My trans-son’s self-liberation is my strongest and most personal example of liberation. He was born with a strong sense of self-direction, from organizing pre-school friends into a postal service with himself as the postmaster, to starting a song-selling sidewalk business at eight, to performing in plays, and finally deciding to move to New Orleans after college to establish himself as an artist. After college, he came out as transgender, and sought gender-affirming medical treatment. He felt these to be necessary steps in order to thrive in his adult life. This portrait is meant to express his self-guidance from youth to adulthood, following his passion for dinosaurs, which play a prominent part in his New Orleans art.