We had the good fortune of connecting with Mantraste and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mantraste, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
How can I give up something that I don’t have? For me it’s a question of curiosity, when curiosity ends it’s time to look for something new. As Robert Walser said: “I don’t know how it all started… It started the way it all starts: I grabbed a small line and was dragged away. I didn’t really know what I was doing… On the one hand I had fear, on the other I felt an extravagant joy”.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I grew up in the countryside, with farmers, I was always very connected to the culture and religion of the people and nature. When I grew up I never studied art and I wasn’t very good at school, so I started working as a metal worker and then I went to technical drawing. But I was not happy. So one day I started drawing, and through drawing I started to understand myself better, it was like I had found my voice, I was 20 years old. It was like going back to childhood and having to live it all over again, like a folk artist that doesn’t work for any purpose.
It was never hard because I had suffered a lot as a teenager, because I didn’t fit in, so when I found out what I liked even without money I was happy and curious about what came next.
Accepting that hard work is essential to my happiness was also very important.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Portugal, close to the sea and nature, first I showed him Nazaré and Peniche and we could eat fish near the sea, then Óbidos to see the castle and drink a Ginginha Next Foz do Arelho which has a fantastic view to the lagoon and the sea, the park of Caldas da Rainha and paul de Tornada. But the most important thing was to eat, there are many good restaurants to choose from: Adega do Albertino, Solar dos Amigos, Nascer do Sol.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

For sure Winnie the Pooh and a lot of small encounters i’ve had throughout my life with people who glow in the dark.

Instagram: instagram.com/mantraste

Image Credits
Ficusfilms

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