Adelaide in the Meadow

One of my favourite memories of childhood summers is of being able to paint outside, creating art with no worries about repercussions due to the mess I might make. This portrait records one such special time for a different child on Brier Island in Nova Scotia. 

Adelaide sat in a lush meadow near a church built in 1850, painting as her mom and I chatted. At one point she paused, as all artists do, holding her brush aloft as she considered her next stroke. I chose to capture her at this pivotal moment. The one when the artist is about to create: the one where the artist is contemplating what will happen next, brush poised but not yet applied to the canvas. It seemed to me that nature held its breath to see what she would do next as day turned to night and before the charmed interval of childhood came to an end.