No matter
what, the sea always comes through in nearly all
of Brazilian painter Denise Lion’s work, not only in the image
but also with the material she uses. She’s easy to talk. When
talking about her work, she says, "I’m obsessed with eyes.
I guess it’s because eyes can tell you everything about a person."
by: Shawn
Floyd
"I lived on the beach
my whole life," says Denise Lion, the daughter of a naval commander who
once lived in Brazil. "I had sailboats and instead of going everywhere
in a car like people do here, I sailed."
Now at a different stage
in her life in which, instead of being out on the beach and the sea, she’s
painting what she remembers about this former life.
Out of Lion’s 70 oil paintings
on exhibit through Feb. 3 at the Courtyard Theater, 1509 Avenue H in Plano,
Texas, it’s plain to see that most have something from the sea.
Sometimes it’s the flora
and fauna found in the ocean depths that she chooses to incorporate in her
work. Other times it can be swirls, reminiscent of the ebb and flow of the
tide, or the deep blues, whites, and green swells found in each wave as it
rises up and falls back where it belongs, slapping against the water.
The only missing links
are the sounds and the smells of the sea. And though it’s no secret that Lion
misses the sea, she says living in landlocked Texas isn’t all that bad.
"I am a happy person
and when you’re happy you can be happy anywhere," she says.
But it’s the sea she craves
and even though she knows it better than most, she still doesn’t have all
the answers.
"I’ve always been
intrigued by the sea," she says. "The sea is a mystery and I wonder
what’s underneath it."
Everyday, after Lion is
finished with her work at her Skin Care International Spa on West Parker Road
in Plano, she takes everything that’s happened during the day, heads for her
home art studio, where she paints for two or three hours and rids herself
of stress.
"In my job,"
says Lion, who is trilingual in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, "people
come in and tell me their problems and sometimes I have turbulent days because
of that. But I take it all and put it onto the canvas with bright, bright
colors and then I am light again."
Just as she’s content
to live in Texas with husband Tim Lion, whom she met when she came to this
country to attend Sacramento State in California, and their children, Bianca,
16, and Erik, 21, she says having others heap their troubles on her isn’t
a problem.
If anything, she uses
it to her advantage and says, "By listening you can sure learn a lot
about the human spirit and the soul."
Nowhere is the intensity
more noticeable than in the powerful reds, golds, and silvers in "Fire
and Ice." Done after a particular heavy day of hearing the woes of others,
Lion says she can now look at the painting and feel a calmness come over her.
Like most of her other
work, it’s an abstract because as she says, "You can put your feelings
and whatever colors you have or you like into the painting,"
The pinkish "Come
out and Party" image is a perfect example of everything Lion stands for
in her artistry.
"I have a client
who says she’s too timid," says Lion. She then points to the shell in
the middle of the painting saying, "She was my muse at the time and so
I dedicated this one to her."
Almost all of Lion’s paintings
are of the mixed media variety, with citrines, amethysts and other gemstones
mixed into some area of the painting, usually the eyes.
"I’m obsessed with
eyes," says Lion. "I don’t know why. I guess it’s because eyes can
tell you everything about a person."
One of these paintings,
"Mardi Gras," says the eyes are copies of her daughter Bianca’s
eyes. "Bianca’s eyes were voted prettiest last year at the school,"
says the Shepton High sophomore’s mother.
Also evident in all of
Lion’s paintings are swirls.
"I don’t do straight
lines," she says.
Sometimes the swirls have
a calming effect such as in "Whispers." At other times they’re agitated,
as in "Winter Storm."
No matter what, the sea
always comes through in nearly all of her work, not only in the image but
also with the material she uses. Most noticeable are the ones, such as "Cat
in Cave," where she’s chosen to mix sand in with the paints.
She’s easy to talk to
and when asked why she does this sort of thing, she says, "I can’t follow
rules. A lot of people when they see my work say it’s different and sometimes
they like it and sometimes they don’t, but I can’t help it, it’s my feelings
on canvas."
Nowhere is this more evident
than in her red, white and blue rendition of "Melting Pot."
"It’s America,"
she says, pointing to the different figures on the canvas representing
all the different race, creeds, and cultures within this country.
"In other countries,"
she says, "women have to do what they’re told, but here we’re the boss."
Another piece, "Amazon
Rainforest" is a kind of tribute to her native homeland’s fast diminishing
natural resources.
"You know,"
she says, "Man is bigger than life and when we want to do something,
we destroy what we need to get what we want."
Interestingly enough,
there was a time when she would’ve scoffed if anyone had told her she would
someday be exhibiting her work.
Now 43, she says, "I
used to draw stick figures and people would laugh at my work. But I kept on."
Her work at that time
included that of the digital computer variety. But still she felt there had
to be more. That didn’t come till after she divulged her concerns to an artist
friend whom she says, "told me that anyone can paint."
Then, the artist friend
did what any friend would do in a case like this and showed Lion how it was
done.
"She kept pointing
to some red and purple colors on the canvas, saying, `See those colors?’
"But honestly,"
says Lion, "I couldn’t see the colors at all."
Gradually Lion got to
where she could not only see the colors and the shapes, but paint them too.
At first she says her work was flat and one-dimensional, but after taking
lessons from her friend, the quality of her work improved to the point where
now she paints whatever and whenever the urge strikes.
This article was
originally published by the newspaper Plano Star Courier – www.planostar.com.
Shawn Floyd, the author welcomes comments at floyds@starcntexas.com
