A mother’s love portrayed in family artworks

It’s Mother’s Day this week. Among the mothers celebrated in our feature are Manly artist Amanda Moore, who painted this portrait of her son Samuel, from a photograph, while she was in isolation with Covid-19. The work is called *Math Tutor, 2022* but when Amanda painted it, she was thinking about the sons of Ukraine and Russian mothers going to war and originally called it ‘Don’t you dare send my son to war’. The painting is a finalist in the Adam Portraiture Award, a biennial competition at Wellington’s NZ Portrait Gallery. Forty-five finalists were selected from 351 entries. The winner, to be announced on May 26, receives $20,000 and the work goes into the gallery’s collection.

From left, When Katie had her own children, Amanda painted this portrait of her daughter with her second baby, Georgie. Amanda’s self-portrait with her eldest child, Katie. Amanda created both these images, as well as several others of her family, in lockdown.

Artist Amanda Moore of Manly has exhibited and sold her work nationally and internationally for 30 years and one of her favourite subjects is very close to home – her children.

Her portrait of her son Samuel is a finalist in one of New Zealand’s most prestigious portraiture competitions (see page 1) and she says she also painted around eight portraits of family members, mainly her children and grandchildren, in lockdowns – as well as several others over the years.

She says as a mother, it was a way of creating a close connection despite the physical separation.

“If I paint nature, it’s like going for a walk, and if I paint a person, my mind is focused on them,” Amanda says. “Spending that time on a portrait allows you to concentrate on thinking about who they are – and as a mum that includes your knowledge about them across time.”

She says she wanted the portraits to be life affirming and positive.

“I was saying ‘you are worth it’ and ‘I believe in you’,” she says. “You want your children to thrive.”