“You made yourself look more Italian again,” said Marcy as I finished this California Girl self-portrait for the Bay Area Studio Artists’ California Shades show opening May 1 at Orinda Library.
She’s right. I often paint my Roman nose more Roman than it is. That nose was a big worry for a younger version of myself, although it’s hardly the most-prominent nose in my mother’s family. (Hey, cousins, you know who you are!)
Today I rather like my nose. Emphasizing it in my self-portraits is a way of embracing the look. Maybe I should get a nose augmentation instead of the reduction rhinoplasty I wanted when I was 13.
By the way, the May show at the library should be super. The BASA painters are all California girls.
Joanne Taeuffer 
You do kinda have that “Riviera” look about you but I’m thinking French Riviera! Fun piece of work and so colorful….just like you!