09/16/2026
I posted a photo of this piece when it was still in clay and very much a work in progress. A couple of people liked it enough to send me a down payment for one when it became available in bronze.
Well… it took me so long to finish—not because I had neglected it, but because I simply could not figure out how to bring it to completion the way I saw it in my mind’s eye—that one of the would-be buyers eventually asked for their money back. Their message was something along the lines of, “We see you’re too busy to finish that piece.”
I sent the down payment back.
If only they knew how much I had actually worked, prayed, pulled my hair out, and even cried over this piece. I tried everything I could think of, but nothing seemed to make it right.
Eventually, feeling the pressure, I finished it. I cast it in bronze, sold a couple of them, and thought I was finally done.
Except… I wasn’t.
After looking at the bronze versions for a while, I decided the piece was still missing something. So I went back to the clay, reworked the face, and made another mold.
And that is how I ended up with two different versions of the same sculpture. The one you see here is the second version.
A few fun facts:
I now love both versions.
I titled them Patience 1 and Patience 2. You can probably guess why.
But here’s the funniest part.
I was still working on the first version when, more than two years after I had originally posted it on Facebook, I posted another progress shot.
A few minutes later, I got a call from one of the people who had originally put down a deposit on the piece.
I immediately thought, Oh boy. After two years, she’s finally calling to ask for her money back.
Instead, she said, “I really like that new piece of yours. I want to put down a deposit for when it’s finished.”
I started laughing.
Then I had to remind her:
“You already did.”
Two years earlier. 😄
This sculpture definitely taught me a little something about Patience!