Her Birthday

A snapshot of a little girl on her birthday became so important because she was later diagnosed with cancer and not expected to live. Through some kind of miracle she survived and is now a teenager with an incredible art talent. In this portrait inspired by a poor quality photo I wanted to try to find in her eyes that courage and strength of character that helped her meet and survive a life threatening challenge. This portrait was sold last month to a woman who saw that in her eyes and took inspiration from it for her own personal challenges. I don’t think I could have hoped for a better result from my art than that. This is all done in pastel, Blue Earth, Terry Ludwig, and some panpastel, on pastelmat paper.