Ana Isabel Ramos | illustration + design + storytelling
My name is Ana Isabel Ramos. I’m an illustrator and designer. I teach people how to knit and embroider. I send weekly letters to my friends, where I share personal stories and behind-the-scenes images of my work. Sign up to receive them.
Motion
Cover image for the collection of video tutorials for caretakers of children in palliative care. Illustrations and animations co-created with Joana Paz. Find all videos at https://attitude.org.pt/
Video tutorials for caretakers of children in palliative care. Here, a class learns the bad news regarding a fellow class mate. Illustrations and animations co-created with Joana Paz. Find all videos at https://attitude.org.pt/
Video tutorials for caretakers of children in palliative care. Children display different symptoms of grief. Illustrations and animations co-created with Joana Paz. Find all videos at https://attitude.org.pt/
Video tutorials for caretakers of children in palliative care When a fellow classmate is absent, keeping in touch helps all kids. Illustrations and animations co-created with Joana Paz. Find all videos at https://attitude.org.pt/
Video tutorials for caretakers of children in palliative care. Helping children dealing with grief. Illustrations and animations co-created with Joana Paz. Find all videos at https://attitude.org.pt/
Video tutorials for caretakers of children in palliative care. Helping children dealing with grief. Illustrations and animations co-created with Joana Paz. Find all videos at https://attitude.org.pt/
Video tutorials for caretakers of children in palliative care. Illustrations and animations co-created with Joana Paz. Find all videos at https://attitude.org.pt/
Video tutorials for caretakers of children in palliative care. Handling and maintaining a central venous catheter.Illustrations and animations co-created with Joana Paz. Find all videos at https://attitude.org.pt/
Video tutorials for caretakers of children in palliative care. Feeding your child via gastrostomy. Illustrations and animations co-created with Joana Paz. Find all videos at https://attitude.org.pt/
Video tutorials for caretakers of children in palliative care. Feeding your child via gastrostomy. Illustrations and animations co-created with Joana Paz. Find all videos at https://attitude.org.pt/
Video tutorials for caretakers of children in palliative care. Giving medication via gastrostomy. Illustrations and animations co-created with Joana Paz. Find all videos at https://attitude.org.pt/
Portraits
Portrait of Guilhermina Suggia, part of my “Extraordinary Women in Portuguese” project. https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/mulheresextraordinariasemportugues/
Portrait of Maria de Sousa, part of my “Extraordinary Women in Portuguese” project. https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/mulheresextraordinariasemportugues/
Making of the portrait of Maria de Sousa, part of my “Extraordinary Women in Portuguese” project. https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/mulheresextraordinariasemportugues/
Portrait of Cesina Bermudes, part of my “Extraordinary Women in Portuguese” project. https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/mulheresextraordinariasemportugues/
Portrait of Marielle Franco, part of my “Extraordinary Women in Portuguese” project. https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/mulheresextraordinariasemportugues/
Portrait of Cesária Évora, part of my “Extraordinary Women in Portuguese” project. https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/mulheresextraordinariasemportugues/
Embroidery
Biking in Panama City. Once upon a time I lived in tropical Panama City, Panama. Enchanted by the looks of wealthier cities in the region, Panama grew too fast, sometimes forgetting who she is. Panama is the place where tradition, heritage and the future go for a ceviche together. The humble bicycle is an improbable – but not impossible – alternative to getting around in a car. When I lived there, and much to my surprise, I discovered that drivers were much more respectful of cyclists than what I expected, based on my experience as a female, catcalled at, pedestrian.
Oh, Summer… There’s something about the summer in Portugal. Maybe it’s the intense and dry heat, followed by the coolness of the evenings, a sweater in hand. Maybe it’s how blue the sky is, how perfectly cloudless it is. Maybe it’s the blue of the sky touching the blue of the sea out there near the horizon, where the sun sets. Maybe it’s the smell of pine trees, a smell that reminds me of my childhood summers playing in the park. Maybe it’s the food, could it be the food? The steamed clams with garlic and olive oil. Or maybe it’s the time to look around without rush and just feel the breeze, the sun, the smell of the pine trees.
Oh, Summer. How we love you so.
“Raindrops keep falling on my head…” errr, excuse me, hand.
This is the view from my studio in the beautiful neighborhood of Príncipe Real, Lisbon. My travels have taken me to many different places. And it’s easy to fall in love with those places and somehow forget how precious our own hometown can be. Lisbon is a city that seems to have sprung out of a fairy tale, and I love it here.
Sortelha Castle, in Portugal, is one of the many examples of military architecture along the border with Spain. Squeezed between the ocean and our neighbors, that’s not surprising. What is surprising is how these castles still stand, along with walled little villages, a thousand years after being erected. If you’re wondering if time travel is possible: yes. Just come and see for yourself.
