How I found my Head on Etsy and Bought It .

In the beginning,
A long, long, time ago, in 1973, when I was a small child of 8 . my parents had our intimate
family friend, the great Cuban sculptor, Tony Lopez, prepare a bust of yours truly. Understand that
Tony was as close as any family member could be to me. He was always at every major event in
my life, including every Thanksgiving and Xmas especially while my parents were alive.

In the image on the left, is a photo of my parents, Tony

and his then wife Magda and yours truly. As you can
see from my age in this picture, this was a person who
was a major part of my life from toddler to middle age.
Given that Tony lived until age 92 (he died in 2011),
thats a long time.

In any event, back when I was 8, my dad would take

me to Tonys studio every Saturday where I would sit
and he would work on my bust using clay.

As you can see on the image on

the right, it was the early 1970s,
and yes I had the long hair back
then.

So eventually the bust was finished with the intent of

having a bronze copy made. However, the cost to make a
bronze copy was too expensive for my parents to afford. They figured, there was
time, and that it would be done someday.

So, from 1973, until sometime in 2011, my bust lived in Tonys studio. He
featured it prominently as it was one of the works he was most proud of.
Understand that this is the same sculptor who designed the Holocaust Memorial
in Miami Beach, the Claude Pepper statue in Downtown Miami, the roosters in
Little Havana, and hundreds of other works which can be found throughout the
churches, parks, public places, private collections, museums, the Miami Beach Library, the
entrance to Marco Island, and other locations throughout the world. So, it was kind of cool that I
was preserved as a work of art.

Throughout the years, I would visit Tony at his studio and I would photograph him. As I did here

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Every time Id go visit Tony at his studio to photograph him, my bust would be there too to greet its
older self. I sometimes photographed Tony holding the bust.

In 2009, when Tony turned 90, he had a major exposition of his work at Miami Dade College. Of
course, I would be there too, as would my bust from 1973.

So, go figure, here you have yours truly on display in a museum art exhibit.

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Throughout these years, when I would visit him, Tony would always tell me that he was going to
get the bust bronzed so I could have a copy. But as people get busy in their lives, we procrastinate
and do other things, figuring there will always be time.

In 2011, Tony got cancer at 92 and passed away. I thought, damn, and we never got a chance to
get the bust done. At his funeral, I spoke to his son, and had asked about getting a bronze of the
bust. However, in Tonys last year, with his sickness, everything became a mess. He never was
good was keeping records, and was a true artist who only cared about his art. By this time, his last
wife had passed, so things were rough for him. So, after he died, the bust had disappeared and no
one knew what happened to it. Frankly, I was crushed thinking that Id never get that chance to
have my head bronzed so it could pass down to my progeny. Well, I figured, I had pictures, and so
life went on.

So then last week, on April 26, 2017, I was meeting with some clients in my office. The client was
with her husband who was admiring some of my photographs which hang in my office. He told me
that he was an art school graduate from Cuba in plastic arts. So, I asked him if he knew of Tony
Lopez. He did not. I told him that his work was in the Havana museum of art and all over town. So,
I decided to Google Tony so that my clients husband could see some of his work, in case he
recognized it. And among the images, there is one of my bust. I go to the client and tell them, look,
that one is of me. I clicked the link to see where it came from, because it was not one of my photos
and lo and behold, I see this:

There it was my head, on Etsy, for sale. My long-lost head was now available on the internet
for anyone to purchase. Well hell, I wasnt going to let this opportunity pass. I bought it
immediately.

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Now the seller was here in Miami, and I was afraid that if it was shipped to me, that the bust could
be damaged, so I made arrangements to pick it up in person, which I did this morning.

The seller did not know that much about Tony, as he had only met him a few times. But he was a
really nice guy. I went to his shop and plopped down some Franklins and he then took me to his
car, where he took my head out of his car trunk. So finally, after all these years, I was finally
reunited with my head. The seller asked me if he knew who the model was, I said yes. Its me. He
told me he thought it was a woman because of the hair, but he told me that a friend of his had told
him it was clearly the bust of a young boy. What made things even more interesting, is that the
seller told me that his friend had told him that wouldnt it be wild if the model of the bust would be
the one that bought it? What were the chances? What were the odds that on this particular day, I
would see my head for sale on Etsy; the same bust I thought was lost forever. Life can be pretty
funny sometimes. So here I am, staring at my younger self, days before my 52nd birthday. Im
finally going to get my head bronzed. Im still going to keep the original. Who knows, when Im
dead and gone, my 8-year-old self will live on god willing in the home of one of my heirs, or maybe
in a museum. Ill be long gone, but the bust of my 8-year-old self will be immortal.

All images Michael A. Pancier