Under the perspective of my past experiences as a child ...

I would lie if I were to say that I have not been influenced by my past experiences as a child in regards to the way I organise my workshops for the children of Calheta.

Having been to Escola João de Deus kindergarten in Figueira da Foz strongly influenced me artistically and although I left at the age of six I still remember when we used to fold those strongly vibrant coloured fine square papers into beautiful origami figures ...  to paint some tiny glazed tiles (all of which my mother has proudly kept all these years) ... or  even to sculpt amazing figures out of clay ... or ...  or still ... (I can go on forever) ...

We were assigned projects of upgrading degrees of dificulty ... and in no time would be doing things which seemed almost impossible to be successful and thoroughly done by 4 and 5 year olds ... 

The enthusiasm I used to grab the pencils with ... brushes or whatever was needed to bring to life those incredibly beautiful "pieces of Art" is the same enthusiasm I have seen in the children's eyes, as I open boxes with lifeless sketches they have to colour, cover with coloured sand or even stitch tiny shining stones onto ...

I have got to know the taste ... the artistic skills and even the "mood"  of every child I have been working with in Cape Verde for the last two years ... I feel I  almost instinctively know how to encourage them to bring to life their "pieces of Art"  (the ones they now have hanging on the walls of their relativelly small houses ... as if to brighten up the dullness of their daily rotines) ...

Jardim escola João de Deus, Figueira da Foz (December 2010)

I have virtually become a fan of DJECO ... they have just about everything I need to make those children happy, whilst doing their artistic projects ... and then there is always something the African children can relate to, be it the designs themselves or even their bright colours ...

The material I'll be taking with me for the next "Arts and Crafts" project in March is almost exclusivelly Djeco ... and so are the puzzles.

I can't ignore the fact that  I sometimes wish I could go be a child again and do a few of these (though I must confess I have done one sand picture, just to get to know how the whole thing worked) ...

DJECO material bought for the forthcoming "Arts and Crafts" project in Calheta, Cape Verde.

I am really looking forward to going to Calheta, where there will be a significantly bigger number of children attending the workshop this time ... but I feel confident  that by the end of those six days, we will all have created beauty ... the beauty that goes beyond the one the eyes can see ...