When some friends asked me to make a piece for a long thin alcove in their living room, I immediately thought of a portrait piece in the style of Giacometti. After realizing that the thin limbs would not work in fired clay, and knowing that bronze would be too expensive, I decided to fabricate the piece in steel. Giacometti made his work in clay or plaster and his brother Diego made the molds and handled the casting. Not having the luxury of having a relative willing to make the molds and knowing the time and expense involved led me further to th idea of working in steel. I started with 3/8 inch steel rods and filled with more steel, at times using 1/4 rods as filler. Halfway through the process, I changed the pose. Originally the figures touched and did not interact with the wall. I spent a year off and on working at it. In the end, I wanted the faces to be suggestive of the features of the soon to be owners of the work. By patiently melting steel, the forms became more three dimensional and the features became more distinct.