First Edition        Framed

11x14………...……… $60.00          $+40.00

(8x10's are not part of limited series, but are individually signed.)
8x10……………...….. $30.00          $+20.00

 

This woman is from a series of photorgraphs from the 1930's. She was the perfect subject for what I am trying to express in this piece. 

 

I was trying to show an expression that looks like a mother who has seen plenty of hard times and is tired, but at the same time has a look of strength that lets you know she will weather any storm. A victorious warrior, in a way, but not a warrior by choice… if that makes sense. One way I tried to accomplish the expression was to give her eyes each a different look. The left eye looks weary, while the one on the right shows the strength. This helped me to give the face the combination of expression I was trying to convey.

 

The child by contrast has a young innocence and is leaning on the mother; this is why the mother is strong… for those who depend on her. The little child is holding up a pole. This is a tent pole and it is as if the child draws his/her strength from the mother to weather his/her own storms eventually as well. And there is the infant who is sleeping… what better symbol of one who is helpless feeling safety, trust, and security. I wanted to put all that in a picture.

 

This is the strength I admire in mothers. My own mother died of cancer when I was 16. Now my own wife raises her children with a disabled husband. I made this piece primarily with my wife in mind. With the illness that I suffer her life has changed 100% from the life we once had together, and I am a much different person than the active man I used to be. I see in her this type of strength and I appreciate the loyalty and dedication that she and many mothers have to their families and children.