But there is always a gap between what I imagine and what the keris maker can do... And then there is the issue of how 'inspired' the maker can be. He could execute a keris (cld be an established type) in such a way that no one before him could have thought of doing it in that way. It could be a very subtle and nuanced difference, but in the realm of great kerises, that subtleness makes the whole world of difference.
So without being able to completely share my imagined keris with the maker, and without knowing what he could be creatively capable of, I don't know how to commission my dream keris effectively...
Although there are more beautiful kerises out there, I kind of already have my 'dream keris' with me. It's the one that I would not hesitate to choose to save in a "there's-a-fire-and-you-can-only-save-one-keris" scenario.
Sometimes, the bird of paradise is already in our own backyard.
