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Interview with award winning Jamaican master woodcarver
Jeffrey Gregory
Published in Pride Magazine, Toronto
There is nothing in this world that can come
between Jeffrey Gregory and his woodcarving. During the best of
times, Gregory carves, and during the worst of times, Gregory
carves. Thirty eight year old Gregory is a man with a passion.
And a man waiting for the green light from Toronto's art circles.
Gregory arrived in Toronto from Jamaica in 1989, and when he set
foot on these shores, he was already a household name in Jamaica's
art circles. However, since emigrating to Toronto, Gregory has
been fighting an uphill battle to gain recognition and earn a
living from his passion---woodcarving. But fighting for survival
is nothing new to him, as he started to support himself from 11
years old.
"I came from a poor family," he says, "I had to
help myself, there were ten of us." He helped out by traveling
14 miles from Spanish Town to Kingston to sell paintings and charcoal
drawings. "Things were so bad," he says, he sometimes
traded his art for necessities and tutored neighborhood children
for a small fee. And during those difficult times Gregory worked
diligently on his woodcarving, a talent he discovered at the age
of nine and a talent that eventually propelled him into the limelight.
And when success finally arrived , the majority of his siblings
had emigrated to Canada in search of a better life. He missed
his family. In addition, Gregory thought his work would gain better
exposure in Canada. But he was mistaken.
"Most of my family were here," he says. "I thought
it would be good here, and I thought it would be a good opportunity
for my artwork." But Gregory"s artwork took a backseat
to life's realities. He needed a job to support himself.
His first job was a cook's helper. The job lasted six months.
His second job inched closer to his passion (a furniture carver),
but Gregory was dissatisfied and moved on to another job. And
during one of his frequent layoffs, Gregory took a long hard look
at his life and saw himself slipping further and further away
from woodcarving. A passion started at the age of nine and a passion
that began without tuition and without tools.
"I started woodcarving without knowing what tools looked
like," he says. For his first wood carving tool, he beat
a house building nail to make a chisel. And he used this crude
tool for relief carving (where the design stands out from the
surface). Then, he discovered he needed tools to carve in the
hollow or curve, to carve the areas between the eyes and nose
on a bust.
"I took an iron spoon, because of the curve in the handle,"
he says. From the spoon Gregory made a curve to form the letter
"c" at the edge and sharpened it. And from these humble
beginnings, Gregory went on to gain recognition. But in Toronto
Gregory was an unknown and had no one to advise him. However,
his situation improved when Ruby Ottoway, a former mentor and
Jamaican art gallery owner reentered his life.
"She told me about a woodcarving competition held by the
Ontario Woodcarvers' Association," he says. He entered two
of his pieces and won first prize. This 1990 christening into
the Canadian woodcarving world provided a glimmer of hope. However,
commissions did not flow in. And when in 1995 another work layoff
hit him, frustrated, Gregory decided to resume his passion full
time. He sold his car for $6,000 and returned to Jamaica.
In Jamaica, Gregory was on a special mission. He was in Jamaica
to buy wood, a special type of wood, lignum vitae (one of the
hardest woods) for his woodcarving . Gregory spent one month preparing
the wood to make it easier for transporting.
"I roughed them out," he says,"to lessen the weight."
With the first part of his mission completed, he packed his bags
and his wood and returned to Toronto. Back home at his Scarborough
apartment, Gregory carved morning, noon and night. His labors
started to bear fruit. He won wood carving awards here and the
United States and finally sold two of his pieces for $7,000.
"It was my first big sale in Canada,"he says. And with
the money, he opened Impressionist art gallery and studio at Bimbrok
and Eglinton Avenue East. However, winning awards and selling
his work weren't foreign to Gregory; as his list of achievements
began 19 years ago.
"I became well known in Jamaica in 1979," he says."
"Tings Jamaica Limited held assessments for artwork and a
friend told me about the event." He entered several carvings
and at his first outing, he received a three-star rating and a
certificate of achievement.
The government bought his pieces and continued to buy on a regular
basis.Then he won a scholarship to study anatomy at the Jamaica
School of Art. On completion, the government hired Gregory to
teach other artists woodcarving.
His work was exhibited at Devon House (Jamaica's National Art
Museum) and the Blue Mountain gallery. He won the Five Star Certificate
of merit and the Ochos Rios gold (the highest art award in Jamaica)
and with these awards came international recognition and financial
stability. A stability that Gregory never expected but a stability
that was unsuspectingly nourished from a very young age.
"As soon as I could get my hands on a pencil, everything
was drawing," he says. He started drawing small objects,
human figures and animals; and eventually moved on to molding
clay figures. And as Gregory worked on his art, his mother kept
a watchful eye.
"My mother loved the way I created things," he says.
With his mother egging him on, Gregory tackled watercolors and
oil painting, and painted on anything he could find. And when
Gregory finally discovered woodcarving, he realized that he had
found his true talent.
"I have to use what God gave to me," he says. "I
was born with that talent and that's what I should use."
And during his frequent layoffs , he carved wood from his Scarborough
apartment. His balcony was his studio. Then, he carved wood from
his sister's hat shop. But as commissions increased, Gregory rented
two rooms in a store front where he presently pursues his passion,
and shares his expertise with his students.
On the studio walls and on draped pedestals are intricate carvings.
In one corner of the studio rests Marcus Garvey (the Pan-Africanist),
lifelike and varnished to an ebony patina. And on the wall, a
carving portrays life in the Caribbean. Gregory has appropriately
named it "Country Life". A young boy sits on a donkey
with a breadfruit tree providing shade. The relief carving gives
it a three dimensional effect --- the breadfruit on the tree is
so natural that it appears ready for the harvesting. By using
this three dimensional technique, Gregory has taken woodcarving
beyond the realms of duck decoys.
"Gregory's work has gone beyond the boundaries of simple
woodcarving," says Bertram Brooker, fellow woodcarver. This
unique woodcarving technique became the catalyst for Gregoryís
rise to fame in the Jamaican art community.
This year, Gregory ( now married and the father
of two children ) won first place at the Putnam Museum in Davenport,
Iowa (Woodcarvers' Congress), for "Alicia", a magnificent
carving of a young girl. "Alicia" is now on display
at the JAR gallery in Maryland. Last month, he exhibited at the
Sportsman show in Toronto. Despite the constant struggle for survival
and recognition, Gregory continues to give God thanks for his
talent.
"I didn't learn from anyone,"he says. "It was the
Creator, he's my teacher, I give him all thanks and praises."
Gregory attributes his strong belief in God to his parents. He
was raised in a Christian household by parents who nurtured, loved
and encouraged him, and with such strong beliefs, there is nothing
that can come between Gregory, his passion, and eventual success.