It's been a long time since I last drew. I even had trouble painting because I forgot some shortcuts I’d customized on my tablet. Drawing has always been my escape, my distraction, and my favorite hobby. For many years, it’s become more than just a hobby—it’s practically been my job—but sometimes making a living from art is complicated. These days, you have to rely heavily on keeping your social media accounts extremely active and even having strategies for posting and reaching more people. In my opinion, it’s very difficult—it’s also an extremely demanding and oversaturated market. I reached a point where I got tired of it, but I’d like to pick it all up again little by little, as a hobby rather than a job—simply sharing my art everywhere and letting it serve once more as that outlet that has helped me so much over all these years. And today I really felt the urge to sit down and draw, to express a little of the pain that we Venezuelans have been carrying inside for almost two months now. A similar tragedy recently occurred in Colombia, and it brought back those same feelings from the first days of the earthquake in Venezuela—it’s like seeing the same story play out all over again. And the worst part is that we still haven’t recovered, and we may not be able to do so anytime soon; the level of destruction was just too much.
Another reason I hadn’t been painting, even though I really wanted to, is that ever since the earthquake my nerves have been extremely on edge, and every time I sit down at the computer, I feel like this exact part of the house is shaking; the floor feels strange, as if it were vibrating. There are even days when I start watching a movie here and have to sit a little farther away because I get that horrible feeling… But anyway, I’ve learned to calm down. Today I felt good while I was painting, though I was pretty sensitive because I didn’t know if the drawing I had in mind would turn out well and if I’d be able to express, at least in part, how I feel.
I made a lot of changes to this drawing, especially to the colors I used. In this drawing, I wanted to convey a little of the pain that lies amid the cracks and rubble—a pain that feels as if we were the ones destroying ourselves from within. Something broke after that afternoon on June 24; our lives look different now, and this will be remembered forever, because we all felt that that day was our last.
Venezuela is a beautiful country, but unfortunately it has suffered every possible hardship. I have no memories of a normal life in this country; I have no idea what that feels like. And to make matters worse, tragedies like this happen, which only add more and more pain to our already broken souls. Many have lost family members, friends, and their homes; others were luckier but suffer just the same; we feel that pain as if it were our own, simply because it’s not fair—it’s not fair what we’re going through. This drawing brought a little relief to my soul, and I hope you can feel a little of that deep sadness I carry inside.