Let us say it immediately: with John Lewis Jensen, things are much more complicated, because like Pierre Reverdy in France, Chantal Gilbert in Quebec or even Jack Levin in the USA, they belong to a rare group of cutlers who think of themselves as Artists first and foremost, and whose works (which happen to be knives) are the subject of intense reflection, not only in terms of the technical and aesthetic, but also on personal, moral and philosophical levels. If we were not afraid to be suspected of bias, we would say that there perhaps is some influence from Old World Europe: P. Reverdy is French, CH Gilbert is Canadian and a French-speaking person, J. Levin is originally from Latvia (the Russian cutlers, with their "weapons, which become not-arms" seem to share the same spirit as him). As for J.L. Jensen, the fact that as a child he travelled abundantly with his mother to Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and that as a student, he took part in two summer sessions of study in Pont-Aven, France (Brittany) and in Florence Italy, surely had a considerable impact on his philosophical vision of the world. In addition, the personal relation between John and sharp objects is differently more complicated than the simple and natural "imitating of a mentor" as is the case with Anders Hogstrom. Indeed, John was born in September 1971 with a a birth defect known as a cleft lip and palette. From there, John endured thirteen surgical operations during his childhood to remedy this serious problem. John became very familiar with all kinds all surgical instruments used specifically for these kind of operations. After that, one can hardly be surprised that John's vision of the knife is very ambivalent: admittedly that it was an instrument of healing, although of course with this came suffering, though in this situation he places that upon other aspects of the experience.

Two other contradictory experiences with the knife will further explain, yet also complicate his relationship with the knife. As we have already said, as a very young person John did a lot of traveling, which exposed him to the most spectacular works of art, culture and archaeology. This made him discover the historical importance of the knife as a tool. But, whereas in a 6th grade class, an assignment was given to create an object from history, something which could have been used by our most primitive ancestors. John produces a knife carved from a pig bone. The professor reacted horrified, and refused not only to show the work, but to even return it to him! The reason cited by the idiot: "That could have a negative influence on the class". John felt disturbed, and without a voice. From this sad experience, John did not reconsider knives again for nearly 12 years.

With the end of his secondary studies in 1990, although interested by objects of art, he chooses the field of photography, which appeared to him to open more possibilities for a career. He is accepted to the Savannah College of Art and Design (Georgia), but soon discovers, in an obligatory course on "Three Dimensional Design", that his vocation lies there, and not in photography. John changes his focus immediately, but unfortunately the "3D" programs were not the strong point of S.C.A.D., and after two years he comes to realize that he should find an institution more specialized. His research brings him to Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, the most famous school of art and design in the USA. During the year it took to prepare for admission to RISD, John was authorised via special permission to take some courses, even though he was not yet officially accepted as a student.

In September 1993, he is finally accepted into RISD, majoring in Jewelry and Metals, which he prefers over that of Sculpture because it is more technically directed. These courses revealed to him rather quickly that what interests him is not really wearable jewelry, but more specifically the techniques used to manufacture them and work metal, and the particular aesthetics which are dependent there. There were thus some things for him there, but nothing yet to fulfill his particular vision. That came in 1999 during a summer session at the Pont-Aven School of Art, in Brittany, where he had agreed to teach a welding class, and hoped to discover new ideas. Indeed, while working on some abstract interpretations of Celtic antiquities, his colleagues point out to him that the image of the sword was prevalent. It was a true revelation for John who, upon his return to the USA, put himself in contact with George Dailey, an alumnus from RISD, who was a part-time cutler, and still lived close by. George Dailey introduced him to the books of Jim Weyer: "Knives, Points of Interest", as well as to the beauty and diversity of the knife. And, so it was quite naturally that he started to learn the basics of cutlery from George. Then, with his characteristic surprise, he obtained permission from his department. at RISD to engage in this field instead of remaining in jewellery. In 1996 John Lewis Jensen obtained his B.F.A. from R.I.S.D. in "Jewellery and Metal". He was the first student to arrive at this, while having focused on cutlery.

A very particular aesthetic

The concept of the knife as art, is still almost unknown in the traditional art world, so John naturally turned initially to the knife world, joining the Knifemakers Guild (of which he became a voting member in 1999), The American Bladesmith Society (in which he is an Apprentice Smith), and immersed himself in various knife shows around the country, etc... But, if John was to take the great pleasure of being a part of the knife world he had to know if he found his place there (this truly came with his presence in the book by David Darom: "Art and Design in Modern Custom Folding Knives"), However, his artistic side still aspires for something more. "I know that as an artist I need to make my work known apart from the knife world; I thus decided to launch myself into the project of bringing the art knife into the artistic arena".

In this endeavor, John comes to immediately have two very positive experiences: he was selected for a gallery show in Denver, sponsored by the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) and the 3M corporation (92 objects by 75 artists were selected from more than 450 applicants); and also, he has been included in the prestigious annual special edition "Exhibition in Print" published by "Metalsmith" magazine (40 artists chosen among 350 candidates) whereas there had never been knives featured before. And it is thus in full confidence that John Lewis Jensen has just engaged in another company: being engaged to his fiancee Kristina since March 2002, they are to marry in July 2003 in Malibu (they live together in California).

To conclude this article we will be satisfied with a technical note on his knives. His workshop is very well equipped, mixing the tools of the jeweller and that of the cutler: mini-rolling mill, two drill presses, two polishing machines, two different belt sanders and an oscillating cylinder sander, a lathe, a milling machine, a variable speed Burr King grinding machine, a band saw, a Paragon furnace, a mini anodizor for titanium, an ultrasonic cleaner (very useful in his opinion to clean stones, titanium before anodization or to remove the remainders of polishing paste, etc...).

With regard to the materials John uses mostly Damascus for his blades and particularly appreciates that of Daryl Meier (the true Father of Damascus in the USA) he also appreciates that of Conny Persson and Robert Eggerling. For the handles, his material list is rather short, but top-of-the-line: invaluable stones, fossil ivory (walrus, mammoth, mastodon), mother-of-pearl and titanium. It should be said that works of John have a minimum price of 10.000 dollars! It should be noted that John arrives at these prices without recourse to a large engraver whose work can easily account for 50 to 60% of the value of the knife, and which he carries out only 8 to 12 knives per year. These prices are rather close to those of the very beautiful works of Buster Warenski, Tim Herman, Wolfgang Loerchner, Pierre Reverdy or Chantal Gilbert, which is undeniable proof that John Lewis Jensen is part of a very closed club of current makers.

If this is not enough to convince you that J.L. Jensen is one of the "top" knife makers in the world, you can go to hs remarkable Internet site: www.jensenknives.com., where you can see and learn many more remarkable things!