Drawing this was a peaceful moment for me. That’s me, naked in the woods, at my lover’s parents’ cottage. I asked him to photograph me outside, in nature, to help me work on my negative body image. He was wonderfully supportive and willing to come along, even if he had never seen anything wrong with my body! After the initial discomfort and self-consciousness, I began to enjoy the feeling of the sun and the air on my skin, touching the branches of the trees and sitting in the leaves and on the grass.
As I traced and highlighted this image from the photo I had to ask myself… what could be more natural than a human being, unclothed, “un-made-up” and unaccessorized, in nature? And how could I possibly be so uncomfortable with this healthy body that allows me to experience life in this way?
MAD about my BODY 
Thanks for going on this adventure. What has worked for me is to practice looking at other people’s bodies in a less critical way. When their bodies are significantly different than the fashionable norm – whatever that is because it keeps changing – I am training myself to see the beauty in the generous thighs, the tiny breasts, the big nose, and appreciate the beauty of human beings in all their diversity. So when I contemplate my own changing body of a 73-year-old, I am less likely to be critical.
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