American sculptor Michael Alfano has been sculpting for over fifteen years. A native of New York, he now lives and works in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. His major influences are Salvador Dali, Jo Davidson, and Jean-Antoine Houdon, as well as Buddhist, Taoist, Sufi and other eastern philosophy and literature. He first studied at the Art Students League of New York, with an emphasis on life-size sculpture from the model. His formal education continued at Boston University and was augmented by internships with several prominent sculptors.

The red-footed booby is the smallest of all boobies at about 70 centimetres (28 in) in length and with a wingspan of up to 1 metre (3.3 ft). It has red legs, and its bill and throat pouch are coloured pink and blue.

A model showcases lingerie during a lingerie show on International Women's Day at a shopping mall on March 8, 2011 in Qingdao, Shandong Province of China. The official theme of International Women's Day 2011 is “Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women”. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images). QINGDAO, CHINA – MARCH 08 2011

Tibetan students play at a class break at the Xiangnong primary school on April 15, 2005 in Kangding County of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, southwest China. There is only one teahcer in the Tagong Village, 12 Tibetan students get free education from him in Xiangnong primary school. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

A placard featuring an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin and reading “We are with him for the sovereignty of Russia! And you?” is seen left in front of the Russian State Duma building in central Moscow on February 24, 2022. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP Photo)

Police detain demonstrators during an action against Russia's attack on Ukraine in St. Petersburg, Russia, Monday, February 28, 2022. Protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine resumed on Monday, with people taking to the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg and other Russian towns despite mass arrests. (Photo by Dmitri Lovetsky/AP Photo)

A serviceman of Russia's Emergencies Ministry wearing protective gear disinfects Moscow's Leningradsky railway station on May 19, 2020, amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP Photo)