Laura is my oldest daughter. Her unswerving determination led me to select this facet of her expression. Often mistaken for her mother, the two of them appear as twins walking together. Laura at one year of age appears in another painting in this gallery entitled “A Mother's Touch.”
The setting for Laura’s portrait is Piers Gorge on the Menominee River, which divides Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from Wisconsin. This always roaring and turbulent river provides an exciting background. In the morning hours, the water appears lighter than in the late afternoon, when its deep copper brown tones express a different mood. White water rafters return to wrestle its wild rapids season after season.
The peaceful pose of Laura, as a pair of white-tailed deer look on, forms an interesting contrast to the raging river. Again I include a bit of intended symbolism, although my nose is not nearly as black as the buck’s. I have observed a doe in exactly that pose just outside our bedroom window as she prepared to bring a fawn into the world.
The spring crocuses of white, lavender, and purple break through the dried leaves left over from the fall. Laura’s pristine mint-colored dress seems inappropriate for the rustic venue, but her selection expresses who Laura is. This painting is another three-year project because all of the details had to be accurate and authentic to appear natural.
