doing what I don't do

I don't do commissions in the pate de verre. That said, I'm doing a commission in the pate de verre. So, for the better part of last week, well, for the better part of the last two or three weeks, I've been working on model making though for the last week I've been working on a day lily flower as a gift for someone. A friend of hers contacted me months ago...months!...that she would like to purchase one of my small bowls for this person who has told her how much she loves my work. Of course, I didn't have any of the small bowls and you might remember earlier this year when I agreed to make three for the gallery show in Florida that I swore...swore!...I would never do one of them again. And I'm not. But, I did agree to make a piece for this person however it would be something that I was currently doing. Hence the flower, a ming porcelain day lily, one of her favorites.

As it turns out, the person the gift is for also happens to be the person who I have known the longest in my life outside of family, which is the only reason I agreed to do it. And by longest, I mean my whole life. We were born 6 months apart to mothers who lived on the same block and we became childhood friends and while years will go by with no contact, we always manage, so far, to reconnect. And because it is for Anne is the only reason I agreed to do the commission. It was supposed to be for her birthday which was last month. She might get it for Christmas.

I won't go into the details of Anne's life. Suffice to say that she should have died several times over. The most recent life threatening ailment required a heart transplant. She had to live with an artificial heart pump for months before she got her new heart and she has become a source of support and advocacy for others in the same situation. Hence the request for the gift.

Now it's ready to have the mold made.