Beauty beyond Elsa

My daughter was REALLY into Frozen. Elsa was everywhere. So, when I started painting faces, I had three we put up in my daughter’s room. One white, one black and one girl who was a combination of both. My goal was simply to reflect that beauty was in all three. My daughter used to ask me - ‘will I have your hair when I grow up?’ The kids at school have asked me - ‘why do you have white skin and she has brown skin?’ Or we have also heard- ‘that can’t be your mom.’ Well - here I am, and here she is. Our lives forever bonded. I have learned so much from having her in my life.

The door has opened for me to experience life with expanded perspective. I am thankful that she teaches me every-day and I hope that as a mom I don’t fail her. I hope that I instill enough love, compassion, kindness, confidence and as much self love as possible. May she love her brown tones and know that there is an abundance of beauty that radiates from her being, whether society decides to honor that beauty in the same light or not.

As I continue to paint, I had to reflect back on my drive to paint women of all shades, and many of darker shades. Deep down I hope my daughter gets the message - there is just so much beauty in her brown skin….