Description: The icon of a woman and child is global. Down through the ages whether shown abstractly or realistically it has been the focus motif of a great many imagemakers. This woman and child image was first photographed and then painted. In the early 1970's a bus carrying a load of teachers touring southwest Nigeria stopped at a stand near the town of Ede. Sitting at the stand on a low stool was a woman, who appeared to be the mother or grandmother of a little girl, who, in the hot and humid weather, had shed her clothing and stood naked. It appeared that half the people on the bus had their camera’s ready to verify some stereotypical urge that they truly were in Africa. The woman absolutely forbade any photographs until after she had gone inside the structure and dressed the little girl. Then she allowed photographs to be taken. The woman resumed her seat on the low stool patiently waiting to carry out her marketing services. I understood her rationale, and silently applauded her action. I was amused by the little brown print dress with the crooked collar. It reminded me of my mother’s sewing, who, if she happened to put a collar on crooked, was not about to rip out the error and re-sew the garment. This thought prompted me to use the photograph to paint the picture in my California studio, opting to make the color of the dress red instead of brown.