This is the view of the island of Taipa, seen from Macau. I made it from a sketch during this year’s recent trip there. After an absence of ten years, going back to Macau was a very emotional experience for me. It felt like time traveling, all the time. I loved it.
Creating this embroidery of Macau, a highly saturated city in terms of technology, with a view like this, made time stop. The contrast between all the speed, lights and movement in Macau, with the slow progression of stitches, made my heart sing.
“Beetle fever” in Mexico. I have never seen as many VW Beetles as in Mexico. This was a trip filled with sensorial overload: the saturated colors on buildings, cars, textiles, fruits (yum mango with chili!); the spice on every taco, guacamole or sopa de tortilla. The smell of corn tacos in the air and the sweet, melodic Mexican Spanish in my ears. Oh, Mexico. I love you.
It’s only fitting that the embroidery of “Beetle fever” in Mexico happened in a somewhat opposite environment of calm, quiet, tranquility. As much as I enjoyed being present in the moment, I could always close my eyes and recall the taste of that spicy sopa de tortilla I had in San Miguel de Allende.
Based on motifs found in the typical embroidery of Castelo Branco, you can see the bird (the connection between earth and Heaven), the carnation (standing for what is provocative and virile – also, the symbol of our democratic revolution of 1974), other flowers and fruits.
Living the slow café life of a southern european Winter in Lisbon. Part of the Lisbon series for the air Embroidery Club.
People seeing the almost theatrical scenery Lisbon offers everyone who visits de Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara. Part of the Lisbon series for the air Embroidery Club.
Another one from my Lisbon Series, this is Praça das Flores, a little square in this tiny village that Lisbon is.
Dear NYC resident who is reading this, Your city is amazing. It’s awe-inspiring, creative, trendsetter. It’s beautiful, and ugly too. Something new and crazy is always happening, all the time. Maybe you look at all that as “normal”. But let me tell you: it’s not. When I visit NYC, I feel like I’m in a movie. I should be paying admission just by walking the streets and looking at you, NYC-ites. I hear Seinfeld saying a joke – but not really saying it. I hear Rachel talking to Monica and Phoebe on a couch in a café somewhere cute. I see overpriced items everywhere, from all around the world. When I see something that is familiar to me, I marvel at how you are able to make something trivial look so special. Dear NYC-ite who is reading this, I marvel at your capacity of finding value in things and turning them into sellable products. I have a lot to learn with you. I have something to ask of you, dear NYC-ite who is reading this. Please don’t consider this image yet another illustration of NYC’s skyline. Consider it a homage to the feeling of stepping into a movie every time I visit. It’s a special feeling, and this was a special illustration for me, too, when I sketched it quickly, on my feet. When I stitched it, back at home, I remembered all the emotions I felt when I visited. And that, dear reader, was amazing in itself. Thank you. Hope you like it too.
Hello, Chicago! I love you! I know it gets chilly (bone freezing cold, I’ve been told) where you are, but when I visited you for Christmas, you put up the greatest show with blue skies and great weather. And all this beauty was reflected on the surfaces of your Cloudgate, which was perfect. I took so many pictures of you, I wanted to bring you along with me.
I remember seeing a beautiful tiled floor, back when I lived in Panama, and thinking how simple and clever it was and how I should record it in my sketchbook, because one day I would surely use it somewhere. Some time ago (or was it ages ago?) I attended a sashiko embroidery workshop. Sashiko is a kind of functional embroidery from Japan, used to reinforce fabrics while making them prettier, all at the same time. I loved learning about it: its geometry and patterns; the way figures are stitched to use up the floss in the most economical way; the simple rules of how many stitches go into each portion, and how stitches should be the same length throughout the whole project. To tell you the truth, I had been thinking for a while how I wanted to incorporate a bit of its influence into my embroidery. Until this month I stumbled upon the sketch in my sketchbook. Now, don’t get me wrong: the way I stitched is not in the original sashiko fashion of using running stitches. This is not the traditional sashiko from Japan, but I think it shows how much I loved it when I dipped my toes in this amazing Japanese tradition.
That elusive snow that I never get to see here in Lisbon, and that I love so much.
I am sailing
Leaves bring us texture, volume, pattern and repetition. Which, in a way, is a wonderful metaphor for the confidence that everything will be alright.
Leaves bring us texture, volume, pattern and repetition. Which, in a way, is a wonderful metaphor for the confidence that everything will be alright.
My horse in heaven. We’ve been telling ourselves our loved ones go to heaven when they die. It is a comforting image to have, to imagine my baby boy, who died with just a few hours of life outside the womb, to be like a horse, his chinese zodiac sign, riding the skies with his long mane in the wind. My little horse living his life in a parallel universe, being a brilliant, shiny presence to all of us who love him and miss him.
