Mother

Tuesday 27 January 2009 - Comments / Commentaires (2)

When I set out to paint an intimate portrait of my mother—one that would represent her as the icon she is in my life—I had no idea how difficult it would be to make it happen.

dog struggling to get out of a woman's lap

I wanted to refer to the Christian icon of the mother and child in the painting, and I wanted to show my Maman cradling her dog Roo.

dog struggling to get out of a woman's lap

My mother was game, but the dog was less so!

a Brittany and a woman

We ended up doing a handful of separate shoots over several months in order to get Roo used to the idea. In this early photo session, he was staying far away from Maman so she wouldn’t be able to pick him up again!

a Brittany and a woman

My mother was trying to coax him closer with little treats.

dog sitting in a woman's lap, barking

All of which is funny because this fifty pound Brittany is not actually averse to being a lap dog! It’s more that he doesn’t love being held like a baby.

a Brittany and a woman

This is the beginning of the last photo shoot. By now, Roo knew the routine: he knew there were some serious treats involved in this nutty thing that his humans wanted him to do!

dog cradled in a woman's arms

He wasn’t exactly thrilled about the process, but he had resigned himself to it.

Brittany cradled in a woman's arms

Here, my mama was trying to get Roo to perk up a little. She was asking him if he’d seen a cat.

dog cradled in a woman's arms

By this point, Roo was done with the shoot. He was so done that his pose bears an uncanny resemblance to a lot of early Renaissance images of the mother and child where Jesus’ body is portrayed as limp, foreshadowing his eventual death.

Brittany cradled in a woman's arms

Finally, after taking over a thousand photos, I had my primary source image!

Leonardo's Madonna Of The Rocks (Louvre)

Leonardo Da Vinci’s Madonna Of The Rocks (Louvre) 1483-1486

For the background of the painting of my mother and her dog, I knew I wanted to refer to some of the most famous images of Mary, including this one by Leonardo. It’s one of the most over-interpreted images in the history of art history, and I wanted a crack at making my own Madonna Of The Rocks, one without all the psychoanalysis!

the painting of a dog cradled in a woman's arms, phase 1

photo by David

I set my painting at the coast since my Maman has always loved the ocean and especially tide pools.

painting a portrait of a dog cradled in a woman's arms, phase 2

Also, the beach seemed an apt setting.

the painting of a dog cradled in a woman's arms, phase 3

To me, the coast smells of beginnings—the beginning of land and the beginning of life on Earth.

the process of painting a portrait, phase 4

Besides, the word for “sea” in French is “mer,” and “mer” sounds very like the French word for “mother.”

Titian's Virgin And Child

Titian’s Virgin And Child (Gypsy Madonna) 1510-1512

I love the composition of this version of Mary and Jesus.

the painting of a dog cradled in a woman's arms, phase 5

I wanted fabric in my painting too.

the process of painting a portrait, phase 6

The fabric store is to my Maman as the art supply store is to me. I blame my mother’s mad seamstress skills for my inability to stitch straight: why should I bother to learn it properly when my mama has it covered?

the painting of a dog cradled in a woman's arms, phase 7

I wanted to reproduce the feel of Titian’s painting while adding personal touches, including the print on the fabric. I borrowed the pattern from one of my mother’s maternity dresses—a dress that she later turned into a skirt for me!

painting a portrait of a dog cradled in a woman's arms, phase 8

I worked at the folds and at the print’s many little elephants, redrawing the former again and again and hand-drawing every last one of the latter!

the painting of a dog cradled in a woman's arms, phase 9

Fussing…

process of painting a portrait in acrylic, phase 10

...and re-fussing.

the painting of a dog cradled in a woman's arms, phase 11

I had thought that the photo shoot for this painting was complicated, but, clearly, the real challenges weren’t half over!

process of painting a portrait in acrylic, phase 12

Eventually, I returned to the drawing board…

Giovanni Bellini Madonna With Trees

Giovanni Bellini Madonna With Trees 1487

...and rediscovered Bellini’s version of the mother and child.

the painting of a dog cradled in a woman's arms, phase 13

I loved how it opened up the right side of the painting to the seascape.

the painting of a dog cradled in a woman's arms, phase 14

A few hiccups remained on the the path to completing this painting. I was still unsure of the colors I wanted to use in the fabric.

the acrylic painting of a dog cradled in a woman's arms, phase 15

Then I finally hit on the right direction…

carved latex stamp of an elephant

...by following a suggestion my Maman had made months before. She had recommended that I carve a latex stamp of maternity dress’s patterning. Mothers are always right!

process of painting a portrait in acrylic, phase 17