This is the self portrait I finished for my mother's birthday. It's me, age 3, very scared and very sad when my photo was taken by a photographer at preschool.

I spent a nice fall afternoon in the garden with the canvas and my paint and brushes. After three hours of painting it was like I kept seeing new elements, the light above the upper lip, and on the tip of the nose.

As you can see, I focused mostly on the face. The hair and the jacket could have used some more concentration. Teacher seemed to be pleased with my progress and encouraged me to use a bigger canvas next time. My work reminded him of the work of American painter Karen Kilimnik, which I find quite flattering.