THE BELIEVER
53 x 39cm, Caran D'ache Luminance pencils, black Stonehenge, 163 hours, Prometeus Photography with permission

Have you ever put your trust or confidence in someone or something and there just wasn’t any proof that you should? Ever been persuaded to feel differently?    Did you witness something which you considered to be proof of a different outcome, which challenges what you previously thought?   Have you ever assumed blindly?  Do you reject anything other than what you think because it is a perceived opposite?  You may just be a believer. 
Throughout time, beliefs have changed the course of history.  For example;  God?  No proof.   Yet some believe, because they just know, they feel that God exists.  People?  There may be evidence that a person is so lovely in one situation, yet what you don’t know is the whole truth about them- they are the exact opposite in another, but you believe, without knowing everything, that they are kind and generous, and play into their story and become their puppet.  Beliefs can put us in danger, and can also remove us from harm, and they do this best when they can be challenged, reframed and unassured.  Persuasion is the key to belief, and that in itself is confronting to any believer. Truth, for example, can be very persuasive.   However, if it has been true, there is no guarantee that is always will be true.  We assume it will be.  We still believe.
Even what I am writing is a belief.  Is it true?
Experience is the only true method of change.  Not Authority- Only Experts.  Not generalisation, but reflection.  Not blind acceptance but confidence and curiosity. 
This drawing is about a believer.  He has fought for his beliefs.  He has walked for weeks without food and water for his beliefs.  He died for his beliefs.  Perhaps he knew something we didn’t.  Perhaps we believe that he did.   Perhaps not.  It all comes back to the source of the belief.
What do you believe?  And Why……?

Little Lucinda is one of two daughters that Karen Scott and Chris D'Rozario have, and after stumbling across a beautiful photo on their Facebook page, I just couldn't resist but paint it! Gratefully, they obliged, and the result has been enjoyed by all.   Such a  pleasure painting again, number one, but having your subject there to view, talk with and watch every day made it so much easier......a beautiful little 3 year old, full of beans, and also so excited about being painted.  Inspiration is everywhere, but sometimes, it's right in front of you! 

Big Dreams Little Girl- 51 x 41cm, oils, canvas, 93 hours, reference photo gratefully supplied by Karen and Chris Scott.
How difficult it is to be a little girl. For a three year old, so much is not understood about a woman’s world, and yet, the dream of becoming one grows day by day. The world saturates the minds of little girls’ everyday with images of beauty and fashion. Daring places where women glide and glow, giggle and indulge; a paradox of tiaras and wishing wands, jewels and stiletto’s, lipstick and glitter, perfume and barbie dolls. Every little girl plays with her mother’s clothes and pretends to be a little lady. Lucinda is no exception, but the frustration of only being three shows on her baby face- how much she longs to be like her mother. In time she will become the woman of whom she dreams, but for now, she has to be the little one. This image was such a wonderful expression of the longing of a little girl in a woman’s world!