With this first-person story, we conclude our introduction series about the urban sketchers who participate in the illustrations of our book of bookmarks, LISBOA MARCA. In Lisbon in Us by Ana Ramos, this artist reveals her “long-distance love” for the city.
My relationship with Lisbon can be described as a form of “long-distance love”.
As Lisbon is a city near the town where I live (Lourinhã), its borders appear dreamily amidst the landscape whenever I pay it a visit.
My initial encounters with Lisbon were like round-trip tickets during my childhood and youth, on school trips (as I grew up and studied in Leiria). Later, I found myself frequently travelling there for health-related reasons.
During those times, I passed through its streets without truly seeing them, perceiving everything as motionless and hushed. However, I preserved in my gaze the details I didn’t want to lose and in my heart, the hope of a future reunion. Eventually, this reunion occurred during the “mature” phase of my life.
Since then, and up until the present day, I have enjoyed family outings, adventures with friends and colleagues, visits to monuments, trips to the theatre and museums, and even simple shopping expeditions in Lisbon.
Lisbon also fuels my passion for drawing. With a backpack on my back, I venture out whenever I can to sketch with the Urban Sketchers or even on my own.
This happened in 2018 when I took part in a challenge launched by this association and coordinated by Eduardo Salavisa. The challenge was to sketch various landmarks in East Lisbon, with the goal of creating a publication that would later be named ‘Lisboa a Oriente -Roteiro Cultural’ and which was published in 2019.
During that time, I timidly ventured into areas of Lisbon that I didn’t know. Taking advantage of the convenience of the Metro to get around, step by step, I ventured forward, overcoming my fears and shyness. As I familiarised myself with the city and its bustling universe, with each step, Lisbon seemed to tell me: “Come visit me whenever you want!”
And I return time and time again, to capture and hold my gaze upon the streets, the people, the movements and scents, the gardens, the monuments and palaces, and countless other things adorned with light and colour, all breathtaking and tempting to the artists’ brush and palette. There is nothing bare in this city. Everything is vibrant with life! The melodies, the rhythms, the voices, the rooftops reaching for the sky, the boats suspended in the sea, and even the joyous crosswinds that gracefully sweep through flower beds and hidden corners – all of these can be felt in Lisbon.
The journey comes to a halt, a line is drawn, the page is turned, the shadow is breathed, and the path is restarted. This is what I do when enchantment unsettles me and impulses tempt me to immortalise what I see amidst the many invitations that Lisbon extends to us, for it is the home of countless worlds, the light that enters the eyes, where the soul dreams, where longing is invented, and thus, it is the place from which I never depart. I will always return!
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| Lisbon in Us by Ana Ramos | |
|---|---|
| Mini introduction | Graduated in Artistic Studies, Arts, and Heritage. Training in: Fine Arts, Decorative Arts, and Computer Drawing. Formerly a clerk for many years, currently not engaged in a professional activity, dedicating herself to activities related to illustration, painting, drawing, and promoting local heritage. Follow my work on Instagram. |
| An inspiring place | The view of Lisbon from the São Pedro de Alcântara Viewpoint. |
| An unmissable visit | The National Museum of Ancient Art |
| Her mouth waters with… | Polvo à Lagareiro (octopus Lagareiro style) at the beautiful terrace of the Beer Museum in Terreiro do Paço, with the opportunity to visit the museum. |
| A song… | Lisboa by Tara Perdida (2013) |
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