A few weeks ago my mother was talking about how she always regretted not having professional pictures taken when I got married (she seems to have forgotten that we did not have those pictures made because I did not to). She was telling me how she wanted to get an artist to paint an oil from a photograph of me she took. I told her if she wanted to do that kind of thing that I’d rather she wait until we could do a portrait of Little Girl and Number Two, and plus I thought it was too expensive anyway. But since it was something she wanted for herself, I told her to do it if she wanted.
Today she emailed me the study from the painter and wanted comments to pass along before he does the real thing. She also told me the portrait is actually for me to own. It’s very nicely done, beautiful. But I don’t quite know. I think the lips are off in shape (I’m not so cupidy), and is it just me, or did he give me a huge breast reduction? I suspect instructions from my mother to that end (I get my breasts from my dad’s side of the family and they’re not quite to her taste). What do you think?
While I’m posting pictures of myself, here I am at, uh, 10 weeks? (It’s hard for me to keep track because of the ongoing due date disagreement).
And Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Little Girl! Too cute.
17 March 2009 at 9:06 pm
It is beautiful Eva.
17 March 2009 at 9:17 pm
Yeah, breast reduction or at least ambiguity. Having a portrait painted of me would weird me out. But you do look lovely – in both photo & painting.
17 March 2009 at 10:32 pm
I think the portrait is just wonderful and shows a very talented artist.
When you have years in front of you, you might look at it differently.
17 March 2009 at 10:33 pm
The picture of little girl is so gorgeous. What a sweetie. The portrait is well done, but in my opinion it has the flaw that many of these types of portraits do — it generally might capture what you look like, but it fails to capture the essence of you. There is so much more life in the 2 real photos of you than in the portrait. But that’s just me. Once in grad school a friend’s partner gave me an oil painting he did of me for my birthday, and that really freaked me out.
18 March 2009 at 2:15 am
Lordy, compared to mine I can hardly see your bump, its cute that’s for sure ;)
I quite like the portrait. Take it from me as an artist, portraits are notoriously hard to do, beleive me they are so be kind to the poor artist, its really quite good and portraits should always be a representation of the person, their personality and not an exact photographic representation.
x
18 March 2009 at 2:18 am
Oh and the breasts, its because she hasn’t finished the detailing, that’s why it looks flat ;)
oh and delete my first comment please, I pressed return by accident before finishing my comment, doh!
18 March 2009 at 8:13 am
My Dad said, when I emailed him and asked if it looked like I do:
it does, if you wore lipstick and pearls and were 6 feet tall. it is a lovely image, and it is immediately, definitely, recognizably you. it is a tiny bit romanticized…..or a little stately in a Russian princess kind of portrait way, none of your irony or earthy chutzpah, On the other hand, it gets the entire and genuine beauty of you,….if you are to get only one portrait and this is the time, it is a wonderful image to know and remember you by.
if not exactly chutzpah, it does get the courage and the native grace.
you really are a lovely woman, in and out
18 March 2009 at 6:14 pm
Wow, I didn’t realize at first glance that one was a painting…Thought they were both photos. It’s quite lovely.
18 March 2009 at 9:05 pm
Now we know where you get your writing style from.
19 March 2009 at 8:10 am
The photo is more you (just from knowing you IRL). But the portrait is beautiful. I wouldn’t mind being remembered like that- just slightly romanticised. And how very Scarlett O’Hara of you to have a portrait for your posterity…
20 March 2009 at 1:18 am
you know my grandmother had a portrait done of her when she was 16 and it is now one of our families most prized possessions. I think your children would love it in the future. Also sometimes when we think of our mothers we forget we are their little girls. You are her only little girl, humor your mother, but tell her to do your boobs justice and the lips are off.
20 March 2009 at 2:40 pm
I think the portrait is beautiful!
23 March 2009 at 2:05 pm
I think it’s beautiful and that the breast reduction is just a matter of not being detailed at the bottom.