I love taking portraits of people and animals that I love. I believe the photographer’s heart is present in every portrait. I’ve taken a lot of photos of Maria, but few of them have captured her complexity and depth of feeling. Maria is an intensely emotional person, as is evident in her art. There is great joy in her, and great sorrow. This morning, as she worked in the Pole Barn I thought she looked sad, perhaps reflective. There is nothing wrong with being sad, I never tell her or anyone to cheer up, sadness is cleansing, spiritual, deepening. It is a part of life.