ARTWORK
Sleeping Beauty
A quiet moment in the middle of a very loud life.
THE STORY
In a rare moment of stillness at home, David found himself simply watching his wife, Jet, sleep. She had just returned from touring with Beyoncé on the Cowboy Carter Tour, after months of movement, performance, travel, and giving so much of herself to the world. That evening, exhaustion finally caught up with her. She drifted to sleep on the couch, unaware that her husband was quietly taking in a version of her the rest of the world doesn't get to see.
To David, there was something profoundly beautiful in that vulnerability. This was not the woman on tour or the star Publicist. This was his wife at home, finally, safe, exhausted, and finally at rest.
He took a photograph, almost instinctively, wanting to preserve the moment. Later, that photograph became SLEEPING BEAUTY.
The drawing is as much an act of love as it is a portrait. There is gratitude in it for the life they share and for the privilege of witnessing the quiet, unguarded moments that belong only to them. There is also something protective in the work: a husband looking at the woman he loves and recognizing how much the world asks of her, while wishing, if only for a moment, that he could keep the noise of that world away.
Perhaps there is introspection in that realization as well. We often recognize the people we love through everything they do but sometimes love asks us simply to notice them when they are doing nothing at all.
SLEEPING BEAUTY is David’s homage to that fleeting space between exhaustion and peace, and to the quiet intimacy of loving someone enough to treasure even their rest.
The piece remains deeply personal to David and is not available for purchase.
WORK DETAILS
SLEEPING BEAUTY
David Schure, July 2025
Graphite on Bristol Paper
17¼ × 22 1/8 inches, framed
UNAVAILABLE