Exploring an Ancient temple with Grandpa

Grandparents bring such a wealth of affection and wisdom to grandkids.

In this work I wanted to capture the juxtaposition of young and old, ancient and new. And also to capture a simple moment of human interaction, something that was a challenge, across the world, over the last two years!

I captured the reference picture on my children's first travel with grandparents post lockdown, a meeting after a gap of over a year! Among other places, happened to visit an ancient temple and saw grandpa & grandkid looking at this huge, old, beautiful bronze cast horse and discussing what it was. I knew then I wanted to paint the scene..so took some photographs & got to painting it after modifying & editing some details ( including editing out the masks!)

The beautiful horse which captured their attention was a challenge to paint... especially the patina ( green & brown oxidation due to age) and its reflective surface with tiny details. It took a lot of time and learning to apply paint rather than paint the details flat and taught me patience :)

Oil on canvas, 20x20in