This is a painting of a little girl I met while on a mission trip with "Airline Ambassadors" during spring break of this year. I had been on several missions to orphanages in El Salvador in the past, but this time I took my two daughters along, Alexandra,15, and Samantha, 12. When we were at this particular orphanage we visited the girls wing.
Lydia immediately caught my attention not only because of her beauty but because she acted differently from the other girls. Most of the kids we visit LOVE to have their photo taken, clamoring to get into the shot, asking to have just one more picture taken with their best friend, trying to take pictures themselves of the other kids. But not Lydia. She was off to the side all by herself. She was not smiling. When I asked her if I could take a photograph of her she reluctantly agreed. No matter how hard I tried I could not get her to smile or open up. When I shot this image I knew right away that I would paint it. Her piercing eyes so full of mistrust and pain went straight through my heart.
I asked one of the caretakers what her story was and all they told me was that she had just been removed from a very abusive environment and had only arrived at the orphanage that afternoon.
Lydia has stayed on my mind. When I was working on her portrait it was as if she was in the room with me, haunting me. I was determined to do her justice. This is why this award means so much to me. I attribute it not to my abilities as an artist but to her ability to communicate her feelings without a word, just a look.
The painting will be donated to Airline Ambassadors and will be auctioned off at a future fund raiser, that is why it is not for sale at this time. I will donate part of the award money to the organization and prints will also be for sale. I will personally go back to El Salvador to find Lydia again and make sure the money raised will be used directly for her education and to help the orphanage. If you would like to bid on the original painting, please drop me an email. If you would like to make a donation you can send a check to me, payable to Airline Ambassadors International and put "Lydia" in the subject line on the check's bottom left.
This group was founded by American Airlines flight attendant Nancy Rivard with one simple idea:
airline personnel voluntarily using their flight passes to help children all over the world. It has since expanded to non airline volunteers as well. This is from their website:
"Airline Ambassadors International (AAI) is a non-profit organization affiliated with the United Nations and recognized by the US Congress. It is a network of airline employees and others who volunteer as "Ambassadors of Goodwill" in their home communities and abroad. Members share their unique skills and talents to care for others and bring compassion into action.
AAI provides humanitarian aid to children and families in need as well as relief and development to under-privileged communities worldwide. We escort children in need, hand-deliver humanitarian aid to orphanages, clinics, and remote communities, assist at special events and involve youth in humanitarian efforts around the world. Join us and travel to make a difference!"
By the way, Lydia did warm up to us a little by the end of the afternoon and I got a photo of her smiling as well!
UPDATE: I went back to El Salvador with Airline Ambassadors in January. Unfortunately, we were not able to locate Lydia.
She has either been moved to another orphanage or placed with family members. Our local contacts will keep trying to find her. Either way, any money raised from her portrait will go directly to children in need. During our 4 day trip we painted a mural in the orphanage where I first met her. I incorporated local Salvadoran designs of angels and birds. I also wanted to involve the children themselves, so we traced their bodies in different poses onto the walls. The girls then painted their clothes and faces themselves. Some of the girls also helped me to paint the angels and birds. They were very talented and enthusiastic young artists! You can see the photos of the trip at
www.flickr.com. I will try to post some on this website as well. We also visited other orphanages where we played soccer with the kids and delivered humanitarian aid. Kerry Sanders, of NBC News, and his crew traveled with us and you may watch the segment on Friday, Feb 16th, 2007, on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams at 6:30pm Eastern/5:30pm Central time.
This is the first children's book I illustrated. It was published in Febuary 2006 and is available directly through me, in bookstores or on amazon.com.
"Katherine Stinson Otero - High Flyer" was written by Texas author Neila Skinner Petrick and tells the life story of one of America's first women pilots around the time of WW I. The list price is $15.95.
Please, check it out and let me know if you know of a school that would like to have Neila and me come out for a presentation and book signing.
This is what the School Library Journal ( a national publication for school librarians) had to say:
"A daring and adventurous individual is introduced in this lovely picture-book biography. Katherine Stinson Otero’s inspiring story is told in clear language, printed on top of softly rendered, action-packed, pastel illustrations. Overall, this is a good choice for anyone interested in strong women and/or aviation history." --School Library Journal
As always, I welcome portrait commissions any time of year. You can find my fees and procedures on the portrait commissions page.
As you can see there is a lot going on this year, so please check back for updates.
Thank you for visiting!
