"Carving is easy, you just go down to the skin and stop."
-- Michelangelo
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| Self portrait 12-13-13 |
"We are like sculptors, constantly carving out of others
the image we long for, need, love or desire,
often against reality, against their benefit, and always, in the end, a disappointment
because it does not fit them."
-- Anais Nin
The last time I carved a linoleum block to make a print, I cut the crap out of my finger.
And by "cut the crap" I mean eight stitches and almost a severed tendon.
That was June 29th. I have a scar on the inside of my left index finger to prove it, a scar that still twinges and tingles every now and then, and which hurts like a sonofabitch whenever I bump it just right ... or is it wrong?
It's taken me until now to muster the courage to carve another block. But this time I finally got smart and came up with a crazy, kooky scheme.
I wore gloves!
I know. It's a madcap. It's extreme. But wouldn't you know? It worked.
Look Ma! No bloody slashed digits!
When I told Leo about my brilliant idea, you know, the one about the gloves, he just looked at me kind of deadpan and mumbled "What took you so long?" (I'm pretty sure there was a "Duh" implied in there somewhere.)
Whatever. I'm back in the saddle and happy to report that no fingers were harmed in the making of today's face.
