Pemberton & Oakes, Ltd. - Image Database

This picture shows a four-year-old named Laurie opening a Christmas present. It understates her excitement. Zolan could obviously have made Laurie's smile bigger or her eyes rounder, but he feels subtlety helps draw the viewer into the subject's experience. Laurie is dressed all in white like some little Christmas angel. She seems to have jumped out of bed not long ago. She is still barefoot, still in her nightgown and her cheeks still look flushed from sleep. Her tentative smile looks ready to change into a big one as soon as she sees what she's been given. Her excitement shows up most noticeably in her feet, in the way they curl against each other. Our eyes go first to her face, then to the present, then to the hand tugging at the long ribbon. Not until then do we notice her excited feet. Red is a color of excitement, and Zolan has surrounded Laurie with a mixture of seven reds, some warm and some cool.

"A Gift for Laurie"