SISTER LOVE

A recent commission…hard to call this ‘work’…I loved every second of this painting.

Oil on smooth panel board 12” x 12”

When I draw something, or someone, it feels like I am not only looking at them- but really ‘seeing’ them…

There is a beautiful way of greeting another person used in Zulu…

”Sawubona” …”I see you”.…(and by seeing you I bring you into being)

The appropriate response “Sikhona” - “I am here”.

As I drew out the reference image, I began to appreciate the small things: things that I hadn’t noticed at the start….the way the scallop shapes in the paving were mimiced in the arc of their arms, the movement in the folds of fabric of their dresses, the highlights in their hair, the glow of sunlight on their arms, the beautiful profiles of their faces, the curve of their necklines and the look that passes between them even though you can’t see their eyes.

It was quite an emotional painting for me and they are not even my kids! It felt like I was not painting figures, but the bond between sisters. So this one is for anyone out there who is lucky enough to have a sister x