My name is Jonathan Gage
My father was Sweedish/Brazilian, my mother was English/Irish/Scot and I grew up on the west coast in Hollywood, Ca.
My desire for knowledge and need to express began when I was 16 and worked through a leg problem undergoing chemotherapy for two years. Nothing like a prolonged death encounter to twist ones mind open. I was attending Pepperdine University on dual artistic scholarships where Ray Bradbury spoke to me about absorbing knowledge and I was also inspired with what Leonado Di Vinci was trying to do, to understand all aspects of life using reason and to be a force for creation.
Soaking up knowledge, studying symbolic logic and philosophies, consumed me for the next number of years. In Plato's allegory of the cave, he states the philosopher takes a lonely path toward truth that others would not understand, but that it is the obligation of the philosopher to return from his journey and try to tell others of what he has found even though they most likely will not understand and may even attack him because his words are contrary to their core beliefs.
Throughout this time period I tutored at Junior collages and taught high school in many subjects: Philosophy, Geometry, Astronomy, Physical Sciences, Music, etc. My dream was to become a tutor like Aristotle was to Peter the Great, and when I was 30 I was asked by a millionaire on the other side of the planet to be the teacher of their son...how could I resist.
While I was in Bali, I decided it was time to take the next step in my personal evolution: art is the highest expression of life, it is the voice of the universal subconscious, song of the gods.
I learned how to carve dragons from Balinese master carvers. Dragons for me express a balance of extreme opposite forces, the true nature of the universe down to the atomic level and up to the waltz of galactic superclusters. We should live our lives in extremes, but keep them balanced. That gives us strength and freedom.
Later, Tony Swatton introduced me to knives and I was captivated by how they are statements of perfection, opposing opposites, and all delicately balanced. Knives MUST be balanced. I have been hooked making knives ever since.
I work out of Simi Valley and Bali, Indonesia where myself and my Balinese friends form a knife making studio called Bali Forge. Everything we make has intricate carved handles and I concentrate on migration period art and dragon handled knives.
(and yes Jol, because of my teenage health probem, I
do hobble with a bad left foot
)