Man with goat in the Hunza Valley, Pakistan in 1989

Pakistan man with a goat on a leash. They are sitting in a large flower bed of yellow flowers on a terraced hillside with a large house above. Cloud covered mountains are in the distance.

Passing the car ferry heading to Setúbal as we are on the other ferry heading to Comporta. A very small boat with a couple of people fishing from it, sits between us.

A green car ferry and very small fishing boat in the ocean between Setúbal and Comporta on a very bright sunny afternoon

Some more paintings from artist Veronika Blyzniuchenko. The stars in the lower left are sponsored by visitors, a percentage of the sponsorship going towards the restoration of the Basilica.

Four paintings showing images of flowers and swans

The Beauty is a Choice - A Lisbon Art Exhibition

My wife and I were in Lisbon yesterday and met up with an old Portland friend who had been living Portugal for eight years. After lunch she took us to an art exhibition at the Estrela Basilica, by a young Ukrainian artist, Veronika Blizniuchenko.

Looking up at the dome of the Estrela Basilica in Lisbon, from a gardened cloister below

It is not an easily found exhibition, situated as it is in the former convent behind the Basilica. While visiting the Basilica, Bluzniuchenko noticed the convent from its rooftop gallery. She approached the Basilica’s authorities and asked if she could use it as a studio and exhibition space. To her surprise, they agreed. If you are in Lisbon, I recommend hunting down the exhibition. You enter via a side door to the Basilica’s right and then following a maze of corridors to the convent.

The exhibition is called, “The Beauty is a Choice.” When we visited, no one else was there and the former convent offered a lovely refuge from the heat and bustle of Lisbon. Bluzniuchenko walked around her considerable exhibition with us, answering any and all questions and explaining what inspired her. She is a lovely person.

A cloister in the Estrela Basilica showing arches, part of the garden and some paintings from an exhibition

Her generosity of time was even more of note, as when we showed up she shared with us that her home town in the Ukraine had been the object of a new Russian offensive. That was very much on her mind as she painted and spent time with us.

Through her work Bluzniuchenko is also helping to raise money for the restoration of the convent and may, with the help of our Portland friend and again subject to the authorities agreement, do some work on the gardens there.

This painting Bluzniuchenko is gifting to the Basilica.

A view through an open window, outside looking in, with yellow potted roses on either side of the window, the left one flowering, and a large painting inside.

We found this very hidden Gelato shop today. What a gem it is. The owner trained in Italy and now makes his own. Delicious. Repeat visit assured.

A black and white photo of the sign on a Gelato Store. The word Gulato with two clouds all on a white wall

Highways in the sky.

Parallel Contrails against blue sky with the edge of roof tops on both sides of the image

Over the rooftops.

A rooftop scene in Lisbon

Taken in Sintra about a week ago. In the grounds of Biester Palace, a gem to visit to escape the crowds.

Steps coming down to the photographer, trees and shrubs all around, sunlight flickering through the trees

Late afternoon Lisbon light.

Sunlight coming in through an open door, with pink and red flowers outside, and rooftops of a pink building behind that.

April Photoblogging Challenge, Bonus Day 2: Unputdownable suggested by @jimmitchell

A black and brindle French Bulldog pulling on a frisbee being held by a human

An old church near to Comporta, Portugal.

A black and white photograph of the end of an old church, with a bell on top and a stalk’s nest on top of that.

Keeping an eye on you…or not.

A small street drawing showing three faces intertwined with some eyes closed and some shut

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 30: Hometown suggested by @mattypenny

A straight paved path across a field with a row of trees with no leaves in the distance and cars parked under them. It looks like a winters day

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 29: Drift suggested by @SimonWoods

Houses on the water front at Lake Como taken from a boat on the lake

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 28: Community suggested by @stupendousman

A crowd attending an outdoor concert at night

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 27: Surprise suggested by @Sdevore

A little boy pokes his head from amongst a pile of Christmas trees

Evening in Alentejo.

A nighttime scene in a house. A bench with books and a vase of flowers, alongside a low wall and railings. A shuttered window behind and light from the side.

Listening to the night time concert.

The leg and feet of someone standing outside at night and shadows cast by other people as the people listen to music at night.

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 26: Critter suggested by @7robots

A large plastic model of a swan on a trailer.

April Photoblogging Challenge, Day 25: Spine suggested by @thedimpause

A row of book spines. All but one is blue and all the blue books are by Herbert Casson.