On the stairs

Four children of varying ages climb a polished wooden staircase, each framed by a different baluster. A grinning boy in a cream sweater leans on the handrail, a girl in a red plaid dress and white headscarf stands just behind him, and two younger children peek shyly through the rails below, one in pink, one in a striped shirt.

Warm skin tones and muted whites and reds are built up in smooth, confident strokes against a soft grey wall hung with framed pictures. Even light falls across the group, sharpening the older faces and softening the youngest, giving the crowded staircase a cheerful, domestic warmth.