Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  He walks into the wilderness seeking the moment when a vista opens up before him, a landscape that he captures on canvas. Studying the light and the shadows, Andre Nobrega, creates a vista that is more than what he sees. Somehow his soul leaks into the lines, defines the stroke of the brush.

Andre’s painting are now on display at the Nederland Community Library. On August 6, from 6 p.m. to 7:30, the library will host a reception for the artist, a chance for the community to meet him and talk about his work.

As vibrant as his paintings, Andre’s life has been an adventure spanning a couple of continents to find a home and an art community in Nederland. He is grateful for the opportunity to show his work and looks forward to meeting many local people in the future.

Andre was born in Brazil in 1971, in a coast town and began painting with guidance from his aunt and grandfather when he was 11 years old. By the time he was 17, he studying the works of the masters and restoring paintings, teaching himself the skills and techniques he applied to his work.

During his teen years he hung out with artists and musicians and had his first solo exhibit in his home state of Pernambuco. He went on to exhibit his work in myriad businesses in Brazil since 1995, a success at the age of 24.

A declining Brazilian economy led him to seek sponsorship with the Friendship Force International which brings international visitors into their culture, sharing meals, conversation and culture. Andre was brought to Atlanta, Georgia and his host family in 2005, where he was accepted into a number of juried art shows, including a first place win at the Brookhaven Juried Arts Show in 2006.

In Georgia, he was asked to paint giant murals and his work was on display in many exhibitions. He moved to Los Altos California where  he won Best of Show at the Plein Air Painting Competition in 2007.

Two years ago a friend of his in Nederland invited him to visit.

“At first the altitude shocked me, coming from the coast, but now I love the winter, love the snow.”

Andre says he was a big time artist in Brazil and hopes to achieve recognition here. He sells his paintings on line at rockymountainpainter.com and offers private and group workshops. He has been focusing his plein art in Rocky Mountain National Park and the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. He paints the scenery as he sees it at the site, not from photographs.

“I leave at 4:30 a.m. and begin painting. I don’t really know my style; If I see something I like I don’t think about anything, I just work with feeling. I never really learned from anybody. I want to be good and I talk to people and hope they open for me. My work is about catching the mood. I especially like to paint weather, catch the shadows in the morning.”

In the past year, Andre has donated a bunch of paintings for silent auctions, for the Nederland Area Seniors, for the Wild Bear Mountain Ecology Center and for anything having to do with kids. He plans to stay in the area, send for his two daughters who live in Brazil and to paint. He fills his van with paintings and frames and talks to people at RMNP, taking orders because he can’t sell them in the park.

Often Andre would visit the library and when he saw the painting exhibit he inquired how to show his work and was invited to bring his work in. His work will be on display for two months, until just before the Boulder Open Studio Tour.

“This is awesome. I am so grateful.”

Andre also feels fortunate to have the house he lives, which used to be an artist’s studio..