Notes From The City: An Abundant Life - Surrounding The World With Beauty

Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian Explorer and Cartographer who is known for creating the map that showed Europeans in the late 15th and early 16th Centuries that the continent that we now know by the name of America was in fact a fourth continent that was separate from Europe, Asia, and Africa. His name as he signed it on the map that he created of what was then termed the "New World" was used in the Latin feminine form to name this new continent. There is an Italian Military Training ship by the name of the Amerigo Vespucci, which is a full rigged three-masted tall ship built in 1930 that is part of the Marina Militaire. Its home is in La Spezia, Italy, and each year it sails to different ports around the world. In 1962, while sailing in the Mediterranean, the American aircraft carrier USS Independence saw the Amerigo Vespucci and flashed a light signal asking, "Who are you?" When the answer came back, "Training ship Amerigo Vespucci, Italian Navy," the USS Independence responded, "You are the most beautiful ship in the world."

It seems fitting that I would meet the stunning Makeup Artist Angela Valentino aboard the Amerigo Vespucci. She had been invited by the Captain to attend a gala event on an evening when the ship and crew were in New York Harbor, and a mutual friend who could not attend that night introduced us by telephone so that I could join in the celebration. When I sent a text to ask Angela how I would know her, in its own way the light signal of the on-land communications of today, she replied, "Oh, it's easy, my hair is red like the flame." As I waited outside the security entrance that evening, I saw a few women with hair that was reddish, but then I saw a gorgeous apparition, with fiery red hair and a glowing soul within, and I knew it must be Angela. As we waited for the rest of her party of lovely friends to arrive, she told me the story of how she had gotten the invitation. On a visit to the ship earlier that week, the Captain had invited her personally, and I could understand why as I spoke with her. As charming as she is lovely, and full of light and life, she is a captivating presence, and memorable from the first moment you meet her. As she told me more about herself, I discovered that she had gone to art school in Italy and was working now as a Makeup Artist, traveling to different locations in the United States and Europe. I asked if it would be possible to meet with her for a blog post, and so a few weeks afterward we met to talk and she started to show me her portfolio. There were so many amazing photos to see, and such a variety of beautiful work that she's done, that I asked if she could share some of her favorites with me so that I could post them. She then told me that she also worked with the wonderful Wedding Planner, Oggi Sposi, and that she had an upcoming wedding to help prepare the bride for. When I asked if I could possibly take photographs of her working, she asked the Wedding Planner who consulted with the Bride, and so a few days later I found myself at the Dream Hotel, laughing and photographing in the most intimate of lovely occasions, an experience that I will forever be thankful to the Bride and everyone else involved for allowing me to be a part of.

Spending time with Angela Valentino is an adventure, whether attending a gala on a tall ship or walking in the streets of New York City. Her energy and warmth and inner glow light up every room, and her work is truly astonishing in its beauty. As Amerigo Vespucci discovered centuries ago, America was a new continent and a beautiful new world. Angela Valentino continues the tradition of that famous Italian explorer as she charts new territory, and as one of the most beautiful women in the world, adds her own special touch to make it her own.

Angela Valentino
At The Dream Hotel Midtown
New York City
www.DreamHotels.com
www.AngieValentino.com

Viewing The Bride's Dress
As Part Of The Preparation For A Traditional Wedding
For A Bride And Groom From Sardinia
With The Wonderful Wedding Planner Oggi Sposi
www.OggiSposiaNewYork.com