It was such a sunny day—a perfect day to go to the beach or the river, but instead, I was here. It was dusty, dirty, and smelled horrible. I had so much work to do. As I sat down and looked around, I noticed a mouse coming out of the floor. I asked myself, Why the hell am I doing this? I could be relaxing with my husband on the beach, soaking up the sun.

But then, when I’ve done all my effort and a little Algerian girl came up to me, crying because she felt my art. In that moment, I knew why I was doing this.