Presentation: Positivity and Everyday Inspiration With Romero Britto Hi everybody. Hi to all the teachers out there. I'm so excited about being here with you today. I can't wait to start talking about my art and my childhood when I grew up in Brazil. I think growing up in Brazil, my childhood was pretty unusual. Sometimes when people ask me that, I feel like, "Oh my God. I'm not the only guy that grew up having a hard time in Brazil." Even in America you have have a hard time growing up in this country having a hard time. Yeah. My mother was a single mother. I have 8 brothers. They all exercise power over me because I was the youngest one. Basically, I learned really early to be very creative using things I had around the house. If I didn't art supplies like brushes I used to paint with fingers. There was a time I did a lot of work with finger paint. There was a time when I did a lot of watercolor. There was a time I painted cardboard. I did drawings on the wall at my mother's house. My mother used to tell me not to do a lot of drawing in notebooks because there was no money to buy notebooks. Things like that. I ended up not producing as much art because I couldn't because I couldn't destroy all my notebooks. Today I try to use as much as possible, things around me around like doors of my studio. If I move things around and I need to put another door and people come and tell me, "Oh, Romero, it's going to be so expensive to try to save this door. Just put another door." I was like, "Fine." I put in this other door and [inaudible 00:01:33] deposit. I paint doors. Just the other day I sold one of my doors for $40,000 which is great. I save a door. I feel really good about it. Basically growing up in Brazil, I was exposed to work from Picasso, Matisse from books. When I went to Europe for the first time, I was fascinated by those contemporary masters, those modern masters like Picasso in particular. Picasso and Matisse and the [Mondrian 00:01:57]. I loved the composition of Picasso. I loved the colors of Matisse, and the colors and [Mondrian 00:02:06] and the colors as well of Van Gogh. When I moved to the west I got to know artists like their work. Artists like Andy Warhol that has an incredible energy and the idea behind it. The art for the masses. He was not that concerned about multiplying his work in different mediums such as silk screen process. I got to also know about the work of the [inaudible 00:02:34] and the amazing artists as well. I think these are artists that I really love the work. I really appreciate what it they do. I appreciate what they do. I tend to collect !1 some of the work of these artists like Jasper Johns the American artist, pop artists. Basically my style is being born. There is so many things that through the years I have added to work and I'm still adding as well. First I start painting with more primary colors. I start adding pastels and metallics and textures. I started doing sculpture. It's been an incredible journey and it's been amazing. I think one thing I usually tell to young artists, not only young artists, but anybody in particular who is trying to to find themselves, trying to find their own call in life, something that they are passionate about to wake up in the morning and say, "This is not a job. This is something I'm excited about to wake up in the morning and go to work." I say to them, "You know what, don't think about money first. Think about doing a beautiful job." Once you do a beautiful job, people want you. When you put your passion, people are going to see your heart in there and you are not looking at the clock like, "Oh my God. I have to run and go." Many times times the situations that people have an opportunity to do some changes at the last minute, but because they were in a hurry, next day comes and they say, "Oh my God. If I had only worked a little bit more. If I had got the call that came from Asia I could have made that change in 30 minutes. I could have done the job. Now it's too late. Somebody else got the job." My message to teachers is that for as they are mentoring those young men and women is to let them know that it's very important for them to express themselves and be truthful to themselves. A lot of times, teachers are trying to impose their own thinking, their own style, their own wishes on somebody else. "You should do this way. Don't mix yellow and blue because it doesn't go along." Who knows, it could be something spectacular. There was an artist who worked only in blues, a French artist. He became super famous. Yves Klein. He did everything with just blue. There is a blue color called Yves Klein. I mean basically usually when I go and do some kind of workshop with the students, I say, "Please. My lines are very precise, but I don't care if you go over the lines. Go over the lines. Paint over everything if you want. If you want to go and do like I'm doing here, it's fine too. Don't be scared about just expressing yourself." For any young men and women that love art, I might suggest for you to visit museums. Get to know about what other artists have done. I think not limit yourself, not be scared about expressing yourself and see the most unusual sort of art exhibition. That way you're not going to be scared to express yourself. I think what does happen a lot is when you were a kid you're not really really worried about what people think about you. As you become a teenager, you start thinking, "Oh my God. It's my ear bigger than the other? Is my arm ... Am I dressing okay? I'm doing this okay." People start criticizing you. I think you should not be worried about people criticizing. People say whatever they want, but I think it's very important that you just accept what you're putting out there. I think it's a very big move but you need to do it. The only way you can learn if you go out there and learn with the masters. I would say masters are the guys who did everything already. Then you say, "Oh my God. If this guy can do two beer cans and his art is in the museum. If [inaudible 00:07:00] has got two balls and the basketball is art now, I can get a basketball, cut it in half and it's art." !2 If [inaudible 00:07:09] cut a cow and put in a tank and it's art, why not. You can put something else. The idea is basically to be open to possibilities and not be scared. That's the suggestion I give to people. Go out there because a lot of time you just get scared about seeing what other guys have done at the same time, the books. Say, "Oh my God. I cannot be like Picasso or Matisse or whoever." There is always time for a new talent. One goes and the other one comes. Being a serious artist, building up your career, thinking about becoming an artist, you've got to be dramatic. You do something bloody or something really sad or depressed. I'm not saying people shouldn't express themselves in that way because some people really need to put this out there. A lot of times the whole process of you starting thinking in a way positive way can be much better. If you're going to meet somebody and you start thinking good things about that person or about that meeting or about something you're going to be doing, it's much easier for you to deal with than if you immediately start thinking about not good. I think it can be also like creating a piece of art and expressing yourself. The whole process of you doing is a little bit like music, some music that you listen to and make you feel good. As you're creating that piece of art, if you do something that is fun, it's colorful. I think that way. I respect other artists that if they want to do something bizarre because they want to express themselves that way, but I think the world needs more positive messages and images of hope and love and things that's good because every day the media is putting out there so many negative things that make people scared, young people being scared about the world, being out there to travel and be themselves. Oh my goodness, the problem is I don't have the time to put everything out because when I start working, so many ideas keep coming. It's like when you start running, you feel like running more.