The crowds gather in Praia, Cape Verde. In Cape Verde, an archipelago off the Western African coast, life happens on the street, near the markets or after church. There is music, or a distant shout announcing the destination of a mini-van. “Tarrafal, Tarrafal, Tarrafal!” was the cry that roused my attention, the village in the northern part of the island of Santiago where my sister lived.
In Cape Verde, Africa, the line between city and countryside is very thin, when existent at all. There’s bits of city in the countryside, but it’s not uncommon to have the countryside just behind that house over there. Chicken and their chicks pecking the sand to find seeds come near your feet, and you may as well be careful, lest them confuse your toes with some yummy treat.
The musicians on stage. I can’t look at these musicians and not be reminded of the loud, delightful party they put on for us, the audience. They stormed the stage, they flooded the room with music, with dance, with laughter. It was hard to sit tight in the audience, when everything compelled us to stand and move, dance, never stopping. That is the power of music.
The upside of living in the tropics, part 1 (of when I lived in the Caribbean). Colours, not the warm weather!, are the upside of living in the tropics. Saturated reds on hibiscus petals contrast with the snow white on birds, with the loud pink on bougainvillea and the turquoise water. (Sorry to burst your bubble, warm weather. You have mosquitoes.)
Sailing in paradise
The jungle in the tropics is dense, humid, you can almost touch the air and feel it in your fingertips. Droplets of moisture condense on every surface and frogs and lizards hide in plain sight. It is a green so dense one may very soon lose his sense of orientation, because wherever you look you see a lush green like you never saw before.
The jungle in the tropics is dense, humid, you can almost touch the air and feel it in your fingertips. Droplets of moisture condense on every surface and frogs and lizards hide in plain sight. It is a green so dense one may very soon lose his sense of orientation, because wherever you look you see a lush green like you never saw before.
Fallen leaf. I wonder why every living being in the tropics is larger than elsewhere in the world. Take a bug, any bug. In the tropics? Bigger than the one back home. This leaf from a tree? Larger than its cousin from back home. Maybe it’s because they can be used as fans. Maybe it’s nature’s way of making the air a bit cooler.
The upside of not living in the tropics, part 1 (of when I moved to a higher latitude). Having four seasons (not the hotel) is the upside of living in higher latitudes. There’s the turning of leaves and deer grazing on the floor. There are snowflakes powdering the trees. There are fresh leaves on branches, every spring, and birds signing. There are hot, dry summers, and cool nights without air conditioning.
Skiing. Downhill skiing has been an acquired taste for me. I don’t ski like the wind, maybe only in my imagination. When I feel the wind, I freeze (in more than way). Skiing is a reminder that the most beautiful things, landscapes, feelings are the most dangerous, too, and maybe that’s not a coincidence. I suppose that loving to ski as much as I love to ski, today, is not a coincidence, either.
Happy Holidays! Gathering twigs and leaves to make an embroidered wreath was a delightful adventure. Come next holiday season, I know what I will hang on my doorway.
Oh, Spring! The first blooms are the most exciting time: the promise of life after winter, the exuberance, the irreverence. The first blooming flowers are like subversive students who contest winter’s monochrome landscape.
Fall is here. After having lived in the tropics, I appreciate the arrival of Fall even more than I used to. When the leaves start to turn, I turn inwards, too, knitting in hand. I love that it isn’t as hot anymore. I love the shorter days and longer nights, and the sips of hot tea and cinnamon cookies.
The more I look at leaves, the more inspired I am. Botanica, you lovely field of the sciences.
Try looking at this and not immediately sing “Joy to the World”.
Mixed
The view from here. I have lived in three continents but always come back to Lisbon, my hometown of choice. Although I was born here, I didn’t grow up in Lisbon. I grew up in Asia and only moved to Lisbon when I was 18 and getting into university. My love affair with Lisbon is a conscious one, not one by accident, by heritage, or just because I have always been here. Not at all. It’s a love story started as an adult, and enhanced with every year I lived abroad. We may part ways in the future, dear Lisbon, but you’ll always be my greatest love.
Fall! My first Fall season after living in the tropics was a very special one. I was delighted to see the leaves turning, the weather cooling down and days getting shorter. Fall means sipping tea and hot cocoa, knitting blankets and cowls, playing with colors and fibers and golden leaves.
Relocating is hard. When I think about relocating – which has happened every third year for us – I think about a snail slowly hauling his home and his life on his back. Relocating to a new country is hard! Uprooting everyone and everything is hard, and creating a new home and network takes a long time… about as long as to get moving again.
