like to paint that "beauty", or what I find to be beauty - afterall - we all have a very definition of what beauty is. I have photographed and painted so many different pieces in my last 20 years of life and so many that are nothing like what you see on my website. In the beginning of my journey as an artist I loved photographing the human form and have a huge catalog of bodybuilders - men and women who worked so hard for every muscle on their body. Now-a-days I focus on three things because they are the three things that bring me the most joy... Families, Children and Pets - or what I affectionately call our Fur Family. And... here in Charleston SC I find my subjects to be incredibly beautiful! Of course I do have people drive in from all over the place to have me create and often also have a family that is vacationing in Charleston!

About art . . . Have you been to THE LOUVRE in Paris?   It is mesmerizing! I LOVE art and starring at those oil paintings and sculptures is just humbling. I could spend days in there . . . I get lost in the beauty. Paintings to me are a lot like music. It has the same effect. When I'm at my crossfit gym nothing makes me work harder than Eminem, and when I work on paintings I love classical piano music and often have things like this on - talk about a difference! But different music moves me for different reasons, just like art! A painting can evoke so much emotion in you, and I have been brought to tears by many. I remember standing in the Louvre and starring at this one painting - just still - it was . . . exquisite. No one else around me seemed as captivated as I was by it. I wiped my tears as I could not stop them and just let the emotions run through me - this incredible sadness took over as I felt like I was the one in that painting. Amazing. I remember many years before this being incredibly moved when I saw Michelangelo's sculpture David in Florence, Italy.

I almost did not see it... it was raining a lot and there was a long line to get into the art gallery . . . and I thought to myself.... does it really matter? Ive seen so many replicas all throughout my travels - is the original really worth waiting in line, in the rain for 2 hours? So I left. That night laying in bed I couldn't stop thinking about it. So the next day I went back.... and waited for almost 3 hours to get in. If you have never seen David in person - and I mean the original - let me just tell you that at least for me . . . it took my breath away. To think that just one man, Michelangelo, carved that out of one piece of stone. I stood there paralyzed.  I heard nothing and saw nothing else and trust me there were people everywhere. The detail in that statue left me completely paralyzed and so moved that words just cannot properly describe. If you get a chance to go - go!

 Every piece of art moves people differently, beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder! What one person is moved by the other maybe just doesn't "get" - when I see a person I can already see the finished painting in my head. It's hard walking around as an artist like me!!! I envision things that others cannot see and I wish there was a USB port I could attch to my brain, show others, and say "do you see it now?" That is perhaps my biggest frustration!

Below I'd like you to meet "Joy" - I met Joy and her mom a while back and her face just stood out to me from afar! Below is the original capture of Joy - but if I could have USB ported my vision into your brain - you would have seen the painting below.

I love my rose colored glasses. I love the studio here in Charleston, SC. I love painting the perfect piece. And... one day in 10 years, or 20 or 50 or maybe even 100 someone will say.... oh, that is Joy when she was a child but now Joy is my great great grandmother! I will be long gone but my passion and my vision and my love to human beings will not. I am not Michelangelo . . . I am Maria Sampaio. I am a portrait artist and painter.