Image of the Week: Father & Child
© Durga Yael Bernhard
Here's a linoleum block print I did a long time ago, when my first child was just a year old. What a delight he was! Every morning his father would hold him up high to see out the window over a cluster of forsythia bushes. Together they would say hello to the new day. The body language between them was distinctly different from my own way of holding our son. I didn't have the upper body strength to hold him so high, and I noticed my husband often held onto Jonah's leg in order to steady him. Ever watchful, I was grateful for that firm grip. One day I captured this pose as Jonah reached up to explore the stubble on his father's chin. Our bodies were like landscapes our children loved to explore – and sometimes pinch with tiny fingers in a way that startled me, once so much that I caused Jonah to burst into tears! The concept of cause and effect was just beginning to take hold in his infant brain.
Knowing how quickly this precious time would pass, I endeavored to capture the unique interaction of father and son in this image. In fact, I aspired to create a whole series of father-and-child art, as the world is full of paintings of mothers and children – but relatively few of fathers. In these times when stay-at-home dads are increasingly common, it seems like a worthy subject. How unique is the father-and-child relationship, and how wonderful when it's a positive one, whether a biological father, a stepfather, a caring uncle, or even just a father figure who steps into a youngster's life as a saving grace.
Alas, I was only able to create a handful of father-and-child images before my work and responsibilities as a mother – including the birth of our second child – swallowed up my free time. I wish I could have done more! I could still do it, of course . . . but there's something special about art that emerges organically from a time in one's life as it unfolds.
The solid shapes carved from this linoleum block seemed to match the subject matter, enabling me to convey a sense of physical interaction through bold silhouettes. The print was created by rolling black ink over the surface of the block that was not carved away, and then passing it through my small cast iron tabletop press. To contrast the flat black, I tinted the background by hand with transparent color after the print dried.
Happy Fathers Day to all my readers who are dads, stepdads, uncles, and grandads!
A good week to all –