This was the first piece that I sculpted in the summer of 1999. It came about intuitively, and so it was natural that the result ended up being very open to interpretation. The bird can be protection, comfort or healing. When I created it, I was thinking about the idea of fragility and how we sometimes need to heal our inside — our soul. A bird is so fragile and vulnerable … a metaphor for our inner feelings. This piece helped define Willow Tree.” —Susan Lordi