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YOUNG GIRL WITH BABY

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Oil on Panel
24″ x 20″
Available

In the bustling heart of an Ethiopian village street, amid the swirl of daily life, my husband Brad captured a poignant moment: a young girl, perhaps no more than ten or twelve, standing quietly with her baby securely wrapped on her back in the traditional Ethiopian way—tied with a soft cloth, the little one’s wide eyes peeking out over her shoulder.

Surrounded by people yet somehow apart, she appeared lost and lonely in her own world— quietly carrying not just the child but the weight of early responsibility so common in rural Ethiopian families, where older siblings often help care for the youngest.

Moved by her expression—which showed a profound feeling of being lost and lonely—I reimagined the scene in a desert setting beneath a vast blue sky.

“Young Girl with Baby” is painted on untempered Masonite covered with fine Belgian linen and prepared with five coats of Renaissance Marble Gesso. It began with an underpainting in a blue-grey azuraccio  a ten-value palette.

Sealed with a protective oil medium and, after a full year of drying, finished with five coats of damar varnish, this piece is built to last centuries with proper care—away from direct sunlight.