Lucia De Brito Franco

Am passionate about the ocean: it’s an inspiring force for my art. Sailing is an intense way to travel and connected to the elements, in order to arrive to good port, we must learn to read the signs and act. Free diving takes me to the underwater world, where I’ve always felt at home. Am particularly fascinated by the sensory capture of the underwater world. How to transmit pictorially the physical sensations of the body among the elements? The light through the water column, the sounds travelling far and reaching us strongly, the temperature and its variation depending on the currents and depth, the darkness and the pressure as we descend, the taste of the water, the strength of the swell, the different levels of visibility.
The magical encounter with the marine life, impresses me the most!
Beyond the sea, there's other sources of inspiration. The fiery force that shapes the land. The rich forests, the sinuous curvy-linear contours of the landscape. The transition between hot stones and the cold sea. The warm dry air and the fresh cool forest. The luminosity of the atmosphere throughout the day, varying with the dancing clouds. The mountains, and the wild life.
I currently paint from three very different settings: Faial Island, i...

Born in Lisbon in 1978, I begun to paint at an early age. Investigating the contrast, the complementary colours, the luminosity and the technique of fine layers. Learnt oil painting and drawing with the painter Artur Ramos. Studied watercolours in England with the painter Lesley King. Studied oil painting and drawing at Ar.Co in Lisbon, and Architecture at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2024 LIFE FORCE at Biester Palace, Sintra, Portugal
2024 Winter Show at Lucia de Brito Franco Art Gallery in Columbia Falls, Montana
2023 OPEN STUDIO AZORES
2022 HOPE
MONTANA MODERN FINE ART
Gallery, Kalispell, MT, USA

2021 OCEAN ENCOUNTER
OCEAN MUSEUM CASCAIS
MUSEU DO MAR REI DOM CARLOS,
Cascais, Lisbon, Portugal

FORT SAO JORGE DE OITAVOS
Cascais, Lisbon, Portugal

2020 ENCOUNTER AT ARRABIDA
LIMA FORTUNA ART CELLAR
Palmela, Portugal

MONTANA MODERN FINE ART
Kalispell, Montana, EUA

2018 OPEN STUDIO AT FLATHEAD LAKE
Dayton, Montana, USA

IN THE REALMS OF THE WILD
Lx Factory, Lisbon

RETROSPECTIVE
Vilamoura, Algarve

2016 INSULAR
Horta, Faial, Azores

2015 AWAKENING THE SENSES
Via Ideia, Azeitao, Lisbon

TO THE SEA
Faial, Azores

2014 LIGHT IMPULSE
Lisbon, Portugal

2013 REFLECTIONS
Lisbon, Portugal