This painting is about the need to feel protected, a need that does not disappear when childhood ends.
A little boy sits alone in the warmth of the bath, surrounded by the coldness of the room. For me, he is both a child and the child that remains within us, whether we are five or forty years old.
We grow up, become independent and learn to be strong, but somewhere inside us there is still a need to know that we are not alone, that there is someone who will stand beside us, protect us and be on our side. There is a deep sense of safety in growing up knowing this, and a particular kind of pain when that feeling is missing.
Sometimes not having this support makes us stronger. We learn to get through things and to protect ourselves. It can also affect the way we care for our own children, giving us a strong wish to give them the security we once needed ourselves and to make sure they grow up knowing they have someone firmly on their side.
But becoming strong does not take away the need beneath it.
The warm light surrounding the boy against the coldness of the room brings these different feelings together for me: love and hurt, strength and vulnerability, independence and the lasting need to be cared for. The boy is small, but this feeling does not belong only to childhood.
However old we become, some part of us still needs to know that when we reach back, someone will be there.
A special thank you to my son, who is the boy in this painting. I caught this quiet moment almost by chance, and I was struck by the cool light in the room, the warm yellow light around him, and the way he sat alone in the bath. Somehow, this image helped me give form to thoughts and feelings that had been in my mind for a while.
Anna Speirs is a Perth-based painter specialising in still life and portraiture. Working primarily in oil, she explores light, colour and texture, with a particular interest in the way light transforms everyday subjects.
With a background in Fine Art, Anna combines traditional painting techniques with a contemporary approach. Her subjects range from flowers, native botanicals and still life objects to portraiture and more personal figurative work.
Anna is the winner of the 2025 City of Wanneroo Open Award and has been selected as a finalist in a number of Australian art prizes, including the National Emerging Art Prize, Kennedy Art Prize, Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize and Rockingham Art Prize.
Her work has been exhibited across Australia and is held in private collections in Australia and internationally.