Moving to Lisbon, an awesome “azulejo” city. After having lived in Latin America for six years, we moved back to Lisbon in 2013. I was ecstatic to come back home and live in this city that I love. Everywhere I look there’s a little detail worth seeing, an azulejo tile, a pattern, the rows of houses painted pink, yellow, blue; the river shining like blue silver in the background. And the food? Yum.
Holiday Season in Chicago! Living in Panama had a huge bonus: traveling was easy and it was a lot cheaper to fly north rather than south. So north we flew! We visited several north American cities and Chicago conquered my heart immediately. And, astonishing enough, it was winter! We had beautiful blue skies and wonderful views over the lake, plus nice walks and good meals. Can’t wait to visit again, hopefully in the summer.
People watching: I won’t lie: I love watching people (and drawing people, too). I love catching little postures, movements, gestures. Here we were in Cape Verde, and people were gathered to watch a couple of dancers doing magic. Months later I discovered those dancers were shooting a music video, when I saw it online.
Panama National Day. Panama celebrates more than one independence, and all of them are during the month of November. Which means that this is a month full of celebrations: parades and fireworks, national symbols, dishes and songs. It’s hard to imagine how these men can wear their long sleeved, long legged uniforms in these conditions: the air is hot and humid, but national pride takes the best and everyone shows up to see the flag.
Looking down. Little-known fact: I learned to ski almost in my thirties and let’s just say not without its bumps. The first few times, I had nightmares I was falling off the mountain… until one instructor was kind enough to show me I could have fun with the little skills I had. And from then on I quickly improved. Today I love to ski but am dreaming of the day comfortable ski boots are invented.
Tropicalities: I have spent one third of my life living in the tropics, in different continents. The tropics have an amazing feature: the diversity of plant and animal life, plus all the colors I can’t even name. Reds are redder here than anywhere else and squinting becomes a necessity to spare your eyes from the intensity of light.
The view from up here: In Panama, we lived on the 49th floor. Thunderstorms didn’t happen above, they happened right there beside our windows. We felt so close to the clouds, we couldn’t help but be on the balcony to see the sunset, whenever possible, and almost touch pink, orange, yellow fluffs of cotton candy. It was quite the show.
At the beach on the Pacific. Come the weekend in Panama, we decided where we would like to go to the beach: on the Atlantic side, in the Caribbean sea? Or on the Pacifc side? The Caribbean and its turquoise waters, or the Pacific with the possibility of waves?
Sastrería Agrieta, Antigua Guatemala. One thing about Guatemala: the colors. Ok, two things: colors and the details. Antigua Guatemala feels like a movie, minus the “it’s made of cardboard” feeling. It’s old and you feel there are stories waiting to be heard in every corner. Its cobblestoned streets are as beautiful as can be, and a nightmare to walk on. Around Antigua volcanoes puff and hiss, daring you to feel safe. In the end, they can only contribute to the charm of this place, and you never want to leave.
Flowers in Guatemala. Some places get all the bad reputation, but once you are there you couldn’t be happier to discover that it’s not all true. There’s so much beauty in the people and their smiles, in textiles, in buildings, on flowers everywhere. There’s the perfect mountain food, all colors with its tomatoes and guacamole and yellow corn meal. It’s a feast for the senses.
Spot the differences I (SF edition). When I visited San Francisco, I felt at home. The landscape felt familiar; the constant ups and downs were familiar. Even the tram cars were familiar. And the Golden Gate? So, so familiar. No wonder I felt at home! (But, really, what’s with the fog?)
Spot the differences II (Lisbon edition). But there are some differences when it comes to our very similar bridges: ours have XX, not HH on its structure. Plus, you can only cover it on foot on the day of the Lisbon marathon. But it is the gateway to the south, to the sea, to the sun, and that’s what it means to me.
Sugary sand island. San Blás is an archipelago in the Atlantic side of Panama comprising more than 360 islands. Many say that you have an island for each day of the year. Some of them have nothing but sugary coral sand, a couple of palm trees and nothing more. The best way to visit is by boat, allowing plenty of time to enjoy doing absolutely nothing.
The wind on my face. Lying down on the boat, face up, I couldn’t help but imagine myself up there, taking the wind on my face, tangling my salt water hair. What a feeling it would be to see the way to go, with such clarity, before my eyes. Exhilarated, I would climb back down and, knowing what I then knew, face the unknown with confidence.
Cartaz do colóquio “O Lugar do Bairro”, edição de 2011, organizado pela UAL
Hi! Welcome to my website. My name is Ana Isabel Ramos and my passion is to tell stories, based in my hometown of Lisbon, Portugal. I tell stories with illustration, design and writing. My art is available for licensing, as prints or special editions. Here’s how to work with me.
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