For some 20 years, Godfrey Denny has been producing works of art from pieces of wood. The sculptor, who is better known as ‘Jesse’, creates abstract and realistic compositions but specializes in realistic carvings as there is a bigger market for them.
Among the figures he has carved are Bob Marley, Mahatma Gandhi, washer women, drummers, guitarists, and animals. Some are from his inspiration, while others are ordered by clients. Jesse also sculpts relief pieces, which are not three dimensional. These are designed in such a way that the fronts are carved and the backs are flat which allow for them to be hung on walls.
Jesse also makes and sells jewelry and does construction tiling whenever the opportunity presents itself as the sale of his sculptures does not provide enough of an income. He also sells USB cables and chargers.
Before he began sculpting, Jesse worked in the interior as a gold miner and whenever he was back in the city, he did construction work. A little over 20 years ago, a tree fell on him while he was working in the interior, breaking both his legs. He also sustained other injuries which resulted in him being hospitalized for more than a year. It was following his recovery that Jesse began visiting a cousin who is a sculptor. Having an eye for art, he easily caught on and subsequently took up sculpting.
Jesse noted that he has other family members who also like working with their hands. One brother who lives in the US is also a sculptor, while another brother here is a cobbler.
At present Jesse is working on an order of three sculptures for a client inclusive of a frog and a lion. He has also received an order from a woman residing in the US, to make a black panther. All his pieces, Jesse said, require a downpayment before he begins carving. He does this to avoid putting his time and effort into creating a piece and then not having the client show up to collect it.
When Jesse has time on his hands and extra wood, he uses his imagination to create his art. Once, he said, he did a carving of the Arapaima, one of the largest freshwater fish in the world. Someone who was impressed with his work, encouraged him to take the sculpture to the Ministry of Agriculture; this was during the previous administration.
“I take it in to them. These people actually chase me out the place. I say, ‘man I would love for the minister to see this work. I would leave it and leave my number and let the minister see if they want it and if not y’all can call me and ah gon come and pick it up back’. They said, ‘no we ain’t got space to keep this’” he recounted.
Jesse related that he took his porkknocker sculpture to the then Ministry of Natural Resources as well and was sent away in similar fashion. “We speaking about this long now,” he said. “I think they should do something for all the artists so when tourists come, they can learn about the culture. [President] Burnham used to do it. People and friends would come and see me on the pave and
ask, ‘What you doing here?’ There is no proper place for us. When the rain fall, I got to cover up meh things.”
He added that on several occasions the Mayor and City Council tried to remove him from the spot where he operates, telling him he needed to go to Main Street, Georgetown. Jesse said he explained to them that because he is not part of the Main Street artists organization, he would not be welcome there. He still operates on Regent Street, between Cummings and Light streets, in front of YK Pawn Shop.
The man noted that some months he does not sell a single piece of sculpture which is the reason he also has other means of making an income. Jesse believes that art can pay if people value their work. One of his biggest projects was a mahogany table which he made with two other artists. The table was sold for $1.5 million. One of his remarkable pieces that he currently has on sale is a beautifully carved centre table. It is being sold for $400,000.
Keyrings, sold at $1,000 each, are the pieces of his work that cost the least. The prices for his carvings vary based on their size, the kind of wood used, and the amount of work and time put into finishing it.
The kinds of wood Jesse works with varies and includes mahogany, purpleheart, saman, crabwood, bulletwood, and letterwood. “I get some wood from foreign to. Some artists from Cuba does bring wood for me,” he said. Small pieces of letterwood and bulletwood are usually brought from the interior for him by friends, while mahogany, he explained, is usually found in Dutch settlements; the trees can also be found growing in cemeteries. He purchases mahogany.
There are a lot of saman trees in the city, so the wood is easy to come by, which is why a lot of sculptures are created with it. Usually, sculptors wait for one of these trees to fall and then cut it up and distribute it amongst themselves. However, the artist shared, people who used to be happy to get rid of fallen saman trees are now charging artists a price for them because they know what the wood is used for.
“The bulletwood and the letterwood, I get them at rare times. I make keyrings and pendants from them. The grains of the letterwood? Beautiful. Even saman got nice grains too. There is the black saman and the white saman. The black saman is my favourite because the grains nice. It got different colours. The mahogany does be red and nice. It’s a hard wood but nice to carve other than when you reach knots in the wood where the grains run all ove, he explained.
According to the artist, he can sculpt a porkknocker in a week but feels better when he is allowed more time to work on his pieces. His small pieces are done right there on Regent Street and the larger ones in his workshop at home.
Over the years, Jesse has accumulated all the tools he needs for his work. He wishes he had a chainsaw though, because he usually has to pay someone with a chainsaw to cut up the fallen saman trees. He said that at one time a grant was being given to artists and he tried getting a chainsaw, but was unsuccessful.
Jesse lives for praise about his work. This, he said, motivates him to continue sculpting. Jesse can be reached at 673-0618.
