Diana Shaul Fine Art

Story: I watch you as you play, and I know that this is the way I want you to be always – not this age, of course, but happy in your own skin and unselfconscious and free to be yourself. Already I can tell that you will turn into a beautiful woman one day. I say this not as one who sees you through eyes filled with love (though I am guilty of that), but dispassionately, objectively. Others don't notice it yet, but I look more closely than them, and I can see how one day, not long from now, you will grow into that wild hair that escapes my every attempt at a ponytail and those wide eyes that look as if they take in the whole world. And it scares me.

Beauty is a hard taskmaster, and I don't want its demands to weigh you down, to encumber you, to restrict you. So it is my promise to you that every day I will show you how much I cherish those things about you that matter the most: your imagination and your creativity; your intelligence and your quick wit; your kind heart and your gentle soul. And when one day you look in the mirror and you see a beautiful swan before you, that will not suddenly become your definition of yourself, but merely a small part of you, and not an important part. You will turn away from your reflection, and with your back to beauty, you will embrace the great adventure of life.

Media: Acrylic and mixed media

Surface: Box canvas

Size: 16.14" x 20.08" x 0.59" (depth); 41cm x 51cm x 1.5cm (depth)