In her early 50s, Marge Organo would have continued  managing her family's pharmaceuticals distribution business, a successful one that has come a long way from its beginnings. But Marge had something else in mind. She wanted to pursue a passion that had begun in her childhood. "I loved to draw and tinker with things and create something beautiful out of them."

An artist was what she wanted for herself in her second wind. "I enrolled in a drawing and painting class, but I thought that I wanted something different. I enrolled in a sculpture class.  Soon, encouraged by an artist friend, I was joining group exhibits. Until one day, a gallery asked to display my works and they were sold out. That led to my seriously thinking of improving my craft.

Marge first used clay and resin to create figurative sculptures. But then, she noticed that there were so many talented women sculptors using the same media. "I thought that they already occupied a place in that kind of sculpture, while I was of mature age already and I felt that I didn't have a chance to stand out beside them.

"But then, I had  always wanted to own a glass sculpture, something that I could display in my home but it was so expensive and I could not afford to buy one. But being a Do-it-Yourself mom, I decided I could make a glass sculpture myself. So, I applied to the Corning Museum of Glass in the USA. I took a change knowing  it is the most prestigious glass school and workshop in the world. But a year later, I was accepted.

The long and short of it is she stayed for a month and "learned everything I could about glass sculpting."

She shared with the Daily Tribune, "It was a very intensive course. And the focus was on glass sculpting. Within that period, you were expected to produce good pieces. So, I was working from eight o'clock in the morning until twelve midnight, every single day. Until the cleaners would come inside the classrooms and say, "It's time to close, you have to leave". But if they didn't come, I would have been working like twenty-fours a day because I really loved to do it."

Marge explained, "There are different kinds of glass. But the medium that I use is optical glass. It's also called crystal sometimes. Because it has a high refractory index. So, refractory index means it has a very brilliant shine when it's polished.

She then came home and began producing her pieces, but she decided she needed to augment her New York training.

She continued, "I went to Prague to study glass sculpture because it's another place famous for its glass sculptures.

While in Prague, she, of course, visited the Shrine of the Infant Jesus of Prague. "I have always been a devotee of the Sto. Nino, so that was one of the first things I did when I arrived in Prague. It happened that the shrine was being repaired when I visited.

"I wanted to buy some Infant Jesus of Prague images and have it blessed at the shrine. But it was late already, but luckily, one of the rooms was quite open and I knocked. And I peeped inside I saw a priest. I asked if he could bless what I bought. But then I saw one of the shelves. What attracted me was a small statue.  I asked if that was the Infant Jesus or Sto Nino of Prague. It turned out that they were renovating the altar at that time, they had to take the image out and put it in that small room.

"When I found out it was the Infant Jesus of Prague, I was close to tears. I was so overwhelmed. Sto. Niَño was telling me something. Then I asked the priest if I could take a picture of the Infant Jesus, and he said yes.

"I tried to push my luck a little bit more. I said, 'Father, can I hold the infant Jesus and have a picture with you?". And he said, 'Oh, yes. Of course, you can.'  I was so blessed that day. I had goose bumps and I was teary-eyed."

The next day, she went to visit again and saw that different Infant Jesus of Prague images in various colors. "I was excited because they were not just clothed in the usual red, green or gold that one sees in the Philippines. I told myself, someday, I am going to do something like this. I am going to sculpt Sto. Nino images in various colors."

It is this dream that she has realized through time. She has been able to create quite a few pieces but more than enough to mount a show. Her exhibit of Sto. Nino images, among other equally distinctive works is ongoing at the Gallery Joaquin BGC until  23 June.