Flowers in the sun

I was looking for pictures showing light at different times of the day for my art class with Ona. I came across this one which I took in Mizoram, and all the great feelings I felt that day came rushing back! So I quickly decided to paint it, remembering what I have been learning in my classes first that a reference is only a reference and second, and possibly more important, is that expressing feelings in a painting makes it special.
The day I took this picture we were in a remote part of Mizoram which is at the eastern most part of India well into the Himalayas. We were visiting families of deaf children who were part of our progrramme from VAANI the NGO I run . We arrived at the village after driving for what seemed like interminable hours.  Families are so poor and have so little in terms of shelter or even food, and yet there were the village children, deaf and hearing, with there families full of welcome smiles. Excited that we were there, wanting to share the successes of their children since the programme had started, behind them the hillside was covered in these yellow blossoms, like miniature sunflowers, only adding to the joy of the moment. It made me realize how blessed we are that our work is so worthwhile!
The reference picture was

And my rendition, where I have highlighted the flowers to capture that very special moment