I was bopping through the lobby of a local art building when I bumped into a ruggedly-handsome man I used to know. I haven’t seen that guy in years. I think he moved to the suburbs or something. He's a painter (a good one) and I respect his opinion a lot.

"Hey, Nancy," he said. "I loved your show at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts."

"Cool." That show happened many years ago but I still hear a lot about it.

"That was a great show," he said. "Almost every painting in that show was a masterpiece."

"Thanks."

"There's one big problem with your art, though," he said. "There's too much of you in the paintings."

"That's kind of the point," I said. "Putting myself in the paintings."

"But you could make big bucks as an illustrator if you took yourself out of your paintings."

"Other people have told me that too," I said. "You might be right."

He aimed his big, gorgeous grin in my direction. "So, do you plan to follow my advice?"

"No," I said. "But thanks anyway. It's very good advice."

And I meant it. It's very good advice.

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Image pictured: Nobody Understands Me the Way That You Do, 2014, oil on canvas, 18” x 24”

A version of this blog post appeared on August 28, 2015.