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R A P I D R I V E R A R T S
fine art
Illuminating the Gourds of Art
L
ocal artist Jon
Dennis uses
wood or gourds
to carve out the
life he sees here
in the mountains of
Western North Carolina.
He captures the falling of
leaves, the snapping of a
trout jumping in a river
or the graceful movements
of a butterfly as it
absconds into flight, all
through his detailed carvings.
His sculptures are as
much about movement,
as they are about his love
of nature.
His subjects may
be varied but his style
is uniquely his own. A
style that is both mature
and youthful in spirit.
Every piece reflects life in
the mountains, captures
feeling with symbols of
each season, he allows the
viewer to ruminate on their own memories.
Each piece tells a story and the story it tells
is different for everyone.
Today, Dennis carves mostly on gourds
but also loves to carve from wood, his
original love. But gourds tend to be his most
popular and most recognizable form of his
work, so for now they are his main focus.
When he does choose to carve wood he
chooses “Whatever I can get my hands on,”
but prefers aspen, butternut, and cottonwood,
for their ease in carving and for their
lustrous almost translucent textures.
Art has always been a part of Dennis’s
life, but not always his livelihood. As a kid
he loved art and was fascinated by sculptures
and paintings and enjoyed them almost as
much as he loved the great outdoors. But
life has a way of cutting its own trench and
sometimes we have no choice but to follow.
In ’75 although he graduated with a BFA
from the University of Georgia he would
spend the next 25 years as a paramedic and
firefighter in metro Atlanta, dreaming of
someday building a cabin in the woods and
living off the land.
“I loved being a paramedic,” he says.
“Those were very good years. I loved living
near Atlanta, but I also loved getting away
from Atlanta, away from the heat and the
busy fast moving life and we’d come up
here to the mountains every year. Been doing
that since ’71 or ’72.”
In 2001 he and his wife finally built
that log cabin on Sheepback Mountain just
outside of Maggie Valley. “It’s literally awe
inspiring out here,” he says. “Everyday I’m
inspired to work.” Which he does with an
industrious determination, working seven
Carved gourds by Jon Dennis
BY DENNIS RAY
hours a day five or six
days every week.
“A few years ago
my wife suggested I
might try and put lights
in the gourds. She had
seen a fountain and had
gotten the idea. So we
tried a few different
cordless types and found
some that really looked
good and we knew we
were on to something.”
The light illuminates
through the top of the
gourd and through the
spaces where he has
made cutouts of leaves
or flowers and these
beautiful shapes shine
against the ceiling and
walls of the room. “The
gourds are perfect as
nightlights or to illuminate
a corner or shelving.”
With the addition of the lights his
gourds have exceeded in demand and even
being as prolific as he is, Dennis finds it
hard to keep up.
As to why he figures they sell faster
with the added lights, he says, “Most
folks like functional art. They like how
the (gourds) create mood with shadows.
People also like the way light can change
art, making it more striking, creating an
almost different piece, the way lights can
change a sculpture in a garden. Light is
itself the purest art.
Light, throughout literature, has been
used as the symbol of life. Dennis uses light
within his art like a soul or perhaps a dream
that is endlessly waiting to escape. And that
too, as to what it is and what it symbolizes,
is up to each viewer.
The shell of the gourd, when dried, has
a wooden appearance but has no grain. It
varies in thickness from paper-thin to well
over an inch. “I prefer using a thicker gourd
because they carve better.”
He explains that cutting open a dried
gourd can present hazards; the resulting
dust is extremely fine and can cause
respiratory problems, and requires adequate
protection, which he is careful to use.
“It is quite pleasing to take an ordinary
gourd and turn it into something of
beauty. I’m always surprised and dazzled as
it transforms into something new,” he says.
Each gourd is elaborately carved and then
stained. After the stain is dried he goes
back and rubs in the different colors of the
carved leaves or flowers or butterflies. The
‘Gourds’ continued on next page
18 September 2010 — Rapid RiveR aRtS & CULtURe Magazine — Vol. 14, No. 1