oil pencil, watercolor, pastel pencil
12″x10″
2012
Bisous is the adopted son of the writers Tony Horwitz and Geraldine Brooks. His actual, legal, name is far-far-far too complicated for me to remember; my impression is that Tony and Geraldine have simply given him the nickname “Bisous” to make things simpler for mumble-tongued & not particularly well-traveled folks like me. Suffice it to say that Bisou is, if I recall correctly, originally Ethiopian.
And, yes, I know…..I’m now stepping into the murky, potentially offensive waters of referring to a child as “adopted” (I’ve been ferociously upbraided for using this term, which is considerably ironic, given that BOTH of my parents grew up in an orphanage and have no problem with the word) and “originally Ethiopian” (suffice it to say that, for better or worse, I was raised by the sort of Southerners who make a great distinction between “Where are you from?” and “Where do you live?”).
In any case, he’s a startlingly lovely kid. I finished this and thought “Oh….this is just TOOOOOO pretty”. However, I can’t help it; he really does have those beyond-gorgeous, Bambi-eyes, and that perfect skin (this is a boy who, when he grows up, will be able to get away with wearing an orange, pink, or any-color-he-pleases shirt).