After finding out that she and her brother are the last members in an ancient line of Avian royalty (Some crow prince had a tryst with an otter washer-woman), Samaya decides to get a tattoo of a crow as a reminder of her new obligations toward her people. After this she would leave civilization behind for many years as she helped the various nearly-extinct Avian species re-establish themselves on a now ruined and wild Corneria.

She literally becomes the Warrior Queen of the Birds. It isn't how she would have pictured her story ending, but she would be the first person to admit that life liked throwing her curveballs.

Anyhow. yes. A commission from  Dae that I got three years ago. She was taking commissions in advance of that FWA and I ordered this sketch up for what I had hoped would be an easy pickup at the con. Except she didn't have a booth or a table that year and I didn't see her until I was literally walking out the door on the last day of the con (she didn't have it). I next ran into her at Anthrocon 2013 , but she wasn't doing art then either. Several attempts to contact her remained unanswered, though eventually I was able to get a hold of  fossil, who I had seen her with at Anthrocon (I think. My dates/conventions are a little fuzzy regarding this). He told me they were a couple and I let him know what was going on.

At this point I was considering going to Commissioner's Beware with this, but then I got thinking...what would be the point? If she's not doing art (her FA hadn't been updated in over a year at this time) it would have no effect on her. There are no enforced rules that furry artists have to follow, nor is there any guild or union that can uphold penalties on artists that drop the ball. Even if I did post something up there and she were an active artist, it is unlikely that it would actually deter business anyways because many people simply don't research an artist for minor commissions.

Rather than stir up potential drama over something that would amount to nothing anyways, I decided just to drop the commission. When I ran into her at this year's FWA (2014) I told her not to worry about it; that I was going to let it go. For the first time in years we were able to sit down and really talk. She told me she had started on the art but then lost the original sketch in a move, and had only recently found it again. After showing me the WIP, I asked her if she could finish it at the con, and it turned out that she had her art supplies with her this time.

I picked it up in the lobby on the final night of the con, as the Dead Dog Dance thundered on above us.

I can't fault this artist, as I now believe she was being sincere (if non-communicative). But given other experiences I've had along these lines...even three years later, I still balk at giving artists take-home work, to the point that I will cancel a comm if it can't be done before a convention ends.

Art by  Dae.
Tatoo artist is her character, and the otter Samaya is mine.