Currently NOT FOR SALE - AT EXHIBITION

This painting captures a moment of quiet decision.

My son is at the top of a tunnel slide, looking down.

Not scared. Just thinking.

It is that brief hesitation before action.

The pause where courage gathers itself.

I painted this quickly, in a single three-hour session, trying to respond instinctively rather than carefully. I was not trying to describe every detail, only to hold onto the feeling of that moment before he lets go.

The image is partly obscured, partly imagined, like memory itself. You are not quite sure where you are standing. Inside the tunnel, looking up. Or perhaps beside him, waiting to see what he will do.

That uncertainty is the point.

Much of my work is about noticing these small, ordinary moments before they disappear.

The ones that do not announce themselves as important at the time, but stay with you long afterwards.

Title: The Pause Before Bravery

Year: 2026

Medium: Oil on stretched canvas

Size: 51 × 40.5 cm

Finish: Unframed

Status: Original painting

This is a one-of-a-kind original painting.

Reproductions: A limited print edition is available separately.