Festa da Sardinhas

Every June, Lisbon erupts. The streets fill with smoke and laughter, grilled sardines everywhere, paper decorations swaying overhead, music bleeding out of every doorway. This is Festa das Sardinhas — and I couldn't let it pass without painting it. Each fish here carries its own personality: bold patterns, wild colors, heart-shaped tails swimming through deep Atlantic blue. No two are the same, just like the people filling those narrow streets. I painted this in 2015 and it still makes me feel the heat of that summer. Look closely — one of them is carrying a question mark. I think that one is me, always wondering what comes next, always happy to be lost in a city that knows how to celebrate being alive.