I am that I am - dreadavinci

I am that I am

Who is Drea DaVinci?  

Drea DaVinci, whose given name is Andrea Groener, is a modern artist and designer with a penchant for all things Leonardo da Vinci. She believes that we all possess an "inner da Vinci".   Through self reflection and cultivation of our talents and passions, we can live up to our highest potential.  Leonardo da Vinci is considered to be the greatest discovered genius known to humanity, so when seeking enlightenment, why not start there?  

The first 'dreadavinci' was a collaboration between Leonardo da Vinci and his mentor Andrea del Verrocchio.  While working in Verrocchio's workshop as a young man he contributed elements to two paintings (the dog and fish in the painting 'Tobias and the Angel' and the Angel and Jesus's body in 'The Baptism of Christ') thus creating the original 'dreadavinci' paintings. 

Tobias and the Angel

Legend has it that when Leonardo added his touch to the master's canvas and surpassed him in skill, Andrea laid aside forever his paintbrush.  Painting under the stimulus of a master craftsman and consummate artist forged a fateful link between Leonardo da Vinci's name and the history of art.  

The Baptism of Christ

Leonardo had a lifelong muse named Gian Giacomo Caprotti da Oreno, better known as Salaì. He created paintings under the name of Andrea Salaì.  He began living with Leonardo at age 10 and became his student, lifelong servant, and companion.  A group of Italian researchers has claimed that Salaì was the model for the Mona Lisa, noting the similarity in some of the facial features, particularly the nose and mouth, to those in which Salaì is thought to have been the model. Interestingly, the letters which form "Mona Lisa" can be rearranged to form "Mon Salaì".  So it seems that throughout his life, Leonardo da Vinci was deeply influenced by two Andreas.   In addition to the Mona Lisa, Salaì is thought by some to be the model for Leonardo's St. John the Baptist, Bacchus and the Salvatore Mundi.

St. John the Baptist

Bacchus 

Salvatore Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci

Salvatore Mundi

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

Mona Lisa

Fast forward 500 years...

"Words contain no awareness. 

They can only trigger awareness. 

It does no good to try to impress a man

with some thought he can't relate to. 

But if you can make him realize the obvious

that might change his life. 

A few men realizing the obvious and communicating

with each other can create a chain-reaction. 

There is nothing so potent as an idea whose time

has come.

By doing nothing more than realizing and accepting

the obvious, a man can change the world. 

The world is constantly changing,  It is constantly

being changed."

-Paul Williams, 'Das Energi'

"You must first describe the eye, then show how the twinkling of the stars originates in the eye, why the twinkling of one star is greater than that of another, and how the rays of the stars owe their existence to the eye."

-Leonardo da Vinci

 

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