Like Prince fans worldwide, I was devastated by the sad news of his passing. I thought he would outlive us all. A musical genius, he bravely marched (and played) to the beat of his own drum. Always pushing himself, he was my generation's Mozart. I was going to call this The Kid, but listening to his music while painting, the name just popped out at me. He gave us diamonds of music and pearls of love.

A lifelong dream of mine came true last night when I attended a lecture by Dr. Goodall. She took the stage to thunderous applause, and I realized I was with my tribe (although I only knew 2 other people there– my husband and stepson).

Her delivery was thoughtful, soothing, and often very funny. Her message (that it's not too late to save our planet and its inhabitants) is one of hope. What a role model on how to live one's life!

She closed with this quote from Gandhi: "Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed."

After the 1.5 hour lecture, she took questions from the audience, then signed books. I bought a book for a friend and brought one from home for myself. After 20 minutes of waiting in line, I realized we would be there until midnight to get autographs, so we didn't stay for that. Luckily the book I bought for my friend (who couldn't make it because he is healing from surgery) was pre-autographed.

Dr. Goodall celebrated her 82nd birthday a couple of days ago. I left a fine art print of my chimpanzee with an ambassador from Jane Goodall Institute to give to her, since I couldn't give it to her personally. Happy Birthday, Dr. Jane!

I have some amazing artist friends who add so much beauty and joy to the world — I think they make great subjects. Their inner beauty shines through. These are my first two of the series; both are young artists who bravely embrace a creative life.

The first is Maddie, who allowed me to use her beautiful photo as reference. The second is of Manuel, who allowed me to use his moody, cool photo as reference.