Driving With Kids Print

I bet anyone who drove with kids or babies in their cars can relate at least a little. That feeling when the brain is trying to shut off and not to analyze any of the noises from behind. I couldn't understand at first why is it so irritating and upsetting sometimes - just to drive the car with little kids. Why their laughs, tears and screams are so hard to handle. My understanding came to me after I started working on “Driving with kids”. At first I just wanted to capture on canvas the moment itself, as it’s something definitely worth mentioning and remembering as long as I am painting “The baby and I” moments. But then, when I pictured myself and then the destruction around, I saw clearly the two different natures put together in a very tight space. The conflict is that the way the kids live their life and the way I deal with it are so different and incompatible. I am completely broken in and rebuilt to fit the system. I have my tasks and get satisfaction if I complete them and disappointment if I don’t. At the same time the kids’ reactions and goals are spontaneous. They live each moment in the full here and now. Because I have to be completely focused on the road and pay attention to what happens 360* around and in the car, I would have to split myself between those two modes, but I cannot. And I have to live in one reality with them for the time of driving. So, my sadness and frustration is just a reaction to the pain I feel, when they drag my old broken bones to their fast and flexible world. Of course they will learn how to become good quiet soldiers of the society. And I will be one of the rest to teach them. But it’s a long process, where I cannot push too hard so they wouldn't become neurotics. So for now, the pain and patience is what I am left with. And this painting is simply an illustration. Medium: acrylic