This small painting is my entry in the Belle Arti Prize 2016 show, at Chapman & Bailey, 350 Johnston Street, Abbotsford, 13 July - 27 August 2016.

My thinking is that I wanted an image that will have a strong integrity within the canvas size and shape (which is supplied, for an entry fee of $50), and also that its subject matter is something I'd love to keep in my home, given the beauty of the child pictured, and the canvas itself (because I don't entertain notions of either selling it or winning the acquisitive prize).

It's based on a photograph of Sophie at Versailles, when she was eight.

Post script, 17 July 2016: Yesterday we saw the exhibition for the first time; the painting had sold. Mixed feelings; mostly good.

White tiles only, 2016, oil on canvas, 36 x 36 cm.