Yesterday I delivered my piece with a circle to Dale Lamphere. I am still worried of its fragility, but it is out of my hand now. Hope it will not cause any trouble to him. My 18"-square piece will be placed towards the bottom of the tapestry with about 6" metallic boarder. Diagonally above it, there will be an exquisite drawing of caring hands. Dale knew my circle represented oneness and togetherness. He said to me, "As hospital staff go up the stairs, I want them to see these pieces and put their minds together for caring." What an honor it was to receive the gift of his concept!

Looking at the above photo, I'm worrying again. "A tall man may reach and break it." I just have to deep breathe and stop worrying.

This is my first collaboration piece with Kit Watson. If we decide to display this, we are going to make a navy-blue moon and place it behind the figures. The title of our show will be "Take Me to Your Moon: Two Journeys into the World of Dementia." A doctor explained in YouTube that the brain of a demented patient would be like the moon surface in comparison to a normal brain scan, which has a lot going on like Earth. It is an expression of my desire to be guided into the heart of my dear friend and teacher.

The blue woman was colored in powdered pastel - a technique that a renowned sculptor Tip Toland uses. Kit no longer paints in pastel, but why not we use the medium over ceramic clay? It gives a softer look than acrylic. When the pigments are layered, it can show depths. Kit told me she could no longer focus enough to make fine paintings, but she obviously had not lost her artist eyes. She improved my composition and instinctively knew how to layer colors. When I left her house yesterday, Kit was coloring her second sculpture without any assistance from me. I recalled her words, "I think we need to have something to work on regularly and look forward to its completion. If one thing does not work any more, we just have to pick up something else." Her resilience is remarkable.

I am doing a duo exhibition with my former teacher Kit Watson next year. She has been struggling with dementia, and our show will focus on that subject. This piece was inspired by the following conversation I had with her last October.

Tenyoh: Some choose death over becoming undignified burdens.  I am one of them. On the other hand, suicide does not seem to have come across your mind. Where do you get the strength to keep on going despite what may lay ahead of you?

Kit: I won’t kill myself. It will be awful for my children. Chances are I will go to nursing home when I can no longer live alone, but even there I will find someone to enjoy spending time with and something I can look forward to working on every day. It may not be art any more, but I will find something.

Kit will maintain her smile even if everything else may fall apart. Her strength gave me courage.

I intend to sagger-fire this piece. Simple designs seem to work better with the firing, but I'm still struggling to come up with my own style. I will just have to experiment many more times in order to produce something simpler, but expressive.

May you feel God's blessings countless times this new year!