I met Linda Garcia, a mature woman like myself, who wanted the experience of modeling for a portrait. She had silver hair, was full figured and had beautiful blue eyes. I asked her to look directly at me with strength and confidence. I made her silvery hair soft, wispy, and sensual. I wrapped her in a Metropolitan Art Museum shawl and positioned her hands in a challenging and feminine way. I worked on a custom ampersand board with a dark background, with several of my favorite brands of pastel, using a majority of Sennelier intense soft pastels, Terry Ludwig for my darks and sharpened Gallery Mungyo pastels for detailed drawing. I enjoyed working with this model and the concept of direct strength yet soft compassion.