“A Glad Kindness”

“A Glad Kindness” (portrait of Em Chitty’s daughter, Sophie)
Pencil, pastel, and watercolor
2021
NFS
I painted/drew Elizabeth Chitty (a much beloved, by many folks and for many years, figure at my college, Sewanee,) years ago. Last night, I happily finished this portrait of Mrs. Chitty’s granddaughter. It’ll be a gift to my friend, Em Chitty (the mother of Sophie and the daughter of Elizabeth, which is a very nice bridge, indeed, to consider). The granddaughter has, unmistakably, inherited her grandmother’s nose and wonderfully kind eyes. The title is taken from Wm. Butler Yeats’s “A Prayer For My Daughter”:
“..For beauty’s very self, has charm made wise,
And many a poor man that has roved,
Loved and thought himself beloved,
From a glad kindness cannot take his eyes….”