This is an early portrait of Harriet, my wife of over 35 years, whom I love for her desire to have me be a stronger, kinder man. This includes her criticism which is deep and sometimes very funny. Once, when I wasn’t listening to what she was saying, she pointed to one of my ears and said sweetly: “You know, this isn’t a decoration; it’s an instrument.” Through her expression and a dramatic interplay of dark and light I tried to capture something of her qualities--a reflective nature and penetrating thought, along with a deep friendliness I have come to count on. And, then, those surprising dark strands springing out from her bound hair, for me, symbolic of a dynamic self that will not be summed up or contained!