Bryan McNutt
Little in McNutt's early life indicated that he would take the course he had taken. Born in Phillips, Texas in 1942, he was bred to the range and for twelve years he served as foreman of the Alan Ladd Ranch in California. When the ranch was sold, he decided to return to Texas and to seek employment as a carpenter.
Dissatisfied with local wage scales, he began to work on his own, producing a group of coat racks in the shape of animals. When, somewhat to McNutt's surprise, these sold, he began to expand his activities. At first most of the carvings were utilitarian, but he gradually moved into the area of pure sculpture and went from a concentration on animals of which he is very fond, to portraiture.
His dedication to his work is unswerving. He often works twelve hours a day and has characterized himself as having an "uncontrollable urge to create things."
His works are in the Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico; The John Judkyn Memorial American Museum, Bath, England; and has been exhibited by the Museum of American Folk Art, "American Festival Exhibit", Rockefeller Center, New York, as well as in several important gallery showings.