RUI CARRUCO · 2026

The Lightness of Days

Onde a Alegria Corre

In this painting, I wanted to capture the spontaneity of a moment lived by the sea. Two figures move through the shallow water while the younger child seems to turn a simple walk into a run, almost a game. It is this unguarded freedom of childhood that interests me — the ability to find happiness in movement, a wave, or an ordinary summer day.

I worked primarily with a palette knife, allowing texture, relief and interruptions to remain visible across the surface. Geometric fragments and vertical divisions move through both the figures and the landscape, partially deconstructing the scene and suggesting several fleeting moments within a single image.

Soft coastal colours, sunlight and the movement of the fabrics preserve the lightness of the scene without describing it too literally. Rather than depicting one specific event, I wanted to retain the feeling of a time when running towards the water could, by itself, be enough to make us happy.

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