I think we all want this, really. To be "in the moment," completely lost in the process of creation. Do you have your grandmother's face? (I have my great-grandmother's hands and whenever I bake -- her own particular art -- I see her hands rolling out the pie crust.) I like this -- it's a rare and wonderful thing to find your real self caught in a photo.

Elizabeth, I love the focus. I can feel it from here.

How brave to demonstrate painting. Your chi is definitely strong.

Love your being in the moment.

Love your being in the moment.

Lovely, inside and out.

Old is a state of accomplishment, being finished, whole. A good thing, a thing to relish and appreciate. Old is something I was told I would never be. And now I am. And I like it.

And while I still look 25 in the right light, this is the first and only picture of me I have where I look like I feel on the inside.

You would believe that this woman could tell you a thing or two about painting, or firing with wood, or life. You would believe that she has raised a child, that she has taught thousands of people to throw clay, that she has some scars to prove that life has been lived fully.

That she built her wood kiln from a pile of bricks and an idea because she felt like doing it one day, not because she was in a class or required. (That is another story)

It is in high contrast to another haiga in the series called "portrait of the artist as a young girl". I will add it back for people to see the difference 40 years makes on your soul.

Energetically clear, and present.

Elizabeth, I love this picture. The other day my H showed me a stack of pics, in one I was in direct sunlight, with lots of little lines visible all over. I thought ugh, I'll look old to everyone who sees this. and yet - I sort of liked it. It looked, as you say, like I feel on the inside. It looked experienced. Thank you for helping me give myself permission to like looking older. I needed that. I like being older, like feeling as I do - it's time to integrate.

This is really fantastic.