'Mum and me' for 'Motherhood' exhibition

When mum died she left me a hand-held projector and family transparencies which evoked memories of a happy ‘60s childhood. The colours, back-lit, seem almost to vibrate in glorious technicolor. Mum wears a full skirted Chanel New Look dress which banished the austerity of the post war years and a smile dad mentions in a poem about her: “that enthralling smile that lights your face”. She stays, in the present, with the viewer forever, where I can be seen in background seeking adventure.  

Painting from this reference photo helped supplant the last images I had of mum in hospital. My training in working from life helped me capture, in the face of someone I had observed over a lifetime, the varied expressions that denoted her character and personality.