Greetings!

I went on a fun editing spree yesterday morning and did some new ones of Elley and Diana. Elley is off in Chicago working on a film. She’s been running around filming everywhere, it seems. Dreams happen to good people.

I chatted with Dianna a few months back and found she wasn’t modeling anymore. She’s such a beauty and will be missed. She has the lips of someone with five times her face size. She said she got those from her father. I wish her health and happiness.

One of the images in this gallery prompted me to consider the context of the image. It’s easy to spot. It has handcuffs. As I started editing, I remembered how excited she had been to create something like that image. I recall her wanting to incorporate handcuffs into previous shoots as well. I don’t ask about kinks, but…. (grin)

So, here I am editing this beautiful image, and it has dawned on me the implications it now holds. Just in the last month, people who look just like her are being detained for no reason at all and being sent away. Just because they look like her. Or because they also speak Spanish sometimes. Speaking English, like they do in England, is just more ‘American’?

So, yes, a picture that was whimsical and fun just months ago is now a bit horrifying, not because of her or me, but because the rotten part of our society has bubbled up from the bottom and made this, and so many other simple things in life, into horrifying atrocities.

I was never taught to be a racist, and I thank my parents for that. Looking back, I think they were racist to some extent, but I think they might have been a bit ashamed of that and didn’t teach my sister or me to hate, especially because someone else might be different.

As an artist, I look for the beauty in everyone I meet. First, how the light embraces their skin and hair. How defined their eyes are and how expressive they may be. In but a brief moment, I can see how artistic they may be physically. If I have the chance to converse with them, I can determine how deep the beauty truly lies.

This week’s narrative has been deeper than most. I’m sharing more of who I am. That may give you a better insight into my art.

Enjoy the beginning of summer. Stay cool and hydrated.

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“Be curious, not judgemental” - Walt Whittman

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