Way back in 1997, I participated in the Gallery 101 Art Auction, a fundraiser for the Ottawa gallery and an opportunity to mix and mingle with artists and art lovers.

Every artist received a free frame, on the small side, and was asked to make a work of art that would fit the frame. The gallery would recieve free frames from Bank Street Framing and other framing stores. The auction was silent, meaning people who were interested in purchasing the art would write their name and the price they were willing to pay on a piece of paper under the artwork. If you wanted to outbid the previous person, you would write your name and a higher price. After a couple minutes and lots of encouragement from the Master of Ceremonies, the silent auction was closed and the people were able to purchase their piece. I seem to remember some people, as the time was running out, would physically block out other bidders so that they couldn’t write their name and a higher price.

At this time, I still was only working on large pieces, and so had to rack my brains for an idea. Didn’t take long, as the theme of cutting nails nicely translated into shaving a beard. And so I found a shaving razor, hammered a few small nails into the wood, and stuck the shaving razor on.

This is also the only artwork I’ve ever given a proper title to: “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Shaver.” The title was a riff of the Dylan Thomas book, “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog,” which is of course a riff on the James Joyce novel, “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.”

Out of the many artworks submitted to the auction, I believe my “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Shaver” was in the top five highest grossing sold works. I still wasn’t even sure if people liked my work, so it was a nice confirmation.

I wish I’d taken more photographs. This one is a aerial view, but it’s difficult to get a sense of the razor going through the nails. You do see the path it has made. I have to date made several shaving razor and nails pieces on commission. People love giving them to friends and family.