Always making
I think the funniest part of being a West Indian Afro Latino man is all the ways we celebrate cultures. We have a lot of Asian traditions. This is one of them. South America is a huge mixing pot. Ever since I was a kid we celebrated Chinese New Year with my cousins from China. That one day got me into iron teapots and lose tea leaves.
I feel this deep connections to my culture in the simple traditions. Somos todos uma pessoa. (We are all one person.)
Tchau,
Jaws
What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?
I have such a hard time watching tv. I don’t have the attention span. I have been embarrassed about my ADHD for a long time and I’m learning to love myself better. I daydream if I sit still too long.
Books work better for me. My mind goes everywhere. I fall into worlds and then I paint the things I see sometimes.
Movies in theaters sometimes are fun. It’s hard for me not to walk around with a sketchbook.
I mind is fluid. Like outer space.
The best way I have found creative thought is from combustion.
The best part of making things is before the ending, when you know all the steps that are left and then it happens like a reflex.
It’s a heartfelt moment of love for your craft.
What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?
Quacy
I think it means strength in Swahili.
Jãwara Quacy means quiet strength. I think it describes my painting style very well.
What is the last thing you learned?
That I can use google translate in my iBook app. I really love reading but some times I’m doing to many things at once so audiobooks are great but costly, this is a hack to that. I have read around 5 books this way. It brings me a lot of joy.
Planning art
Naps
Food
Happiness
Watercolors
Chá
The silent moments are the sound of a record spinning in the darkness after it has finished all the inner circles
Live in the paint and love in the ink.
Jawara
What advice would you give to your teenage self?
When I started my art career I was really in my twenties. I was stubborn and silly and knew everything I was ever going to know, so twenty. Very silly. I always had a brush in my hands since age 4 but I never saw it as a living until I was 23.
Living at the beach with nothing to do I started reading all my art books again. It all started to make sense. It had to be books I had sense I was a little guy with chickenpox. Silly things kept in unsearched pockets.
My advice as a silly 40 something now is don’t just collect good books, read them too. That and don’t trust shrink wrapping on an art book.
That and lastly, be nice to yourself.
I love you… me.
jaws_blake 