Carefree

Oil paint on canvas board

Palette Knife, Brush

32” x 24”

June 2018

This painting depicts my younger brother sitting on a yoga ball at our house. At the time, he was 7 years old and I captured the moment when he was bouncing up and down, free of worries and burdens, giggling happily. This particular moment struck me quite profoundly because in that moment, I realized that his carefree demeanor wouldn't last long as he grew older and his responsibilities grew heavier. I wanted to imbue that kind of pure, innocent happiness into the painting to serve as a reminder that we should never let things way us down to heavily and to stay positive and optimistic. The background is painted using palette knife and this was my first time experimenting with this application method.