My Great Influence

"People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand when it's simply necessary to love"- Claude Monet. This quotation from Claude Monet is a favorite of Gabriel's. Since he was very young, he knew what he wanted to do— Art. Gabriel started to draw very early, and with time he improved his gift for painting and even tried some sculptures. Besides art, Gabriel also has an affinity for psychiatry, music, and philosophy. His curiosity grew for these interests after some events in his life. Still, these studies helped him, changing even his personality and helping him to express himself through art.

Early in his life, when Gabriel was about five years old, he started doing his first drawings. He had a school backpack with a picture of a bear on a bike and liked that picture so much that he decided to copy it. Gabriel had a feeling he would be able to do that but wanted to prove himself, and he wanted to make that feeling real. So he did, and it was pretty good, very similar. When his mom got home, she asked him who had done that drawing, and he replied to her that he did it. She did not believe him. His aunt that lived with them at that time saw the drawing and also did not believe it. Everybody was extremely impressed, mainly because Gabriel was only five years old. Since then, he has made the decision he wanted to be an artist. People around him, family, and friends saw his potential.

Drawing is something natural for him, and it is effortless. Nobody taught him how to do it. He is self-taught. But, it was not until he was 17 years old that he decided to take a course. He wanted to get more knowledge to evolve his gift. After that, he could step up to painting: his passion. Gabriel has many influences in his life. People that he loves and that taught him things. When talking about art, Gabriel likes to talk about Edvard Munch, Van Gogh, Marc Chagall, and Claude Monet. He relates their work with his life, trying to express his feelings the way his influences do. Gabriel believes that art has to transmit emotions to who sees it, and this is what he tries to do in his works.

As in everyone's life, Gabriel had a dark period of his life. "I think I was a little depressed... maybe... little; at the end of high school. The school I studied at was a place where people did not want to learn or grow. There were a lot of unmotivated people, students were unmotivated, so it was a bad moment. " Gabriel explains this moment in his life as a "regret moment," regretting not being able or looking for an exit to change his reality. He also connected that moment as the time when his parents got divorced, and everything was happening all at once, which explains his dark phase. As an escape, Gabriel likes to paint. He uses painting and drawing to relax and reflect on his day at that moment. "Sometimes I feel like my feelings are agglomerated inside me, and I need to put them out like a full vase that I must empty. That is how I feel when I am painting or drawing; this is part of my creative process." That is how Gabriel describes the reason why he paints/draws and what he feels at that moment. When talking to Gabriel's mom, she gave a more deep vision about him. She knows what is behind his mask. "Gabriel has always been very anxious. He could make every little problem become something huge. He hates and loves very strongly, but I am so happy he found his way with art." Who meets Gabriel these days might not know how he really is. Although he has always passed an image of a calm person, and sometimes he is, he might as well be a "storm," and only people very close to him know that.

Art has helped Gabriel in his life, but he also found another passion: studying the mind. With influences like Carl Gustav Jung and Freud, he started reading about the mind and psychiatrist. Although Gabriel loves the arts, he does not think about becoming a famous prominent painter. Actually, he would rather be a psychiatrist. After his dark phase, Gabriel got deep into the mind studies. The knowledge he acquired helped him to go through this, once again, by himself, and this is something admirable. I have always admired him for how he can overcome his problems by himself. He can always find the answers to his issues in books and ended up helping himself with his will of learning. It amazes me how he found in art the solution for his anxiety and in the books the key to overcoming his dark phase.

Although Gabriel has many famous influences, his most significant influence is his grandfather. "A person I mirror myself in, he is afraid of anything he is a strong man, he is an example for me. Even knowing I will never get to be half of what he is, I will do my best to be like him." this is how Gabriel describes his grandfather; they are best friends and an essential person for him. Besides his grandpa, he also has two very good friends who helped him grow as a person. One of them is Aline Cristina, who taught him to go through his fears and prejudgements.

With the help of art and studies of the mind, Gabriel sees himself today as very different from who he was in the past. We always think about ourselves in the past and imagine the possibility of giving us pieces of advice, like going into a time machine. "I think if I could go back and time and give me advice, or let me know somehow about the future, I would tell him to take more risks. I would tell him to do not to give so much importance to silly things. To do not care about some negative situations that would happen in life, and to believe more, have more faith." Gabriel is a fan of the Chaos Theory and from the movie The Butterfly Effect, so this is something that he thinks about a lot. Time machine is something exciting to him.

With many influences, many dreams, Gabriel is still on his way to success. Working with art is challenging. It might be hard to reach a point when you actually work with that and be recognized. Nevertheless, Gabriel keeps up his path, looking for his rightful place in the world. Reaching a career as a psychiatrist is also another challenge for him, which he is not right about yet. However, these are arts helped him to grow as a person. His achievements came from those arts, and all knowledge he got was crucial to his development. We all have things to be proud of, for Gabriel, he is proud of the person he became. "I am proud of the person I became; I am becoming. When I look to the Gabriel from 7 years ago, I see someone immature, irresponsible. This Gabriel was impulsive. I used to react always very emotionally, not rationally." Sometimes, what we really like might not bring us any material achievement, but it might bring us knowledge and experience. That is what happened to Gabriel. His studies did not get any material thing for him, but it indeed changed who he is.

Gabriel wants to work with art but not to make money. Art means something to him. It is more than a hobby; it is a therapy. It is when he is in contact with himself, a peaceful place. Although people think he should use this as a "money machine," He disagrees. He would instead be happy helping people as a psychiatrist than gaining money through his gift. His biggest dream, for example, is to travel. He wants to travel to Europe, more specifically France, and go to the Louvre Museum. "My biggest dream is to go to Europe. There is no other big dream. I think this is my biggest challenge. I also want to go to the famous Louvre Museum, which is included in my European dream." For Gabriel, small things are what really matter. Go to museums, see the world, read about people he loves and admires is his goal. He does not dream about being rich or famous. He is just in a long way to get as much knowledge as possible and be a better person every day. Still, Gabriel does not realize that after having so many influences and becoming the person he is today, he became an influence for many people, among them myself. He is why I believe I can overcome all problems just by being willing to search and learn.

Works Cited

Milagre, Gabriel. Personal Interview. June 24 2021. soundcloud.com/user-104683707/gabriel-interview/s-ZdfuFvKDoQ6

Milagre, Silvia. Personal Interview. June 25 2021.