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Child with mask/ Welcome to the Jungle painting.

You know when you see a child so absorbed in their own imaginative world; singing, dancing, moving with such freedom it makes you feel such joy? They don’t care what you or anyone else thinks, they are in the moment- what you see is what you get. That’s what I loved about teaching under seven’s; no filters.

As a mum to three boys, the youngest just turning 16, I suppose I’m feeling a bit sentimental too.

When does childhood end? And adult responsibility begin? Childhood itself being a fairly modern construct.

I recently read that some psychologists think that core beliefs, morals and behaviours are embedded more easily into the subconscious minds of 2- to 7-year-olds, as this is when their brains spend significant time in a highly suggestive brain wave state (theta). Theta brain waves (4-8 Hz) being slow neural oscillations tied to daydreaming.

And long, long, ago the philosopher Aristotle was credited as saying,

“Give me a child until he is seven and I’ll show you the man.”

This may have explained my aversion to teaching junior age and above!

I’ve observed how once you get past those early years children become more self-conscious, and concerned with what others will think. This ‘growing up’, to me is an act of trying to fit in and be accepted by their peers. This effort at conformity is what speaks to me of ‘masking’ or ‘pretending’. Whether that’s a good thing or not is debatable, but underlying it all are the foundations that were first laid down, be they good or bad, a combination of nature and nurture.

Masks are a recurring theme in my paintings- not just masks, but hidden or partly obscured faces (I know I should go and lie on an analysts couch maybe, but I can’t afford it- paint is cheaper). So, in leaning in to this I began to research masks in art. In doing so I came across a painting that really spoke to me by Jean Leon Gerome (1824-1904) ‘Child with mask’.

https://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/articles/acquisition-child-mask-jean-leon-gerome-275634

The child’s expression is sullen and the mask is pushed back on his head. The mask is one of tragedy and has wild red hair and snakes for a beard. The boy is holding a wooden dagger too. Why does he seem sad? Has play time come to an end? What has he learnt? What lessons has he been re-enacting?

Inspired by Gerome’s work I decided that I wanted to try and paint a modern version of this and put my own spin on it. Halloween was coming up and I began asking around if anyone could take some reference photos for me of their child with a Halloween mask pushed back on their head. I did get something back, that led to my ‘Trust me’ painting but that wasn’t really where I wanted to go. Then in December I came across a theatre mask in a dressing up store in Manchester. It was comedy rather than tragedy but I bought it anyway and asked my friend if they could do some photos for me with their young son. His expression was just perfect.

Buying props and commissioning photo references felt very Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) and reminded me of his painting, ‘Girl at the mirror’, with themes of growing up, and conforming, again to societies ideals and expectations, and with the advent of social-media you could multiply the effects of that magazine on her lap by a few million. https://www.wikiart.org/en/norman-rockwell/girl-at-mirror-1954

It makes you question the effect of ‘screen time’ on modern childhood. But that’s maybe a painting for another day. Anyway, I believe attachments, or lack of them, with primary care givers and early life experiences have the greatest impact.

The round ‘tondo’ format for my version of a ‘child with a mask’ painting seemed to suit the composition, and the jungle background was a happy accident. Having now finished this painting, I want its meaning to remain open to the interpretation of the viewer; but for me it has themes of childhood ending, fears of masks slipping, or of the effort required to keep them in place. There is also an element of pretending, represented by the expression of the mask being at odds with the expression of the child. For now, its title is ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ (re the song by Guns N’ Roses, which seems appropriate- the jungle becoming a metaphor for real life as opposed to childhood innocence).

(I’ve also had the song, ‘Games without Frontiers’ by Peter Gabriel playing on repeat).

As a final thought, ‘Lord of the Flies’ comes to mind. Be careful what you impress upon those tender young minds because the rest of us might reap what you sow…

Reflecting on my practice at the end of 2025

I have an upcoming opportunity to exhibit some work in Coventry as part of a portrait expo at LTB and it got me thinking about how my practice has developed and why I choose to draw and paint people more than anything else. And what’s all this partially obscured faces and fascination with masks about? They do say that art is therapy!

Why portraits?

The process of making portraits and figure studies provides me with a space to slow down and engage with the sitter, and the illusive nature of capturing a likeness is a challenge that never fails to intrigue me.

Every day we put on a mask (pass the war paint!) and every day the fear of the veneer cracking and the performance faltering can fill you with immobilising dread, (it does me anyway!).

We put on masks to tell stories, to become a character, to blend in or become someone else. But what lies beneath the mask?

Stop and look; no, really look….

In life we communicate and connect visually all the time, mimicking posture and body language in order to gain trust, fit in and survive. We need to be able to read another’s emotions and gauge their intentions, but how many ‘real’ connections can we cope with in a world full of strangers?

A portrait is able to give us that space; to see ourselves in others and share memories and experiences that resonate with us and connect us all emotionally.

Maybe that explains a little?