I just had to draw Condoleezza Rice. Because I'm a Dentist's Daughter.

I just watched the most fantastic movie! Adaptation - starring Meryl Streep and Nicholas Cage. I had my pen moving, just drawing litl bits of whatever I saw - like doodling - while I was spellbound by this profound movie. Who wrote it??? I'll let you know if I find out.

Here are just Some of the words from the movie. Might be slightly paraphrased, might be direct. I just wrote stuff that I wanted to remember. I just drew because that's a good way to relax.

Near the beginning of the movie, Meryl Streep says "I wanted to want something as much as those people wanted those plants." And "I suppose I do have one unembarrassed passion. I want to know what it feel like to care about something passionately."

Then, near the end of the movie, Nicholas Cage is talking to his brother. He tells his brother that he had seen some supposedly fantastic girl (back in high school) who had been making fun of the brother behind his back. The brother says that he had heard it too. But it didn't bring him down. He said "I loved Sara. It was mine. My love. I owned it. Sara didn't have the right to take it away. I can love whoever I want." And he says "You are what you love. Not what loves you."

And there's more. About life and love and passion. The real thing - explained.

Here are the pictures that came out of me while I was watching. Not major works of Art. Just the real me. Doing real life. (I think the passion is in the studying, the desire. We don't always have to be intense about it - It's more about always being interested in it. I also think we need both passion And 'ho-hum-drum' both for a full Life. It's like needing both activity And sleep.)

So, as I was saying last night, when we say that we like the Artwork or not, what we're really saying is whether we like the Artist's Personality or not. Whether we like the Artist or not.

That's probably why the Artist takes people's reactions so personally. Why we want people to like 'our Artwork'. Because what it's really saying is whether or not you like Me.

I usually get my accollades through my pictures. That's probably why I keep doing it. Here are some of my pictures. One is from a company-party who hires me back again every year. The other is a party where they really want me to stay overtime - but all I could give them was an extra half-hour because I was already committed to going to a 2nd party that day:

And I wonder, why do we like one style more than another? 'Confidence' is admirable, but so is 'trying'. Why wouldn't I, for instance, not like the 'trying-too-hard' style that I mimicked for you last night? What's wrong with that? What's wrong with a person who really Wants to do well, who focuses on it so intensely.

Even some grown-ups and senior-citizens fall into the school-age crap about 'liking the cool kid'. And some like 'safe' - classical and reserved - just doing it right with nothing new added. Just like 'the Artist is always drawing herself', we could also say that 'the Viewer is always seeing himself'. It's the Viewer's Personality that determines whether or not he likes what the Artist does.

Art is so personal. Bringing it 'out there' is really taking a chance. Hoping for Love. Or at least, acceptance.

Thank you to all the Wonderful People that I meet while doing this.

And just as important as being accepted by You, I hope I can also love my Artwork, no matter how my experiences leave me drawing. (And no matter how my experiences make me look, I hope I will always love and care for what what I see.)

It's been said that the Artist is always drawing herself no matter what the subject matter of the painting is. That's true. The Artist's Personality comes through in everything she does.

Here are two line drawings that I scribbled out quickly - no predraw, no agony. I'm glad I'm the person that I am. I like these much better than the 3rd drawing - where I tried to redraw the girl in a way that I've seen students trying to control a picture to be perfect. (I've even seen some people take out rulers!) Do you see that the pictures show as much about Me as about the person I was drawing?

This is a truth that comes through in everything that we do - not just our Artwork. It's not what happens out there that determines what we're going to do. It's our own Essence that determines what we see, what we choose, and how we act.