Took a commission I almost turned down. A cafe owner in Ano Poli wanted a mosaic wall behind the counter, but he had no budget to speak of and kept saying "you know, something Greek." Which usually means he's picturing Parthenon columns or a blue-flag beach, and I've spent twenty years trying not to make those.

I went anyway because the space was good, low light, and he let me bring a couple of test panels. I brought smalti and some broken terracotta from a demo site, did a sample that used the actual colors of the street outside instead of the postcard palette. Half expected him to say no.

He said yes, and then he let me do whatever I wanted. No moodboards, no "can you make the fish bigger." Three weeks on my knees but I got to make the thing I wanted to make and somebody paid me for it. It's up there now, people photograph it with their coffee.

I'm still surprised when that happens. Twenty years in and it still surprises me. The good kind of surprise, the kind that keeps you doing it.