(from journal entry, December 24, 2007) "In between napping, I look around at my surroundings, the texture of the weave on the sofa, the hummingbirds outside ever in motion, heads bobbing into the feeder holes, and Julia. She was shelling pistachios, and there was just something beautiful about that moment. I captured it with the camera, and after some more napping, attempted the close up of her hands."

(This won a blue ribbon at the Yuma County Fair...)

(from journal entry, April 19, 2008) "Julia likes the chosen location, and said she likes this drawing "because it is real." I think that's most people's preference in art, not for the conceptual or abstract or whatever, but what conveys to them a 'real' experience. (Also, those were her 'REAL' hands doing the shelling!)"