Next: Gift from Nature

There are many little Angels living in the sand by the ocean.
They look like a heart. And they look like a shell.

They are so tiny and you can't see them.
They are carried to the sea, and carried to the beach by the
waves back and forth day by day, swinging in a sweet cradle,
hearing the gentle music of the water and the wind.

There's a magic in the beach.
When you feel stressed, sad, or lonely, they comfort you and
smooth your heart, they quiet your emotion and light up your
insight.
They collect your sadness, loneliness, and tears, and
release them to the ocean.

Their love and healing power is always there.
That's why you want to walk a beach by bear feet.

There are many little Angels living in the sand by the ocean.
They look like a heart. And they look like a shell.

The beginning of my sculpture career started from paper clay. It was a little package in a plastic bag for young children. Actually it was a difficult medium to make a three dimensional object from. It needed some water to smooth the surface, and it took quite some time to dry. When it dried, it shrunk in a way you don't want it to be. So it took a long time to finish it. It became the maquette for my first stone carving. By the way, doesn't the word maquette sound good in French, instead of "model"?

Most of the things we experience in our life could teach us something. So does carving stones. Looking at the experienced carvers around me, I was a little frustrated by my slow process. I said to my teacher, "I think I am very slow...". He looked at me with a smile and said, "Kanae, think about how long it took for the marble to be formed".

The diamond blade grinder makes me feel it is easy to cut the stone. But it doesn't mean I am stronger than the stone, nor I could conquer the stone. Maybe it was my first lesson about stone carving. I respect the stone, I adore the stone, and I try to listen to the voice of the stone. I need to be patient to communicate with the stone and my mind.

It isn't how fast I can carve, it isn't about the size of the piece I make, but the importance would be in a relationship of the stone and me, and definitely the way my heart is.

This piece is now living in the back yard of my dear friend. She is a very compassionate and fun person. Even though we met each other much after we were grown up, we played like high school girls (probably not really...!), and we had lots of fun together. She and her husband were helping and supporting me a lot when I needed it.

To thank them for their friendship, Angel of the Sand became a present to them. They liked it and it matched their back yard where they have a Tiki bar and Caribbean ocean setting!