This year, to test my limits and push my creative boundaries, I decided to apply a method of laying paint on the canvas that offers little control or predictability: creating bubbles with acrylic paint. Using a reference photo of my daughter drinking milk with a straw, this piece plays with the tension of control and chaos. The paint is applied with both the careful control of a brush and the unpredictability of pressing paint bubbles onto the canvas. Considering shape and form, the environment of the portrait depicts geometric forms, straight lines and sharp edges, to anchor the canvas with precision and restraint. Their crisp boundaries speak of intention, order, and mother’s guidance. In stark contrast, the bubbling milk splatters across the canvas and the wild toddler hair erupts with expressive, gestural brushstrokes —fluid, raw, and unconfined. The juxtaposition is not only visual but also conceptual. Anyone who has given a toddler milk with a straw knows that they are playing a dangerous game that balances discipline and spontaneity. Turn your back for one moment and in a breath a bubbling milky volcano dangles precariously on the edge of the cup.