![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGFoENyJuQOXNrj4kBUxR3knw-ecmx5JQIPrr-hjFmWvyy5y0_qzIJVHABlsMFUylHTRdyA-DLGwu_v9Neygsr3cQitkJpnJQJfCfnGedaRmfq6DAQBv_P3eC8Lvd3Ks3BhaY5pf9SdVs/s400/LaVidaBreve.jpg)
I recently received a very nice message from Alfred Faltiska about this painting, La Vida Breve:
After a year of presenting contemporary painters on my site, after Jeremy Lipking, Anna Kryukova, Simon Balyon and all the other masters I had the pleasure to get to know, I still think La Vida Breve is the most beautiful painting I saw.
No, I didn't pay him to write that! Alfred featured my work on his very interesting blog last year, and has continued to spotlight a huge variety of artists. Thank you Alfred, and you've inspired me to create a post about the picture.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5cmwRJgx5-Zy0vMSCMdtq5HWvc1BpjgsfCKqIEdqhgnstNp_OtIMO7vhV8sEKvk56-h4p9iiWeG5T2dbLiybaf7XsIANFkKOI_mCTDsb7wDs9AHYdcec04bviEj-M6AordrQcjQJeynM/s200/LaVidaBreveDetail.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5cmwRJgx5-Zy0vMSCMdtq5HWvc1BpjgsfCKqIEdqhgnstNp_OtIMO7vhV8sEKvk56-h4p9iiWeG5T2dbLiybaf7XsIANFkKOI_mCTDsb7wDs9AHYdcec04bviEj-M6AordrQcjQJeynM/s200/LaVidaBreveDetail.jpg)
In 2006 I was approached by a couple who live in a fabulous National Historic Registry house in Baltimore. They had seen my painting Zarzuela and wanted to commission something similar for a large wall in their dining room. We agreed on the approximate size and shape, and then I began thinking about subject and reference material. I ended up in contact with the great Spanish flamenco dancer, Bettina Castaño, and used a photograph of her as the basis for the composition; the tortured pose appealed to me, and evokes the tension and drama of flamenco music. I invented the twirling disintegrating dress, the fan, and also came up with the background and the whippy lines (masked). I kept hearing Manuel de Falla's "Spanish Dance No. 1" from La Vida Breve as I painted it, and knew that had to be the title. Translated, it means "life is short" or "a brief life, " and perfectly describes the fleeting moment I was trying to capture.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5hUT9A3SkQ0xZ-ZfMA975sPgCMHn_nR8_Zrqz4K8CDK4XNEDIuAlyUfj_38F7I7VJubNEtrt9xbFFzEkjcb842kldXm__UrsOOswHFvh9Pdg9ko8Y6JIYxeE8vhN1cCWlyJk3lQy38wI/s320/2.jpg)