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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2019)
A18 ARTS Wallowa County Chieftain Wednesday, November 13, 2019 KENNETH HUNT: MASTER OF MANY ARTS AMONG US Ellen Morris Bishop Multi-artist Ken Hunt, of Imnaha. Hunt is a master in many mediums of art. Here he is with two wood carvings in the making. He also makes furniture, builds and carves saddles and other leather work, paints, sculpts in both wood and stone and braids rawhide as well. By Steve Tool Wallowa County Chieftain I t’s easy to read about the works and ideas of Leon- ardo Da Vinci and won- der whatever happened to men or women with that degree of talent in so many fi elds. Just because we don’t know about them doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Case in point: Ken Hunt of Imnaha. The Chieftain became aware of Hunt and his talents through a rock- ing chair in Wallowa County Commissioner, Todd Nash’s, offi ce. The rocking chair, one of Hunt’s creations, is a marvel of comfort and func- tional art. The chair is beautiful, crafted from walnut, maple and ash. Also, the chair is held together entirely by stellar joinery — no fasten- ers such as nails, screws, etc. Not only that, the exposed joinery shows not a hint of gap — both mortise and tenon are virtually perfect and likely everlasting, at least unless the wood rots. Upon making contact with Hunt, viewing photos of his work online and visit- ing his Imnaha home where he lives with his wife, Mag- gie, Hunt astounded the Chieftain with the breadth of his art, which covers a number of genres, including wood and leather carving (along with saddlemaking) rawhide braiding, painting, furniture making and sculpt- ing both wood and stone. What’s so interesting about his art is that all of it is done with expertise and caring. Each piece exem- plifi es pure dedication to DOWNLOAD OUR FREE NEWS APP TODAY! 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He said it’s about all he’s done. “I’ve been making things my whole life, and it’s virtu- ally been my only employ- ment since I was 22,” he said. As a teenager, Hunt ran away from home in Cali- fornia and went to Silver- ton, Oregon, where his sis- ter lived. “I quit high school because it made me crazy,” he said. “Once I got to Sil- verton, I needed to earn some money. I went straight to work in the woods.” There, he set chokers or planted trees as well as doing carpentry and general labor work. “I was learning about this whole group of people who worked with their hands and machines,” he said. “This was something I’d never been a part of in my life because my dad went to an offi ce every day, and I was a suburban kid.” “By the time I was 22 I was working for myself carving things,” he said. “I was of that generation of kids who focused on achiev- ing a more natural lifestyle.” With self-suffi ciency in mind, the mountains in the Cascade Range called to him. His carving skills sup- plied the few dollars he needed to live, which he learned while working in a woodwork shop and making Christmas presents. There, he designed and built a rocking horse for his Courtesy photo LEAP OF FAITH — note the fi ne detail of this leaping horse carved by Imnaha artist, Ken Hunt, a master of a number of art forms. sister’s children. His boss was so impressed with it that he commissioned Hunt to build more rocking animals. Then Pacifi c Gas and Elec- tric hired him to make rock- ing animal carvings for its fl oat. “People made a big deal about it,” he said. “It was not a big deal, it was just a chil- dren’s fl oat and they hired a tole painter to paint these swans and llamas and differ- ent animals I’d designed to rock.” While exploring east- ern Oregon in his 20s, he found Wallowa county and Imnaha. He felt drawn to the Imnaha area and hoped he could someday afford to move there. That happened while in his 40s. Hunt started carving with power tools or chain saws, which he some- times still uses to rough in a project. Sometimes he goes straight into it with chis- els. For 10 years he carved almost strictly with power tools for wood although all his marble carving was done by hand. Despite his success, braggadocio is not part of Hunt’s makeup and every statement of his work is spoken in a matter-of-fact manner. “I did a bust for the state and did a couple of busts when I was in Salem, and I only knew how to carve Serving our Community! Dr. Geoff Maly A Non-Profit Community Health Center In Enterprise & Joseph www.windingwaters.org 541-426-4502 To subscribe, call (541)426-4567 or log on to www.wallowa.com/subscribe-now/ HOURS: Monday - Friday 7:00am to 7:00pm Saturday 9:00am to 1:00pm Ellen Morris Bishop Built to last — This walnut/ ash/maple chair in county commissioner Todd Nash’s offi ce is as comfortable as it is rugged looking. stone by hand,” he said. About 30 years ago he took on the project of carv- ing the interior of a house. He resolved to complete the task with hand tools in order to accelerate his learning curve. “I never learned about fl oral carving,” he said. “The fl oral motifs and interlock- ing leaves, the scroll work and engraving style work that many woodcarvers do or start there, I never both- ered with or learned that. I went straight to carving fi g- ures and from that, I went to carving abstractions. I never learned decorative work until I started carving leather.” As prolifi c as Hunt may seem from looking at the dozens of photos of his works, he indulges in down time as well. “I need time to decom- press,” he said. “I need time that’s, on the surface of it, not productive in order to go on with my life — it gets exhausting to be inside your- self that much.” On occasion, the artist fi nds himself appreciating the more technical aspects of some of his creative pursuits. “I am seduced by the tech- nical problems presented by saddle and furniture mak- ing,” he said. “Because it demands attention, it’s not as diffi cult as trying to feel your way in the dark.” Hunt said his painting art is just the opposite: “It’s all about feeling. Actually, feel- ing is at the core of every- thing I do.”
