Thin Man (Black Walnut)

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"One night while working on the Thin Man the knife slipped and I pierced my right wrist deeply. The blood gushed out like a broken levee. I was able to stop the flow and spent the rest of the night holding my arm up and keeping the wound from bleeding. I didn’t bother going to a doctor. The injury healed after a couple of weeks but it slowed down the carving a bit."

"I was inspired to make the Thin Man when I saw exhibited somewhere a carving that a woman had made out of pear wood. It was of a thin woman, and her feet were positioned in that unique way that I copied with Thin Man. Several years later I submitted the Thin Man to a juried committee at the Buffalo Art Museum. It was returned to me rejected, with written remarks saying: “the body is distorted for no apparent reason” and “what message are you trying to send?” It was my first and last experience with the pink slip of artdom."



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