Baby Mama

Description

This painting is about perseverance in the face of hardship. It is also about the progression in life from childhood to old age. Against a background of a typical Belize City street, Felicia lives her life, often under the disapproving eye of the matrons who discuss her misfortunes while forgetting that they themselves were once in a The men portrayed in the painting are for the most part a shiftless lot,boozers, druggies of just plain lazy. Well……a possible exception is the old Chinese store keeper or the guy with the bicycle who has just bought a bolido ticket and if he happens to win, he might share with “E gon’ wid’ d baby ma an’ lef’she” the hated lady informs her friend.

Felicia’s man has left her with five children to care for while he father a child by a much younger woman. Perhaps she is the one on the veranda painting her nails, the one referred to as “the baby ma”, that anonymous bearer of children and burdens and ultimately pain as she one day finds herself the sole supporter of 5 children. The man who once gave her gold chains with her name attached, to assure his place in her affections can not now be depended upon for help.

Finally, in old age, she in turn gossips about the younger ones. Felicia, however is not going to give up. She will break the cycle to make it possible for her daughters to play with dolls when they are young instead of becoming the mothers of real babies. She will grip the edge of faith and hope and hold on.