(the guard was kind enough to take this photo of us with our president)

lucy and i had the BEST afternoon with the obamas last week. the smithsonian has been touring the portrait paintings of barack and michelle across the country and right now they are in san francisco at the de young. they are SPECTACULAR! they are giant and so thoughtfully done. the exhibit shares the processes for both artists (kehinde wiley created the president’s portrait and amy sherald painted the first lady) and articulates all the meaning and symbolism embedded in the works. (we learned that each flower in mr. wiley’s painting represents a different aspect of the president’s life and the bright colors and foliage redefine traditional power and masculinity. ms. sherald’s painting expresses the first lady’s personal power, beauty and inner strength in a flat, grayscale palette that is an absolute departure from the portraits of previous first ladies.) it was so wonderful to sit with the obamas and remember that inspirational period of american government. our hearts just swelled. x0x