Among the sculptures Clayton will display at the October SomervilleManning show is a mule complete with saddle and bridle, entitled Crackshot.
When the mule arrived at the arm nameless, the farm manager had decided Crackshot was a good name. Clayton learned how fitting this moniker was.
After spending time talking to the mule and becoming acquainted, he set to work sculpting her. He was squatting down beside her examining her front legs when she awoke to the fact that a stranger was beneath her and – Crack! She kicked Clayton in the forehead so fast that he “never saw it coming.” When he returned later that afternoon with the two inch cut glued back together, he was more appreciative of her name.