Ingrida Pleiryte

Ninna is a 5 year old girl. She has big and expressive blue eyes and two enormous ponytails. She laughs a lot. She likes to wear colorful clothing that reflect her mood. Ninna often carries a little bottle of bubbles everywhere she goes. Sparkles are also on her favorites list. She irritates her two older brothers by putting sparkles and bubbles in their hair. They often chase and pin her down to the ground if they catch her. Then she screams. But Ninna’s really fast and often runs away from them and hides until momma calls everyone for lunch.

Ninna is the youngest child in the family. She lives with momma and papa and two brothers. They are mean and make fun of her girly self. They think the color pink is lame and princesses are uncool. The brothers are only one year apart, 9 and 10, and all that interests them are video games, action figures, and baseball. Ninna is very careful when secretly playing with their toys. She doesn’t look up to her siblings like most younger kids do, but instead she looks up to the faithful and loyal family dog- Spicy. Spicy is a Rottweiler and a wonderful nanny. He’s always outside watching over little Ninna and chases away every squirrel that nibs at her crackers. Ninna doesn’t ride him, because papa said he’s not a horse and princesses can only ride horses. She does occasionally pull on Spicy’s tail and play with his ears. They are very good friends.

Ninna is friendly with other kids too. She passionately shares her fascination with shining things and beautiful ponies. She is very active and can climb tallest trees. She’s a good singer as well. By holding her purple, plastic microphone and putting on star shaped sunglasses she becomes a pop star. Now where are those cameramen?

The biggest inspiration was a picture that I saw online of this little girl looking with big eyes at the camera. That was very captivating. She had such understanding eyes.

Another big inspiration was Hayao Miyazaki's film Ponyo. The kids are so charming and clever. It is amazing how full of energy they are. They are so independent too. Ninna is the same age as those kids and I see a lot of similarities and differences too.

I was also inspired by Frans Hals's portraits. They are so beautiful and capture children well. They show the gentler and calmer side, how kids need protection, discipline and love.