'Wonderfully Made'

Two years ago when I was dreaming about starting 'My Mia's Art', I spent a fair bit of time meandering around the blogosphere gathering information, thoughts and ideas about what made a good blog and how I wanted mine to be. Strangely enough, it was not the art blogs I was attracted to. The photography pages and the family and motherhood blogs were often my favourite. Somewhere along the way, I stumbled on a blog in the USA that ticked both the parenting and photography boxes for me. Ordinary Miracles & The Crazy 9 http://nancyvnjourney.blogspot.com.au , where amazing, incredible photographer, meets soccer mum extraordinaire! A blog where you can be blown away by the photography one minute and in awe of the strength of this family in the next breath. Nancy published a post a few weeks back with...the...most....stunning....photos...EVER! Two of her daughters, sunshine, butterflies, the freedom and innocence of childhood. Take a look...

http://nancyvnjourney.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/the-last-of-our-summer.html I begged Nancy for approval to paint one of these glorious photos. I didn't need to beg. She agreed immediately and without hesitation, as apparently she stalks loves my blog as much as I do hers! Win, win. My goodness I enjoyed painting 'Wonderfully Made'. The light, the gentleness, the story telling within this image are exactly where I want my art and eventually, with a lot of practise, my photography to be. Nancy, you are a star. The story of this special girl? An ongoing story of love and courage. 'Our daughter, Tess, came to us when she was 12 months old, by way of international adoption in 2008. She was prematurely born in SaiGon, VietNam, and when we first saw her it was apparent that she was not faring well in the orphanage. On her first birthday she weighed less than 15 pounds/6.8 kg, had never eaten solid foods and could not sit or bare any weight on her legs. The most concerning part was Tess’s complete avoidance of any social interaction. We started a long journey of early interventionists, therapy sessions, doctor appointments, evaluations and lots of love, hugs, kisses, rocking, nutrition and prayer with our beloved daughter. As months passed we began to see the fruits of our labor and glimpses of her sweet spirit as she slowly let us in to her heart. We saw her sneaking peaks at us when she thought we weren’t looking. Her sneak-peaks eventually turned to eye contact, and then smiles that eventually turned to giggles. As the years passed her giggles turned to laughter and ultimately revealed a vibrant firecracker of a child who is always “on” and ready to strike up a conversation with anyone that will listen! Tess’s journey is far from over. As we all do, Tess carries the scars of her past, and she still struggles. And it is our blessing to walk this path with her and help her along the way. She is our treasure, a gift from the Lord and our precious daughter.' Speechless. There are no words. Nancy titled this painting 'Wonderfully Made'...a perfect title for such an incredible little girl and all her brothers and sisters (another two are international adoptions) in this wonderfully made and wonderfully blessed family. Thank you Nancy for trusting me to do justice to your very beautiful photo and for sharing Tess's journey. BTW Nancy...hope you don't mind, but you are officially employed as my US photographer! Mia x