When first visiting Puerto Viejo I met this lovely young woman with jewels glued to her face. She wore brightly colored clothing made from scraps of other clothes and vibrant rags. I never saw Luana without a paint brush in her hands unless she was eating and even then sometimes she'd be painting away. Luana was a special kind of character. She had the worst ADD and seemed to always be dreaming with a glazy look in her eyes. The more I got to know her, the more respect I gained for her as an artist and painter. This girl had a unique style of bold graphics, cartoony surrealism, nature inspired and femininity oozed from every piece. Overtime I became familiar with Luana's style. I could spot a piece from a mile away... which is actually pretty easy to do... considering her paintings were mostly large scale murals.
Luana was a special kind of artist, a living canvas. She left a trail of signature "Queen Luana" art work everywhere she walked. It was like a trail of bread crumbs leading to her presence. The fresher the paint, the closer she was. She wore a dress made out of old tin cans and road a bicycle brightly colored in ribbons and trinkets. She always seemed to have some kind of sparkling jewels adorning her body. Often, when speaking with Luana, she'd space out after the third or fourth sentence, if I was lucky. She has this amazing ability to paint seemingly without looking at what she was working on. I grabbed a brush more than once and participated in her murals. It's quite easy to fall into a groove painting along side this young master. Luana is one of the most prolific artists per square meter I've had the pleasure of knowing at this point in my journey. It seemed fairly easy for Luana to make, at least, a meager living being an artist. Everyone with a hotel or a sign in town had to wait, but not too long, as she was super fast at the production of the large scale murals and signs. She also made a living doing face paint on Friday nights or special occasions.
Luana is now in KHO Phangan, Thailand, painting her way across the globe. Everyone that knows her is a fan of her as an artist and a person. She's what I label "The Greatest Artist of All Time"... which represents a person that "IS" art. May you all have the honored privilege of meeting this amazing young woman as she paints her way to a town near you.
