From the Drawer into the Light

When a creation finds its place

There are things that begin without us really knowing where they will take us.

An image. A colour. An idea that suddenly appears and asks to take shape....

That is how, a few years ago, I began to draw.

There was no real plan. Nor a decision to become an illustrator. It began in a much simpler way: with a desire to experiment, to create, to bring life and colour to shapes, images and stories that, somehow, were already dancing inside me.

At first, it was simply a hobby.

I drew, painted, experimented with different materials and surfaces. I created little pieces, images, objects... and put them away...

In my drawers!

And perhaps this is one of the images that best represents an important part of this journey: so many creations remained tucked away for years, not because they were unimportant, but because I had not yet found the right way to give them a place.

CREATING TO EXPRESS MYSELF

Over time, I began to realise that creating was not simply about making something beautiful.

It was a way of being.

Of pausing.

Of observing.

Of experimenting.

Of listening to myself.

There were moments when drawing was simply a way of playing with colours and shapes. At other times, it was a way of giving expression to things that did not yet have words.

And perhaps that is one of the fascinating things about creation: we do not always begin by knowing exactly what we want to say. Sometimes, we simply begin by creating. And it is within the process itself that something is revealed.

It was also through Art that I reconnected with a part of myself that may have been forgotten for too long. A more spontaneous part. More intuitive. More willing to experiment without needing to know in advance where I was going to arrive.

Art thus became another language. A language different from words, but no less communicative.

NATURE AS MY ATELIER

Many of these creations were also born from my relationship with Nature.

For a long time, when I thought about my “atelier”, I did not necessarily imagine a room, a table or a space filled with materials. My favourite atelier has always been Nature.

It is there that I find shapes, colours, movements, contrasts, rhythms and combinations that continue to surprise me. It is there that I observe. It is there that I find inspiration. It is there that, so often, I can simply be.

Nature reminds me that creating is also a living process. That there is a time to germinate, a time to grow, a time to blossom. And that not everything needs to happen immediately.

Perhaps that is why so many of the images I have created over the years have found inspiration in flowers, trees, animals, elements of Nature, cycles and transformations. Not because there is a single hidden message in each image. But because these forms are part of my own way of looking at Life.

WHEN AN IMAGE STOPS BEING MINE ALONE

For some time, these creations were mostly mine. They were part of my process.

But, at a certain point, a question began to emerge: What if what helped me express myself could also inspire someone else? That is when the desire to share was born.

In 2021, I created the project From the HeARTS, precisely with that intention: to find a space where I could show this other side of my creative expression. But the project never truly came to life. And perhaps today I understand better why.

At that time, it still seemed necessary to keep things separate: Psychology and Education on one side; Art on the other. With time, I began to realise that this separation no longer made sense. Because, after all, they had never really been completely different worlds.

Creativity has always been present in the way I think and work. Nature runs through many of my interests. Expression, discovery, development and learning continually intersect. And so these creations finally found another place: D’AR-TE À LUZ.

GIVE FORM - BRING TO LIGHT - SHARE

Today I can look at those drawers differently. They were not simply places where things were left forgotten. Perhaps they were spaces of gestation. Some creations simply needed time.

Time for me to change. Time to discover new ways of looking. Time to realise that I did not need to give them a definitive explanation in order for them to be shared.

Because an image can mean different things to different people. It can awaken a memory.

A question. An emotion. An association. Or simply a smile. And that is perfectly fine.

Today, I am much more interested in asking: “What does this image say to you?”, than in saying:

“This image means this.”

Perhaps because here too there is a principle that runs through all of D’AR-TE À LUZ: not to provide ready-made answers, but to create space for each person to discover for themselves.

CREATING IS ALSO SHARING

There is a sentence I wrote some years ago that still feels very meaningful to me: “If creating is a way of communicating, then it also needed to be shared.”

Today I would add something else: sharing is also allowing a creation to continue living.

When an image leaves the drawer and meets other eyes, it no longer belongs only to the moment in which it was created. It can take on new interpretations. It can inspire a conversation. It can become a postcard, a card, a resource, an activity, a story, an object or simply an image that someone chooses to carry with them.

And perhaps that is one of the reasons why I now feel that the time has come to finally let some of these creations out of the drawers. Not to give them a purpose they do not need to have. Not to explain what they are supposed to mean. But simply to give them space.

A UNIVERSE THAT CONTINUES TO GROW

The D’AR-TE À LUZ Gallery is born from this place. A place where different forms of creation can meet.

The book. The characters. The card deck. The illustrations. And tomorrow, perhaps, other ideas, other resources and other forms of expression. Some already exist. Others are still only beginning to germinate.

And perhaps that is precisely the beauty of a living project: not knowing exactly everything that may yet come into being.

For now, I simply want to open the drawers. Let the light in. And allow these creations to finally find their way.

Perhaps some will speak to you. Perhaps others will not. Perhaps one image will make you pause for a few seconds. Perhaps another will awaken a question you were not expecting.

You do not need to know why.

Look. Feel. Imagine. Discover.

The meaning can be just yours.

And perhaps, deep down, that is what I have always sought through creation:

to give shape to what lives within me and, by sharing it, to create space for something to be born in those who look.

Sofia Silva

D'AR-TE À LUZ ©

"For some time, these creations were mostly mine.... But, at a certain point, a question began to emerge: What if what helped me express myself could also inspire someone else? That is when the desire to share was born."

.."