The work on paper There Was a Man With Tongue of Wood was my initial step into what I now refer to as my Tongue of Wood series, which initially started with my adaption to Stephen Crane’s poem of the same name. It was less of a sketch and more of a trial for what would later become a painting on wood panels, a more direct reference to the title of the poem.

With the initial painting, each wood panel was a letter. After completing that work, I found myself spare panels littering my studio. One day, out of curiosity< I did another trial. Instead of each panel being a letter, each panel is a word. From there a series of studies for larger paintings were begun. Some have since been made, some are waiting to possibly be made.