Passing moments

Lisa Ober · 06-13-2005, 05:00 AM

Hi all! This is a small study I started last night of my daughter with her little bear friend. I can't help but think that at 7 I will not be seeing scenes like this for much longer. WIth slumber parties creeping in and phone calls to friends already, I think I'm on borrowed time for the sweet little moments.

Smaller than anything I have ever done, this one is an oil on Pastelbord (yes, really) 11 X 14 which forced me to rely on the color to show the details for the most part though I was compelled to put in a few stray hairs.

I do think these photos are ever so slightly warmer than the painting and of course the paint is still wet so I apologize for the little areas of glare.

Thank you for looking. By next year I will be complaining that these days are gone. I'm already on the verge of tears.

Mike McCarty · 06-13-2005, 08:45 AM

Lisa,

Whatever you do don't snap your fingers three times. In the time it takes to get to the third snap she will be off to college. If you could freeze them in time this would be a good age.

Wonderful painting.

Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco · 06-13-2005, 08:47 AM

Lisa, it is terribly sad that they grow up so quickly, but at least these paintings will remind us not only of how they looked, but also all the emotion and love we had for them while painting.
My children are sitting for me now, and I keep telling them(in between their moanings and -is it finished yet) that these moments are for me a dream come true.
I think that this picture screams love and intimacy and possession.
Well done to you, it shows you must have enjoyed painting it
Ilaria

Lisa Ober · 06-13-2005, 08:56 AM

Ah, Mike, you are so right. Last time I snapped my fingers she went from a pacifier to a clock radio. I do think this would be a good age for a freezing. I'd catch her before the boys bring her to tears but after the potty training.

Ilaria, I have heard the "can I stop standing here now" questions too. I wish I could answer, "no, stay there forever." I did enjoy this painting in a bittersweet way...the way I feel every time I paint one of my kids.

Thanks to you both for your kind comments on the painting and for your sensitive responses which make me feel less like a little less of a wimp.

Off to drive my subject to camp. Nah, I am definitely a wimp.

Allan Rahbek · 06-13-2005, 08:59 AM

Lisa,
How true about the kids growing up too fast. I

Linda Brandon · 06-13-2005, 09:31 AM

Lisa, there is a lovely radiance to this piece, and wonderfully rendered textures, too. (How can you work so small! I would go insane.) Congratulations on another beautful pastel.

Isabel Chiang · 06-13-2005, 09:55 AM

Sorry, I don't know anything about children ( as I don't have any ) BUT I do know this is one hell of a great portrait!

Beautiful work, Lisa! I love everything about it.

Richard Monro · 06-13-2005, 10:46 AM

Lisa,
You are blessed with a beautiful child and now with a treasured memory of that never to be repeated moment in time. The painting is captivating. I only did one painting of each of my children as they were growing up. I wish now I had done one a year.

David Draime · 06-13-2005, 11:01 AM

Beautiful.

-David

Chris Saper · 06-13-2005, 11:30 AM

Dear Lisa,

Very successful! And beautifully handled

hands.