Meet Mike Wolfe, the man who has not only embraced his bushy back, but also uses it as a means of creative expression. He comes up with quirky designs and gets his old friend Tyler Harding to ‘manscape’ them into his back hair every few months.
Up until a few years ago, Mike, like millions of other men, was embarrassed by the thick overgrowth on his back and felt compelled to get rid of it. In fact, he was actually afraid to admit it to his wife on their first date 16 years ago.
“He said, ‘I have to tell you something,’” recalled Jamie, Mike’s wife. “And I’m kind of getting nervous, my heart’s beating a little bit. He leans over and whispers, ‘I’ve got back hair.’”
Photo: KTVB
But when he reached the wise old age of 35, Mike decided that it was finally his turn to shine. So instead of shunning his back hair, he set up a salon of sorts in his garage, where he could use all that hair to do something creative. He started with a sketch, and got Tyler Harding, an old friend from college, to carve the design into his back hair. This was in 2008.
Mike says that he had to work up the courage to ask Tyler for help, given the rather delicate nature of his request. But he finally did and Tyler agreed to do it right away. “I said, ‘Hey, Tyler, I need an American Flag on my back,’ and he just laughed and said, ‘I got this,’” Mike recalled. They called that first creation ‘Am-hair-ica the Beautiful’, and they haven’t looked back since.
Photo: Mike Wolfe/CalendHAIR
It takes Mike four months to grow out the canvas of hair on his back, after which Tyler gets down to trimming it into a recognisable pattern. He then photographs his creation and all the pictures go towards the making of their annual project – ‘CalendHAIR’. Each month has a different theme – ‘Happy New YHAIR’ for ‘JanuHAIRY’, ‘HAIRpid’ for ‘FebruHAIRY’, ‘EastHAIR Bunny’ for April and so on. The 2016 ‘CalendHAIR’ is priced at $20 in the US an $30 in other countries.
Tyler, who used to be a graphic artist but now works as the assistant principal at Caldwell High School, said: “I’m just trying to find my niche, trying to find what feels good.”
Photo: Mike Wolfe/CalendHAIR
“It’s disgusting,” Mike added. “But it’s funny. You can’t deny it’s funny.”
Meanwhile, Jamie thinks it’s all because of her: “Maybe I shouldn’t have given him so much confidence in his back hair.”
Some of the proceeds from the sale of CalendHAIR will be donated to Gates of Hope, a charity that helps an orphanage in Kenya. And Mike and Tyler plan to spend the rest on a ‘Hair-cation of a Wife-time’ for them and their wives who have put up with all their nonsense.
via KTVB
