This is not St. Jude

When my dearest friend Artie Turco died in 1996, the cemetery he was interred in did not permit personal identifiable images on stones.  His family naturally turned to me for the building of his monument and asked how I could carve Artie’s image around the cemetery rules.  My method, shown above, is Artie’s favorite saint – Saint Jude – but with Artie’s head.  St. Jude is always depicted with a flame above his head, my “forgetting” to etch it upon this stone was done to inform visitors that this is not St. Jude.

No sooner had word got around about my little trick than everyone started doing the same (although I had been skirting rules since day one.) Below is an angel with her hair formed as a halo not from my drawing board, but definitely one with my spirit.

I am happy to report that soon after everyone forced the issue through design and complaint, this cemetery altered its rules and now permits not only personal images but also secular emblems, logos and designs as well.