Tuesday, March 15, 2011

A Mother's Love

A dear friend commissioned this piece as a birthday gift for her very talented college aged son.

She described how she was travelling along the country side in Northern California during one of the many summer heat spells. She saw out in the field a cow out in the dry shadeless field. As she looked closer, she saw what looked like a very young calf in this cow's shadow.

She thought this mother was doing her very best to protect her young baby from the relentless environment and how she could relate to how she felt about her son leaving for college and being on his own. My friend wanted to let her only son know that she too wants to always protect him from all that could harm him but she knows she could only do her very best and the rest to up to Destiny. I was honored that she would trust me to convey such a tender and loving thought.

This is 6x8 oil on canvas board.

11 comments:

suzanneberry said...

a beautiful sentiment and an extraordinary painting sheila! you've been to the crossroads! your work is incredibly accomplished. love this.

martinealison said...

Cette peinture est vraiment belle... belle de par votre travail et belle pour la beauté de la nature.
Lorsque j'étais enfant, j'ai eu la chance de voir naître un petit veau.
J'étais très émue et lorsque je ferme les yeux je revois la scène...
C'était merveilleux...
Bisous

Pam Holnback said...

A great job of conveying the thought!!

Anonymous said...

so beautiful...so beautiful. Thanks for sharing Sheila...and you created a piece of art, with a story, that will last for generations to come.

Art with Liz said...

What a special painting Sheila. A very lucky friend to receive this!

(Hope the cow was alright in that heat!)

-Don said...

I have been around cows all my life and have even seen scenes like this before. But, I have never thought of them in the way your friend did. What a wonderful observation. You have captured her concept beautifully! Great job, Sheila.

-Don

Autumn Leaves said...

What a beautiful painting, Sheila. I love how your words spoke of the feelings of most of us moms out there, how your hands painted those emotions.

Dana Cooper said...

I agree with all that has been said here Sheila. When a beautiful painting conveys this kind of feeling it's a winner on all levels...congratulations!

Diane Hoeptner said...

It's beautiful and you captured some very subtle values shifts there! I bet your friend was thrilled.

Edward Burton said...

This is wonderful, Sheila - such a sweet painting and thought.

Candy said...

Sheila, I love this! It's so sweet. Animals are pure love. My word verification is logropig. Hmmm...