The Mermaid Sisters

In honour of the beautiful chaos that is fatherhood. 
(And the bad arse daughters that my brother is raising.)

When January rolled by, I got it into my head that I needed to flex my imagination. It's one thing to recreate the photo in front of me but quite another to create a scene from scratch. That's a weak spot of mine. I wanted to develop it a little bit more so I spent a couple of weeks painting some underwater cities.

The first one was one huge learning curve...

And the second time around I was a little more confident...

My nieces talked me out of the paintings on first sight and they squabbled over who would get to keep which one so much that they're both hanging in my brothers living room where everyone can enjoy them. They also talked me into painting a portrait each of them. Just to sweeten the deal. So I went ahead and painted their favourite baby photo's too. (Miss O's Portrait here and Miss J's Portrait here).

Baby photos are all well and good but they've grown up so much since then. I wanted to surprise my brother with a more recent picture of them so I hit the family photo albums and later invited them over for a few photos when nobody was looking. I wanted a painting that would tie into the ocean scenes and a friend on Facebook suggested mermaids. It was too good an idea to let pass.

I spent a few weeks with the photos, working on other projects and letting ideas brew in the back of my mind. Mermaids. Not just any mermaids, pre-teen mermaids. Have you even seen a modestly clothed mermaid? So you can see my problem then. What do Grandma mermaids wear anyway? Surely, there comes a time in every mermaids life when sagging clam shells just don't cut it anymore. And the background? I toyed with the idea of painting another underwater cityscape in the background, to tie it in with the other paintings, make a bit of a set out of them but that just didn't sit right with me. 

 It came on me like a bolt of lightning one night when I wasn't paying attention. A shipwreck. The two girls standing back to back looking all smug with themselves and a shipwreck in the background.

So I dove right in with very little forethought. Coz that's how I roll.

The background came together so quickly but then things got a little bit sticky. 

They're aged about 10 and 11 years old so I didn't want to show too much skin. I went through hundreds of images of mermaids and mermaid clothing and mermaid inspired runway shows and photoshoots and finally I thought of belly dancers; they always have elaborate clothes and many of their outfits are a play on layers and sheer silks and laces and long tassels to cover up...

…but that didn't work out too well. Second time around I went for something a little more evening gown-ish, a one piece that started off all formal wear and flowed down into long floaty fins. 

I also did some weeding - that long grassy plant on the side was way out of proportion so it had to go. 

Miss O's face looked okay but I gave Miss J's face a makeover.

So here I am in the finishing stages…

And lastly, the finished piece.

I've added some green tones to the undersides of their arms, noses and jawlines (because there's some white sand on the sea bed reflecting light upwards), shuffled some of the wreckage around and painted a hero pulling his friend to safety. 

It is my hope that this painting will serve two purposes. 

Firstly, it's a tribute to my brothers beautiful chaotic duty of fatherhood. 

Taking a little bundle wrapped in pink blankets and moulding it into a beautiful, strong and self reliant young woman is an enormous responsibility and he's doing a kick arse job of it. 

And secondly, if you're reading this Jess and Liv, I want you to remember that you can paint your nails and curl your hair and still be bad arse - a real woman is both beautiful AND strong. 

Don't let anybody tell you that you're "just" a girl. 

You are capable of anything and everything and (especially if you stick together) you are strong enough and tough enough to overcome all of lifes troubles.

 Be honest. 

Be confident. 

Be kind to yourselves. 

Treat other people with the respect and dignity that you yourself deserve.  

And treasure every damned moment of your precious life.    

Also, in the years to come when and if your Dad ever lets you start dating, try not to send to many guys to their doom…I know, I know, they're merely males (we can't blame them for that) but they do come in handy at times.