This commissioned portrait took a month of mental prep before the month of painting. It takes time to take on the emotions of what I am painting and in this case feel what the mother in the portrait is feeling - much like an actor must do to prep for a role. I’m not a mother, but to convey those feelings of motherly bliss, passion, fierce love, ethereal joy - to express the love that makes a mother do anything to protect her child; to express the light-headedness of holding in her hands a fragile, strong, beautiful creature that her body nurtured for months - this deep love as vast as the ocean - all of these emotions I must take on to a degree so I can perform them on the canvas.

I had to begin this painting in the right headspace, so I threw onto the canvas a layer of deep, passionate, rose-colored red with a dash of magenta and purple for flavor. This passionate under-paint became the foundation for the rest of the painting. From there I created a gold, silver, white and lavender heavenly background. Small crushed mica flakes were layered in to give the painting a deep shine.

From there I outlined the proportions of the woman and child. I painted her in a black dress via her request - a dress that sings of passion, strength, and nurture. Creating the silky texture of the dress was a particularly fun part for me. I spent the last 25% of the process capturing the unique facial features of the woman and child. The faces are the beauty and the central part of this painting. It was very important to me to get the expressions right - communicating a restful, blissful state of being while simultaneously showing strength and fierce love.

The finished painting sings with soulful delight and feminine strength. When you commission a painting with me you are not signing up to receive a pretty picture. You are getting passion drawn from the well of deep experience. It is not decor and it is not a hobby. It is mathematics, it is proportions, it is design and it is science - all expressed in a passionate performance put to canvas - in other words, it is art.