A portrait of a young mother and her young child as a statement of optimism. Parent and child dancing together on a beautiful fall day among the cornstalks--a carefree, happy and loving moment at a time when COVID was keeping us apart and the news and politics were making it difficult for anyone to smile.

To understand the triumph of the optimism requires knowing at least some of the young mother’s backstory. When she was a very young child, she suffered first the death of her father, then the death of her mother, and then relocation across the country to reboot her life. Purposely, this painting shows no trace of that great trauma – not because the trauma left no marks but because on this occasion (and many others) joy, love, and optimism reach far beyond the past.