I finally delivered Quan Yin last night. She began as an idea in Cincinnati, Ohio almost a year ago. Daniel Terragno, who was leading a week long silent Zen meditation, had been noticing my sculptures around the grounds of the retreat center where I was artist in residence and asked to see my portfolio. What he liked about my work was the way the carvings grew out of natural wood, from bark to polish. He commissioned me to do a Quan Yin at rest for his Zen Center in Sebastopol, California. I was excited because I've always loved this pose. I took my time on her because I thought I had a year before he returned so only worked on her in between other jobs. The wood came from a dead catalpa tree "rescued" when I came upon the woodcutters taking off the top branches. Hollow at the base, the upper trunk turned out to be solid and produced several sculptures. This was the last piece of the tree left. This wood is nice because it doesn't crack like hardwoods.