Henry

I recently did this portrait of Henry. His mom Elizabeth and her family had just moved to Memphis, and she heard about my work through her realtor, Meredith McDonald. 

Henry is a lively, rambunctious three-year old. I love this portrait of him because it really captures his spirit. 

I get to know all the kids I paint, because I want to capture what makes them unique. And they all have unique personalities, even at young ages. 

As one of my clients puts it, kids have magic in them!

Elizabeth called me a few week ago to tell me how much she loves the portrait. 

She also said Henry had changed so much since I then. And that she was so happy to have him captured at that age.

Time flies, doesn't it?

Charlie and Emmie

Charlie Grant, Age 3, Oil on canvas

Emmie Grant, Age 1, Oil on canvas

Last week I finished two commissions of brother and sister, Charlie and Emmie. Their mom, Annie, saw my work on the Dallas blog, Do Say Give. (It's fabulous, you should check it out!)
 

Annie and her fam were living in California at the time, planning to move to Dallas.
 

So we made plans to meet up once she got to Texas.
 

During our consultation, Annie said she really wanted to capture this time in her kids' lives, and the way they look at this age. And it's true, most moms tell me they are amazed at how quickly their kids features change. 

Annie was a delight to work with, and I loved getting to know her kids.
 

Charlie is spunky and energetic. He loves attention, Annie says. What really caught my attention about him were his big blue eyes, which I made a feature of the portrait. 
 

Emmie is small and delicate, like a doll. She was actually sick the first time I took her pictures, so I didn't get a true sense of her personality. When I came back for a second round, I saw that she was such a happy, sweet child. He parents have this joke that she looks like an old lady, which is kind of true!
 

When Annie saw the portraits, she loved them! She said I captured her kids perfectly, which is always great to hear.
 

That's what my work is all about – capturing the personalities of kids so they feel loved and valued for who they are:)

Are we raising a generation of jerks?

Dr. Deborah Gilboa, pediatrician and child development expert, says household chores have more to do with the character of your kids than you might think.

She says parents today tend to focus more on what their kids are achieving than who they're becoming. In her talks with successful Silicon Valley parents, she found that most of them had chores growing up, but very few gave their own kids chores.

Why?

Because their kids had such enormous work loads with school, sports, and other activities, they didn't want to add any more "to dos" to their lists. 

But this can hurt our kids, Deborah says, because it send the message that achievement takes priority over character. 

And chores like taking out the garbage teach kids responsibility and the importance of contribution. Which, in turn, makes them happy. You can watch her TED here.

Parents, do you agree? How do you teach your kids that who they are is more important than what they achieve?

Please share below!

Kathryn

Kathryn Bragg, Age 12, Charcoal 

Kathryn's mom, Laurence, wanted to commission a portrait of her daughter because she's at a special time in her life. I met Laurence last year at a Christmas party thrown by her mom in Houston. 

Kathryn is twelve, a young lady on the brink of womanhood.

My first impression of her was that she looked like a Botticelli painting with her classical features. We took the pictures at her grandmother's house in Houston, and there were so many good ones it was hard to choose! 

Kathryn is soft-spoken and intelligent. Laurence says she's not your typical twelve year old – she's creative and inquisitive, and loves to read. 

Me, Kathryn, and her portrait

Laurence has watched her grow and change over the years, and says one thing she's learned is to take motherhood one day at a time and enjoy it because the time flies.

That's something I hear from moms all the time. Kids grow up quickly! You have to savor each moment. 

I asked her what her best piece of advice is for a new mom, and she said, "Start praying now for them to be who the Lord has called them and designed them to be. He has already designed them! You just pray into it and He will lead you about what to pray for them."

Love that!

Moms, how do you see your kids growing and changing? Please leave a comment below!

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!