The portrait healed my wife

For many years I have drawn only one figure - a woman in a wide pink dress. The portrait became more and more perfect, but I did not dare to paint a face that would complete the work ...

One day, when I was 7 years old, I was walking down the street with my father and saw workers painting a zebra on the road. “I will be an artist,” I said out loud, and dad laughed and said that I was a little late because the zebra had already been painted. Although, he consoled me, there was still a lot to paint all over the city. These were jokes, but, as it turned out, I found my calling right then. 

I started learning to draw. I was most interested in the human body. Oddly enough, until I finished school, I drew only one figure - a woman in a wide pink dress, the frills of which were slightly blown by the wind. The portrait became more and more perfect, I was able to capture the play of chiaroscuro better and better. However, I never dared to draw a face that would crown my work ... 

mom's prophecy 

“Maybe you will become a fashion designer,” my mother once said. — I won't say, it's a very beautiful dress. And you very well caught the wind that pulls her up a little. 

But I didn't become a designer. At the entrance exams to the Academy of Arts, I showed sketches, watercolors and oils to my lady, as I began to call her in my mind. They were all headless. It turned out that the examiners saw this “something” in my papers and accepted me. 

One day my father threw a party for friends at home. One of the guests saw one of the paintings through the half-open door to my studio. "It's unbelievable." He stepped inside and almost swallowed the image with his eyes. This is my Kasia. Where did you get this photo, boy? This is how she was dressed a year ago when we were in Spain. 

She doesn't smile anymore 

I thought then that this is fate, which gives me the opportunity to see the face of a stranger, which I have been drawing for years. Unfortunately, the guy didn't have a photo with him. Before leaving the studio, he said sadly that she no longer smiles because she has leukemia. He asked if I could offer him an unfinished headless portrait. At first I hesitated, then some inner voice ordered me to fulfill this request.  

That same night I had a dream in which I saw the face of a girl. The ghost said I had to hurry up or we'd both miss it. For what, I never found out. I woke up in the morning and was overcome with madness. For the next two months, I painted her face. Finally, I found her features, the expression of her eyes and mouth to be perfect. The picture was ready. Then all my energy seemed to drain out of me. I fell into bed and slept for two days.  

I dreamed that you were painting me 

A year later, a friend of my father and his daughter Yulia appeared in my workshop. “When I was in the hospital,” she told me, “every night I dreamed that you were painting me and trying to capture my image better and better.” When you finally finished the portrait, I learned from the doctor that the transplant was a success and I should be cured. I think it's all because of you. You healed me. I felt how your picture, which my dad brought me, radiates warmth in my direction and makes me healthier and healthier. Do you think what I said made sense? She laughed happily. 

I didn't know what to say to her. We agreed to have coffee the next day and have been dating ever since. In my second year, I gave up further studies. I realized that painting is not my calling. I was completely satisfied with the drawing of Yulia's face.   

After I left the Academy of Fine Arts, I generally began to design ... dresses for women. I think I have the ability to do this, because the boutique, which Yulia (as my wife) and I run, is visited by the biggest fashionista not only in our city. 

Tadeusz from Gdansk