The Best of People: Mum by Hayden Pressley

Mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, carer, godmother, friend; Bridget Pressley is the best of all worlds. Constantly shedding her shine onto everyone she meets, Bridget appears almost ‘saint like’ in her ‘brightest moments’ (see to painting in direct light) to those owe’ so fortunate to be one of the many people Bridget cares for. Her husband, her sisters, her friends… everyone can agree that Bridget is the penultimate, most warm-hearted person. Throughout Bridget’s life she has incorporated the butterfly as her emblem or ‘spirit animal’ through objects such as her butterfly ring, and through her portrayed emotions and actions. This is evident since the butterfly among many things symbolises joy, bliss, love, intuition, comfort, and positivity. Which she displays to an unreserved extent in her everyday life. Making the butterfly symbol in a way her definition.

The reason for the small-size of this painting is to incorporate another aspect of Bridget’s nature. In this case one of her sayings, where she would often encourage around gift giving to “Judge a gift by the thought, quality and time put into them, not by its weight, amount and size.” This is incorporated into this painting by the size of it, and through the technique it was painted using the Dutch Flemish technique. It is quite challenging, and time-consuming technique.

Overall, Bridget is the most outstanding person, and an emblem for all mothers, Wives, daughters, aunts… everyone.