Sometimes I see something that I know that I just have to paint. I really do not know why but it just grabs my heart. I knew I had to capture the beauty of the day that I met Morshida and spread it onto a canvas. I had to create a hyperrealism painting full of beauty but mixed with an almost abstract dream state.
I met Morshida and her daughter in 2022 in Madariparar which is a remote and isolated island in Northern Bangladesh. I was struck by the beauty of the island. As I disembarked the small wooden boat, I was greeted by many smiling faces as the sound of laughter and birds singing filled the air. The island was suffering with the constant threat of floods and the people of the island were continuously having to move because of the growing consequences of climate change.
I will never forget Morshida as I sensed real resilience, defiance and hope as she and her family stood up to the constant fear of flooding. I will also never forget the tight bond of the family unit on these islands as everyone looked after each other. There was so much love and hope on this tiny island. I wanted to create a painting in a realism style that showed the beauty and defiance of Morshida as she protected her daughter who hid behind her, I wanted to show the natural beauty of the animals who were also victims of climate change and who filled this island with colour, yet I wanted to show a background of the threat of the rising sea level as the children ran to safety and the dark crows started to arrive.
I created the painting by firstly priming the canvas in a deep red and then using large brushes with broad sweeping motions to produce the composition. I played with the colours numerous times until I was happy with the background and then I created the foreground using medium sized brushes to get the size and lighting correct and finishing with tiny brushes to create the detail. I hope that when you view this work you can see the beauty of our beautiful earth and at the same time also feel its vulnerability.
“Mother and Daughter won the American Contemporary Art Award in 2024”








