Image of the Week: Father & Daughter
© D. Yael Bernhard
In honor of Father's Day, here's a painting I did when my older daughter was a baby. Like all children that age, she was irresistible, soft as a noodle, and just as flexible. Babies love to be lifted in the air and gently tossed around. They thrive on the changes of angle and full-body stimulation reminiscent of life in the womb. They giggle and bounce, trusting the adult arms that hold them to be steady and secure as a jungle gym.
Once again, the dynamic here is a visual dichotomy. While baby boys and girls are equally pliant and carefree, the girl-child is already associated with flowers and pretty things by her caregivers. Even at this tender age, she is already becoming a product of her culture. Her feminine energy will uncoil in relation to the strong foundation of her father's masculine nature. The two opposites engage and accentuate each other. At the same time, father and daughter also bear a resemblance, for they are blood kin. This tension between difference and similarity, masculine and feminine, adult and child, large and small, became the subject of this painting.
Also in my consciousness were the stories of a close friend who, if my memory serves, was facing the end of her father's life at the time. Her descriptions of her father, with his big-hearted, strongly-principled character, and the powerful effect he had upon her as a child, made an impression on me. I never met the man before he died, but felt a great soul had passed. I could sense this father's attributes shining through his daughter. Eventually she bought the painting, as it evidently resonated with her experience.
The painting is also influenced by African masks, which provided oceans of inspiration for my young artist's mind. The restricted palette of colors is one of my favorites – lavender, clay, plum, and slate blue – delicious. And the white outlines! I look back on that phase of my work with nostalgia, sometimes wishing I could paint like that again. Mysteriously, my images these days rarely, if ever, allow me to use that technique. What can I say? Like little children, paintings have a mind of their own, sometimes taking a completely different direction from what the artist has in mind. Like reluctant parents, artists need to let go, lest they suffocate their own creation.
Happy Father's Day to all my readers who are dads of little children or big children, daughters or sons. For the fatherly love in your heart and all that you give, the world recognizes and appreciates you – even if your kids fail to do so in a timely manner.
This image is available as a poster or greeting card. See links below if you're interested.
A good week to all!