End Of Childhood

Loss of innocent is the main theme of this painting.
It captures the moment when childhood optimism and playfulness  meets harsh realities.
 
This painting is inspired by my own personal experience. I was just eleven when I witnessed a woman being stoned in a square in my father’s hometown village. That moment changed me. I wish I could say it was the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen, but unfortunately it wasn’t.
What terrified me most was that the men, women, and even children taking part seemed to be enjoying it. Some women stood next to me, handing stones to their children and urging them to throw harder.
 
That moment affected me deeply, especially because, as children, we tend to believe that adults are always right—or at least that they know what they are doing. They are the ones who build the world we are introduced to, the world whose rules we are still learning and trying to understand. But that moment shattered my perception. I was just a child, and those dozens of people were adults, yet there was no doubt in my mind that what they were doing was inhumane and barbaric. I realized then that those adults didn’t truly understand the world either, they just had more power than little eleven years old Ohud had.
 
Acrylics on Canvas, 2026.
8" x 10"; 20,32 x 25,4 cm
Covered in gloss protective varnish.
Frame in the picture included. (Painting shipped already framed.)