My Story is Art – Bossa

Jose Villa

Bossa Nova, the music genre that seems to melt into the air when you listen, you know the one.  Admittedly I don’t know much about the history of Bossa Nova so I began to do a little research on the music that always puts me at ease and well, makes me want to grab my palette and get lost for hours in brushes and paint.

In Brazil, to do something with “Bossa” is to do it with particular charm and natural flair.  I read that sentence last week and haven’t been able to shake its impact.   Starting to think about Bossa my mind immediately went to my art.  The one thing that drives my every waking hour, the thing that makes me, me.  Often I examine my paintings or client samples with a critical, more technical eye.  I look at details like color, composition and tone every day, over and over.  Refinement in this job comes from years of honing the skills of myself and the team but last week my thoughts drifted far away from refinement to a less concrete place where pure emotion reigns.

We create artful wedding invitations, the kind that (hopefully) stop guests in their tracks to savor and linger a bit longer in a moment.  We hand paint on paper to not only add a bit of glisten to an invite but to impart a curious texture that will encourage a touch.  We wrap delicate silk ribbons to add beauty yes, but also to make the recipient feel like they are uncovering a gift.  Sumptuous materials is key in my world, no doubt.  Velvet ribbons, cottony papers and the finest archival inks combine to create a look that is incomparable BUT beyond that is a certain untouchable, indescribable magic that can only be described as Bossa.

Jose Villa

Bossa happens (and thank you Wikipedia for finally giving me a description for this) when all the right moments collide in a design.  Bossa happens when your mind AND your heart are in harmony.  The perfect brushstroke combines with an effortless sketch and a complimentary paper and in one simple breath you are holding a small piece of yourself that speaks in the simplest way possible of the sweetest emotions there are in this world.  I am grateful everyday that I have found a way to express for myself and my couples these essential emotions.  It is at the same time simple and the most complex.

Have you found your Bossa?