This is personal. “Bring yourself in,” said my drawing teacher in Portland. To bring myself in takes practice, trust, humility, diminished ego, diminished fears, quieted judgement and self- criticism. That same teacher urged us to separate creating from judging. The judging mind cannot create, he’d say.

I’ve been working with delightful and generous friends, painting their portraits. I’ve begun to learn about working with live people, including realizing I don’t have their permission to post their portraits without their say-so. So I’ll get back to that!

Meanwhile, a day spent on opening up to finding myself in pencil and paint.