I’ve been working on a small series of paintings that document Karen’s journey into motherhood. This is one of the earliest studies for a larger piece I am presently working on. This was made from a sketch in some hotel room — I forget where exactly, but she was nearing the end of her pregnancy and looked so wonderfully swollen.

There are other studies, like this posed one for what I hope will be the centerpiece of the series, and others while she was in labor.

“That’s what you get for marrying a painter,” she had said in between contractions as I worked rather than comfort her.