How a 140-year Old Girl Found Floating in the Seine Saves Thousands of Lives Every Year

L'Inconnue de la Seine was fished from the river near the Quai du Louvre in the 1880s. Today, she might just help you survive a heart attack.

My friend Tom is an intense guy.

He just celebrated his 70th birthday and he’s getting his doctorate in comparative literature at Georgia State. If I had half his energy I could single-handedly replace those embargoed oil shipments from Russia. And I wouldn’t even charge in rubles.

When I told Tom I’d be painting a mask for the annual Fort Collins Art Museum auction, he practically leapt through the phone. “I’ll commission a death mask from you!” he shouted, referring to subject of his doctoral thesis. It was clear that I didn’t have any choice in the matter. I’d found my Medici!

And here’s my Sistine Chapel: blank, and awaiting inspiration.

For their fundraiser auction, the art museum provides artists with an unadorned ceramic mask. My job is to let my imagination run wild.

Two years ago I heard the crack of the bat and circled the bases in my mind, and sent this mask into the lineup—plus other baseball cliches—just before opening day.