Margot & Lochlan’s 8th by Adam Caldwell

There are artists that I keep in the back of my mind as we rotate around the sun. When that time of year comes to start exploring who would be great for this kid or this age. The majority of the time, the artists work just pops in my head. Adam Caldwell is one of those great artists, and in all the chaos we’ve been living in since March, Adam’s work reminded me of how there is beauty of hope in that chaos. This piece really came together rather quickly. And honestly the piece itself, is really a step in another direction for the works we are used to seeing from Caldwell, or even the one piece of his in our collection. 

This journey actually began as a photoshoot at an old garden that belonged to now gone, Mudd’s Restaurant in San Ramon. We did a twilight shoot with our friend Rachel, and while the location didn’t yield any beauty in June. The kids more than covered this problem. She got some amazing shots in stunning light and most of the photos will be in our holiday card. Apologies that the photos didn’t make this post. Can’t give you any spoilers.

Once I sent over the shots to Adam, I had follow up email pretty fast with some options or directions to go with the piece. The path was pretty clear and the piece itself was done in a very short period of time. The twins when they saw the progress shots, really loved the vibrance of his color palette. An interesting thing about this portrait is we choose to document Lochlan’s covid haircut. During the early days of Covid, Lochlan was having a rough go with school and me as well, as his teacher. We survived, his hair did not. I hit the ceiling and so did I, so I offered to give him a Mohawk. I got a big smile and a big YES. Lochlan spent the last 3 and half years, since his preschool buddy Boden got his mow-hawk, begging us to do it. 

While the Mohawk is not standing on end, it’s still present. I could have easily chopped it off but I wanted to keep it for a reminder of these really messed of times we have been living in. Adam really captured both the kids from the photo Rachel took that day. There were so many great shot the two of these kids that day. What I love about these paintings is seeing the kids through the eyes of the artist. Clem mostly prefers to recognize the kids but having these pieces show one side of the kids, that we don’t normally see, is amazing. In this case, the likeness of Margot was pretty evident but when we looked at Lochlan the initial response was, what is missing. 

When we looked at the reference shot next to the piece, nothing was missing. Our child was on the painting, the image of Lochlan we had in our heads, was clouding our reality of Lochlan in that moment. In the reference photo, Adam clearly showed a more mature face, that we as parents sometimes choose not to see. Hoping to keep them as children as long as we can. I find that more evident with Paley at 12. Growing up inevitable but just like the battles and obstacles they must conquer on their own. We also need to see them in old light.

Now, Adam’s body of work does have a distorted element to it. Paley’s 10th portrait is a perfect example of an  artist keeping with their core aesthetic. Adam’s piece reached a point, where he came to us asking if he should cut into the piece or simply leave it at the point you see in the final painting. He said his gut was saying to keep it where it’s at because he was truly happy with the overall state of the piece. We stoped it there and he moved onto curing and varnishing. 

The piece made it to our hands in early September and the kids begged for it to go up in their bedroom. This is huge because the kids never really ask for their pieces in their bedroom. Honestly Paley didn’t ask until her 10th portrait. This piece is loved and while we may be stuck at home for the big eighth, this piece shines some light on some pretty dark days for everyone. I won’t lie, seven was not great for the twins. Yes they got spend some time traveling over the summer. But there are many more adventures that will make for this crappy year.