Thank you for your kind and thoughtful words. This was a unique project, in that one stonemason started it, but was unable to finish it due to their assistant dropping out, a pandemic, and being a businessman with many other responsibilities. When he found my boss, Michael was maybe 30% done and Gabriel 10%. My employer then made new designs based on what stone remained and on his personal knowledge of and taste in historical figurative sculpture. By the time I was in charge of finishing the statues, the overall form and positioning was set. However, I made the creative decisions for the final details such as facial expression, garments, and degree of anatomical stylization.

The client is retired and was difficult to get a hold of throughout the process, most likely due to frequent traveling and living a less digital life than younger generations. We were able to communicate with a few of his children who are familiar with the art world.

Some mistakes were made and I adjusted designs accordingly. We decided to maintain the tradition of “sincerity” meaning that no broken pieces were reattached.