"Daddy's Taxi Service!" is part of my Paddona Series. I call them "Paddona paintings" to parallel the "Madonna Paintings" created first to celebrate the bond between Mary and her son, Jesus. Over the years, that genre grew to celebrate the mother-child bond in general.
When I was young, society honored fathers for being good breadwinners more than they did for forming strong emotional bonds to their children. Fortunately, by the time I first started this series men were starting to be encouraged to also take on some of the role of being caregivers in their families. But, there was little art celebrating the father's role as a nurturer, so I created this series to fill that gap. In each of the paintings in this series ["Daddy's Taxi Service," "Boys Day Out," and "You're Doing Great"], I worked to capture a snapshot of such a moment of connection. I spotted the subjects of this Padonna painting while walking through downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the late afternoon. I spotted a young dad carrying his sleeping little girl across the street while also trying to juggle the takeout dinner he had gotten the family for dinner, and I realized that he was picking her up from daycare. As soon as a saw them walking in the late day sun, the name for this piece, "Danny's Taxi Service" popped into my head and I knew I'd make a painting of that scene for my Padonna series.
"Daddy's Taxi Service!" is part of my Paddona Series. I call them "Paddona paintings" to parallel the "Madonna Paintings" created first to celebrate the bond between Mary and her son, Jesus. Over the years, that genre grew to celebrate the mother-child bond in general.
When I was young, society honored fathers for being good breadwinners more than they did for forming strong emotional bonds to their children. Fortunately, by the time I first started this series men were starting to be encouraged to also take on some of the role of being caregivers in their families. But, there was little art celebrating the father's role as a nurturer, so I created this series to fill that gap. In each of the paintings in this series ["Daddy's Taxi Service," "Boys Day Out," and "You're Doing Great"], I worked to capture a snapshot of such a moment of connection. I spotted the subjects of this Padonna painting while walking through downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the late afternoon. I spotted a young dad carrying his sleeping little girl across the street while also trying to juggle the takeout dinner he had gotten the family for dinner, and I realized that he was picking her up from daycare. As soon as a saw them walking in the late day sun, the name for this piece, "Danny's Taxi Service" popped into my head and I knew I'd make a painting of that scene for my Padonna series.