I am permitted to begin walking around a bit before Thursday when my stitches come out. I set out with my camera to explore the outside and the backyard and found myself at Maria’s studio. I had my Leica in hand.

People reveal the souls in the paintings and trinkets and art they surround themselves with.

I asked Maria’s permission to go into her studio and look out for her soul, and she didn’t blink, of course.  She never says no to anything having to do with art.

That sort of thing is what she does all the time. She talks to trees, fungus, plants of all kinds, and spiders.

She was out checking on the animals, and so I went into her studio with Zinnia.

They say if you want to capture the soul of someone, take their portrait in black and white. I found the soul of Maria, but it was actually in somebody else’s portrait – the fiercely independent and gifted Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo.

Maria even named her beloved dog Frida after Kahlo.

I found what I wanted right away.

It was a self-portrait of Frida Kahlo, inspiration and spiritual comrade of Maria. They are not alike, yet they are very much alike. Maria is passionately committed to her art; she is never as happy as she is in her studio making her art.

And her eyes shine in this very way when she talked about her work. Frida Kahlo is the perfect path to Maria’s soul.

Kahlo was much the same way. No matter what happened to her, and very much happened to her, she never gave up on her art or stopped loving her life as an artist.

Maria Kahlo’s portrait hangs right above Maria’s desk next to the door when you come into her studio. It is a place of honor.

When I looked into the woman’s eyes in this portrait, I saw the same fierce gleam I see in Maria, the artist’s eyes, which are at the center of her being.

So this is a portrait of her soul, even though I found it in another body.

Speaking of art, our friend the artist Emily Gold is coming to the farmhouse tomorrow morning to give me a lesson in collage making. She’s bringing her collage starter kit and will show me how to make some Appreciation Cards, the wonderful cards she has been making for me. I send as many as I can to donors to the Army Of Good. I appreciate them.

I’m paying Emily, who is also a baker,  the $60 she charges for her virtual collage lessons which are gaining rapidly in popularity. I hope I can write these cards myself, but Emily is a very tough person to follow, but I couldn’t have a better teacher. We’ll see just what I’m made of.

Maria’s going to join the class as well, the two are close friends.