Just dropped Jordan and Josephine off at the Airport. Ten days of working with these two, photographing and sketching these for future works. Jordan is a great mother, instilling values and good manners into this little person discovering the world. Mary Kay, one of my students, stopped in to help out with Josephine, a very energetic two year old.
Most of what I observed cannot be portrayed with paints and canvas. The "pleases and thank you's " were everywhere. Little hands getting into everything. Questions and having things pointed out. Josephine is my first experience with a two year old. I would love to do some life paintings of her, but so far I have only been able to paint her sleeping or feeding herself. Last visit I got some quick studies of Jordan breastfeeding Josephine. I was very much surprised at how much I captured with those two studies.
Seeing Jordan raising this little person I see how much a mother is responsible for. I kept thinking of my own mother raising the five of us in our family. Kim is another of my models who has raised a very well mannered young man. I think all my models have become great mothers. I wish I could have been more involved with their kids. Jordan has continued to share Josephine with me even when the two are back home in Seattle.
Before Jordan and Josephine arrived the other day I set up a still-life on a coffee table to see how Josephine would react to this scene in my studio. Shot tons of pictures as she timidly began checking out the cantaloupe and the orange, which mom peeled for her. I had a jewelry box full of keys, earrings, marbles and all kinds of trinkets. She loved eating the orange segments while pulling things out of the jewelry box. I sketched out possible ideas from what I could envision. I prefer to try sketching from memory first before going to the photos. Might take a month before I'm ready to try a painting of this scene...
