I paired the above medical text with a painted-over image from my favorite Library of Congress collection...

... and assembled other elements, including the art paper I think of as "pinto pony hide."

But the layout didn't really say "hide" or "skin" to me until I added another bit of text: "... the color of skin resides in the superficial layers, hence beauty is skin deep."

Pony hide... skin. Skin... hey, don't I have some crocodile hide paper?

So then I gave my guy a suit -- a tattered one, to expose the croc skin -- and added claw marks on the background for good measure.

From that point, it finally felt like I'd convinced the work to give up some of its secrets. I think it's enough to call this collage "Skin."

Want to see the full piece? First person to RSVP yes to my solo show will receive a sneak peek image of the full piece before everyone else! Just in case you've never RSVP'd on Facebook before, here's what you do:

• Go to the event on Facebook here
• Click the "Join" button
• Message me to tell me your email address, so I know where to send the image

Slowpokes will have to wait until May to see "Skin" [ wicked cackle].