A while ago I really encouraged my good friend to post her personal work, to show the world her talent and inner beauty. This isn't an easy thing to do. As artists we expose our inner feelings and thoughts in the pieces we make. Some we make are at arms distance away so we have no difficulty showing them, others are very deeply inside of us that when we show them we expose ourselves in ways that can make us very vulnerable. Vulnerable to criticism and commentary that may or may not hit the mark. Many people think being an artist is making pictures, or making sculptures etc.... they don't realize the lifetime of thoughts and emotions involved to arrive at the piece before them. And they really don't need to know to enjoy or not enjoy the piece. But as artists we know all too well what does go into it. I've written before about trying to find my way back to what my work is about--where it started from years and years ago and why it has grown away from that and perhaps needs to come back to that ideal that got me started. This latest work I'm doing is exploring this heavily. This is one of the pieces I've been developing. It might not be the best piece, but its the one I'm willing to share now. My friend mentioned to me that its not easy to put yourself out there like this and she is dead right on that---but since I've been such a supporter of her doing it -- it seems a bit contradictory if I don't do the same. I may not show all the pieces I'm working on, in fact I'm pretty sure I won't have the guts to show them all, but I'll at least make a small step forward to join my friend in putting out this latest--hopefully authentic work. By Richard Sayer