r.n. was a student of mine at UT. i have known her for several years now, having had advised her on most of her classes throughout her time at UT. r.n. is an extremely bright student and a very talented writer and poet. i always felt that i was pushing her in my classes. after a semester of very strong "tough love," r.n. submitted a collection of poems that were extremely intense and emotionally fraught. i was stunned. in person, she is always cracking jokes with her wry humor, but her poetry revealed a different side of her. when i thought about this, i decided to create this piece. on the right is the character for "laughter" or "smile"--warau/shou. it is a very difficult character to write. on the left is a face drawn from japanese hiragana characters. in japan, every elementary school child learns to draw a face with hiragana called "henonhenomoheji." i created several drafts with these characters but found they were not smiling or laughing in the slightest. i then found other models using hiragana. this one is often called henohenomoheji's "wife," her name is hemehememukohi. i like her long hair and sparkling eyes. it's a bit of a portrait of r.n. chatting away. r.n. is finishing school soon. i hope she continues to write and push that voice deep within her.