Lily

I had been painting for only a few years when I met Lily. It was a stormy day with enormous waves crashing onto the beach. Most of the kids sought refuge in the safety of the pool. But not Lily.

Mesmerized, I watched her wave-ballet and how she would then draw pictures onto the sand. I must have taken over a hundred photos of this little girl playing with the waves.

Lily’s Moment and Lily’s Wave were both part of my first-ever exhibition in 2007 at the Morgan Gallerie in the Cayman Islands.

They will always hold a special part of my artistic heart.

When Lily came with her parents to pick up her painting in New York, the first words out of her mouth were: “Where am I?”

Lily and I were both very proud! Her parents, overjoyed, kept intensely studying the painting, talking about its details. Suddenly, Lily had had enough. She tugged at her mom’s shirt and exclaimed: “Mommy, Daddy, you don’t have to keep looking at the painting. I am right here!”