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Aries and Artemis join us, and the three dogs circle me like they’re putting on a show.
“Alright, guys, I hear you.” I give them a pat each on their furry heads.
Poseidon pads to the bowl of doggie biscuits and barks at it.
When he looks at me, I realize it’s not the biscuit he wants. It’s the person who gave him the last one—the girl.
Aurora.
I was told she spent the entire morning with my dogs. They seem to like her.
“She’s not coming back tonight, mon ami.”
His eyes turn sad, lacking understanding, then he looks across at the last sculpture I did of Giselle and barks at it the same way he did for the biscuits.
Sorrow cuts into me, another emotion I’ve pushed away.
It’s amazing how these emotions resurface after years of slumber. Like old friends you don’t speak to anymore. I’ve had my reasons for keeping them at bay.
“She’s not coming back either. Sorry.” I look at the sculpture and remember the first time I had to tell the dogs their owner was never coming back.
That was one of many hard days to follow.
I remember the day when I finished that particular sculpture. Getting the rose petals to look like they were falling from Giselle’s hands was such a task, but I did it.
She loved it.
That sculpture was the last piece of my work she saw before she got really sick.
The sculpture I’m currently working on is the last of the collection. I started it months before Giselle died, and I haven’t been able to finish it. Sometimes I wonder if I’m not supposed to. I stopped working on it when it became clear I was going to lose her.
I’ve done many pieces since, all featured in my mother’s gallery, but this one is a real mystery. I’ve only ever been able to get as far as the base. That’s it.
I redid the design a few times, thinking something fresh might help, but it’s all been to no avail.
The sketch I was doing is today’s attempt, but it’s looking like another no-go.
The curves I’ve drawn for the structure look way off the mark, and I’ll have to erase them again.
Honestly, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to finish it in time for the show.
I’m only working on it because I hate leaving anything incomplete, but with this, I can’t see the finished product in my mind anymore. Maybe that’s because I was in a different place in my life when I first had the vision.
Most artists and creative people will agree that they always see the end result of their product before they even begin. I’ve always been like that.
This might just have to be one time I bend my rules.
I close the sketch pad and lift my chin at the dogs when they sit. “Come on guys, let’s go. A walk on the beach might do us all some good.”
I need some of the crisp night air and the calm of the sea.
We leave the workshop and head out down the path leading to the beach.
The beach and extensive grounds were the main features that made me purchase this property. The house itself needed work after being damaged in a fire. I used it as a passion project and restructured the entire thing myself.
I get that part from my grandfather.
He’s a man who always believed he should be out in the field with his team. If they had to work from sunup until sundown, he would be there right beside them.
