The Pink Apron

Revisiting a painting from years ago

Some years ago, while in Canada, I was looking for opportunities to balance time with my children with time to paint. One of those opportunities became the little painting I eventually called The Pink Apron.

On this particular outing, I took my two older children for a walk in a favorite countryside area by a picturesque stream. My youngest was still a baby, so she stayed behind—although she would find her way into paintings of her own in later years.

We packed a small picnic, along with some costume clothes for the kids. I brought my old French easel and oil paints. It was a gray-sky day, which gave me the soft, even light I wanted for working from life.

There was certainly some effort involved in getting everything together—the children, picnic, costumes, easel and painting gear—but working directly from life has always been important to me, and looking back, the trouble was well worth it.

I believe we made about three of these little painting outings over a period of ten days or so. During another session, we worked near an apple tree that was bearing fruit. The children posed and ate some of the apples while I painted.

The Pink Apron began during one of those outings as a fairly simple oil sketch. I did a few other sketches and took a lot of pictures. Eventually this sketch was put away, and for years I didn't give it much thought.

Recently, I pulled it out again and saw something in it that I still liked—or maybe it was the memories that stirred me. I decided to work back into it, adding some fresh color while trying to preserve the character of the original sketch.

There is a bittersweet part to the story. I made several paintings during that time in Canada and took many photographs. This was back in the days when photographs were stored on disks, and the disk eventually became corrupted. Most of those photographs were lost. A couple of the paintings were sold as well, so what remains from that time are a few small studies, including this one, and a couple of printed photographs.

The children, of course, are grown now. Looking at the painting brings back the memory of a very ordinary day together—a picnic by a stream, some dress-up clothes, an easel, and a father finding a way to spend time painting and time with his children at the same time.

The Pink Apron
12 × 16 inches
Oil on board

Currently on view and available through the Eastern Shore Art Center in Fairhope, Alabama.