It is always good to have an excuse for getting out of one's own head and create something for someone else. You begin at the end with gifts or commissions: you start with the person and work backwards. You take their ideas, the theme of the event to celebrate or commemorate or just a feeling about the person and bring that into your own artistic concerns. I think of this encroachment as a pebble in a shoe - an irritant that constantly reminds you of the ground from which your current project grows.

For this piece, my character is gone and replaced with two interlocking trees and the suckers that grow out from their roots - a hope of a family to be and a legacy that will remain.

May you have a wonderful wedding and a happy life together.