A Life's Mission

Margaux, Age 4, Oil on canvas

What a year 2020 has been! Despite the pandemic, my portrait commission schedule was a busy as ever as I continued to work with families in different parts of the country, helping them capture and celebrate their kids.

And after having a baby, I truly understand what that means and how important it is!

I’ve had the pleasure of working with the Viney’s for severals years. They’re college friends of my husband’s and live in Dallas. A few years ago, I painted their first child Robert at around 3 1/2 years old. A few years later it was time to paint Margaux’s portrait. I was amazed at how much she had changed since I last saw her.

She’s grown into a sweet and delicate child who loves “date nights” with her dad and being a sister to her two brothers. Her mom, Elizabeth, wanted portraits of her kids because they’re the most important things in her life. She wants to capture them at this special time.

It’s important to me to continue working with families to paint portraits of all their kids. That’s why I flew to Dallas just to spend time with Margaux and take her pictures myself.

I’m often asked if I work from photos, and the answer is yes, BUT only from photos I take. It’s crucial to my artistic process to be able to meet and spend time with the child, getting to know their personality. It’s from this interaction that I’m able to create the portrait using my photos.

Plus, it just makes the process so much better to spend time with these kids and their families. I want them to feel loved and special, so I take the time to make sure I get the best photos possible.

That’s why I do this work and love it! It’s all part of my mission to help kids feel loved and valued for who they are. I simply can’t do this as well if I haven’t met the child. It’s my lifelong mission and it gives my life meaning a purpose.

A Daughter is Remembered Through the Gift of Time

Emily and her daughter, Helen James

Emily lost her newborn daughter, Helen James, when she was 38 weeks pregnant. Although Emily’s pregnancy was normal, she noticed one night when Helen James wasn’t kicking like usual. She tried eating chocolate and drinking juice, but still nothing happened. Her husband Joel took her to the hospital where the doctors gave her an ultrasound, confirming the worst: Helen’s heart had stopped beating.

Emily delivered Helen through a c-section and was able to spend several days with her in the hospital through a Cuddle Cot, a device that cools and preserves the body for up to five days. A family donated it the previous year to the hospital.

Although Emily and her family had never heard of a Cuddle Cot, the device became a lifeline between her and her daughter by providing precious time they would not have had otherwise. Because of the Cuddle Cot, friends and family traveled from across the country to visit, hold, and meet Helen James.

Because of the gift the Cuddle Cot provided, Emily and Joel and thier friends started a fundraiser to purchase additional devices and replacement kits. In just two weeks time, they raised over $20,000 and have been able to donate six Cuddle Cots to hospitals in Memphis and Nashville.

“Our goal is to help build awareness around Cuddle Cots and the importance of them. Most grieving parents only get a few hours with their babies when they are born not living which is incredibly difficult,” says Emily.

Saint Thomas Midtown in Nashville, where Helen James was born, is receiving two Cuddle Cots. They hold a ceremony for each new piece of equipment they receive, and Emily and Joel have been invited to attend.

Each Cuddle Cot has an inscription dedicated to Helen.

Helen James, named after Emily’s vivacious, sports-loving grandmother, is cherished and missed every day by her parents. A verse that sums up Emily’s journey, found in Corinthians 13, describes love as unending. “Although Helen is not physically here with us,” Emily says, “the love we have for her has no end. It feels as strong as it did from the moment the Lord chose us to be her parents.”

If you’d like to make a contribution to a Cuddle Cot in Helen James’ honor, you can go to https://stthomas.ejoinme.org/cuddlecot

Charlie

Charlie Harris, Age 8, Memphis, TN

I met Claire and Cheyne Harris through one of my collectors. They commissioned me to paint their 8-year-old son, Charlie.

This was a really meaningful commission for Claire, because she'd recently lost her father. Having Charlie painted now was a special way of honoring her dad's legacy.

I thought Charlie was so cute when I met him. I took his pictures on a weirdly warm day over Christmas, and he told me about what he was asking for. It was mostly sports-related:)

He struck me as just a really sweet, good-natured boy. 

What was really cool about this commission was that I was on the news here in Waco, and I brought this portrait along. You can watch the segment here.

Charlie thought it was pretty cool he was on T.V.

Claire and Cheyne were fun and easy to work with, and I could tell how much they loved their son. It was as honor to

I asked Claire the greatest lesson that she's learned from motherhood, and she said, "Children are VERY smart and are always listening to you and watching you.  You will know this when your 8 year old tells you that he "has had a lot on his mind lately" 😂

"Therefore, you should live your life like you want your child to live his or hers. If you give them lots of love, time, and teach them humility they will internalize that and pass that down to their own families."

Amen to that!