Grandmother and Grand-daughter
Description
Late afternoon in the garden, my mother with Maia on her knee, happy together.
I chose to paint this because I like to record moments of contact and connection, of gentle and familiar intimacy. At the time of painting, my full attention is on observation. It is only afterwards, sometimes much later, that I perceive what I have seen.
My mother’s arms encircle Maia, both supporting and containing. She is clearly delighting in holding her granddaughter near, and already aware that such moments must be savoured. Even while holding her I sense she is already anticipating the end to the moment. There is a density to her presence that contrasts with the lightness of the twisting and laughing five-year-old in her arms.