“Dilated”

“Dilated”

24x48
Oil on canvas

To dilate is to widen.
To let more light in.

His eyes have always done that. Not just physically, but perceptually. He sees beyond what is presented. Beyond the performance. Beyond the noise. Where others rush past first impressions, he pauses. He studies. He absorbs.

There is wisdom in the way he looks at the world. A quiet discernment. He notices tone, intention, and the spaces between words. He understands character instinctively, not because he has been hardened by life, but because he has paid attention to it.

This dilation is not distraction.
It is depth.

He takes in more than most, and because of that, he understands more than people expect. He reads people clearly. He knows when something is true and when it is not. He trusts what he sees, even when it cannot be explained.

In this widening, there is strength.
In this seeing, there is grace.

The world may feel overwhelming at times when you take it in fully, but it is also where empathy is born. Where insight lives. Where wisdom begins long before age demands it.

This portrait is a tribute to that way of seeing.
Open. Aware. Honest.

Dilated, not from fear, but from clarity.