Close Window

Homero

"I began to work as an artisan during my travels through Latin America. I wasn't a hippie, I was just a waiter born in a small interior city who wanted to become rich in the United States. As my job never was certain, I ended up embarking on a four-year adventure. I traveled through the Guyanas, Suriname, the Caribbean, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, etc. I began fishing for shrimp in Suriname. After that I began to work as a logger in the Amazon forest; and later I traversed the Amazon with a Chilean and a Peruvian, finally arriving in Peru. This was when I began to make jewelry. We had the intention of buying Peruvian ceramics to resell in the US. Obviously our plans didn't make it across the border and we stopped in Colombia.

"There I became a total hippie. I started walking toward Panama. I stayed a year and a half and I lived for six months in small village. I was completely illegal, without any documentation, and I had nothing better to do than live as a refugee in the middle of the bush, living close to nature. We only ate fruits and the gifts of nature; it wasn't necessary to kill animals to feed ourselves, as the food was already sufficient. We made music and crafts. We had a band and were a success in the streets. We played Brazilian music with a bongo and a guitar. By the end of our stay we had gained great spiritual insight, with a completely transformed mind, ultra sensitive and well-tuned. The time I spent in Colombia was a life lesson and a marvelous adventure.

"In 1987 I returned to Brazil. I left Colombia the same way I entered, without a penny in my pocket. The little bit I had was robbed from me on the train. I spent a year traveling through Northeastern Brazil, until my mom asked me to return home, work as a waiter, and cut my hair.

"I started working again as a waiter in Rio de Janeiro. After a while I built my house in a city with the feel of the country side. In 1990 I lost my job during the great recession generated by the economic plan of then-president Fernando Collor. I searched for work but didn't find anything concrete. I started working again with arts and crafts and I began to earn three times what I made as a waiter.

"Today I want peace. I have two children, five stepchildren and I raise horses and travel by motorcycle. I have developed in these years a 'Carlos Santana' style of being. I learned that having a lot of money ends up enslaving people and doesn't bring happiness. I only want enough to maintain the minimum level of comfort. I was always running after money, and I never found it. It only showed up after I had quit searching for it.

"I have somewhat of a gypsy spirit and I believe that exhibiting my work with Novica is like giving continuity to these wanderings without having to leave home."