A painting by the French painter William Bouguereau (1825-1905) inspired this sculpture. The painting touched my heart each time I came across it, and I knew someday I would eventually sculpt it. The desire has become reality.

The painting depicted a young man ... Cupid or Eros. Like most of Bouguereau's men, this young man could have been a young girl ... he was very feminine. That gave me food for pondering. Eventually, I decided to change my sculpture slightly to fit my own thoughts about love.

In Greece, Cupid was known as Eros. He was the son of Aphrodite and Zeus. Eros starts to appear as a winged adolescent in art around the sixth century B.C., most often as an accompaniment to love stories. Usually, he is depicted as a handsome athletic adolescent - the epitome of the Greek male ideal.

Knowing the history of Cupid (Eros) started me thinking about love - true love. As I pondered the meaning of love in all its forms, I recognized what I wanted to express in my sculpture. I wanted to talk about self-love. With this thought in mind, I started sculpting Cupida.

Having experienced enough of life now to gain some wisdom about love, I know that in order to truly love others - you need to love yourself. I mean that in the best of ways. Loving yourself means recognizing who you are, and forgiving your faults. It requires being humble, open, and teachable. Loving yourself requires courage and a bit of humor. It seems so easy to love yourself, but we all know it is a process, and much harder to achieve than it would seem. I hope this sculpture gives you reason to ponder the blessings of loving yourself.