Cedar Smith has been connected to our family for over 15 years. I met her when she was in her early 20's and doing childcare part-time as she was beginning her work as an artist. She ended up working for us, taking care of my children, Mischa and Rachel, while I was recording Songs For The Inner Child in 1992. She worked for us for a couple of years, becoming one of the family during that time. She then left the area for some years and we lost touch with her.

In early 2006, I happened to run into her, shortly after she had moved back to Santa Fe. Richard, Cathy and I were just in the process of looking for cover art for A Place For You Here and Cedar, as it turned out, had a whole portfolio of work she was interested in showing me.

As soon as I saw her beautiful paintings, I felt inspired to ask her if she might be interested in doing a piece especially for our cover. She was delighted at the opportunity, and proceeded to create a number of beautiful paintings in response to some ideas we gave her.

When she created Heart Jewel, Richard, Cathy and I all knew that this was the right image for our project. The whole process was a delight for all of us, and we are very pleased to showcase Cedar's beautiful work on the cover of A Place For You Here.

If you like Heart Jewel, I encourage you to visit Cedar's website, www.CedarSilverFox.com, to see the cards and prints available there. I am a big fan, myself, and keep a collection of her cards on hand for special occasions.

--Shaina