a portrait of a friend

Monday, July 5, 2010

  

Friends (and fans ) meet Jo, a fellow endangered specie. I used to call her gypsy (she doesn’t like that though).. because she’s always up and around, going where the smell and the roar of the ocean was, climbing rocky mountains and sleeping under the stars. For me, she had always been a free spirit; a young girl with wings on her feet and a seemingly insatiable hunger to explore. We were in college when i did this portrait of hers which i intended to give as a farewell present when she went to Cyprus to work. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see her off so the drawing stayed with me.. 17 years has passed since and i’ve forgotten all about this drawing already. 

Now I am seeing it — seeing her — in a whole new light. I see a woman full of courage, not just a girl who dared. I see a woman who persevered and worked hard, not just a girl who dreamed. I see a woman wisened and toughened by hardships,and not just a girl with a very  pretty face.