EDUCATION THROUGH INSPIRATION

At age 8, when his parents took him on a tour of an historic house in New Hampshire, Gary Bowen decided he wanted to live in a museum. At 47, he spins cloth, makes brooms and quilts, creates woodcuts and calligraphy, hooks rugs and lives and works in the historic Vail House in Sudbury, Vt.

He taught himself how to do most of these.

"I like to do everything once," he says, though he is the author of two children's books based on the knowledge of history he has accrued through hands-on learning.

"This is how education should be," he said. "We should be inspired by it. It's not just a chore."

That attitude is one reason Bowen is an artist-in-residence at Southeast Missouri State through Feb. 17. He is teaching both university students and area teachers some of the techniques he used in writing and creating the artwork for "My Village, Sturbridge" and "Stranded at Plimoth 1626."

Friday and Saturday, Bowen showed grade school teachers from as far away as Doniphan some of his techniques for making woodcuts and for doing calligraphy with a turkey quill pen.

He demonstrated how to shape the pen with a knife, and the correct posture and hand position that produce readable results. But, he reassured them, "This is something that has to be practiced."

Bowen originally submitted a calligraphic manuscript for "Stranded at Plimoth 1626" but his editors convinced him that would relegate the book to coffee tables.

Now in its third printing, the book provides through journal entries and woodcuts a fictional account of the life lived in the colony established by those who arrived on the Mayflower.

Of the book and the class he's teaching, he says, "This is a way of learning history painlessly. You don't realize you're having a history lesson."

Bowen once worked at historic Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, making brooms and learning other crafts. After leaving the village, he was inspired to draw 26 pictures capturing what life would have been like there. He wrote a text, and his original stick figure sketches were turned into wood engravings by an artist.

The award-winning book was published in 1977. Bowen based the newer "Plimoth" book on a fictional journal of an orphaned boy learning to make woodcuts. He incorporates his own fledgling attempts at the beginning, which give way to beautiful later creations.

The teachers made woodcuts themselves in the class. Even the art teachers among them gained a new appreciation for the artistry and work involved.

The home Bowen lives in is owned by a foundation he directs. He is the artist-in-residence, tour guide and sole resident.

The house was built in 1763 and formerly housed a Masonic temple. Secret codes are carved into the woodwork and a sky was painted on the ceiling. The Federalist-style home has 20 rooms and six fireplaces.

Bowen was inspired to learn the art of quill pen calligraphy after finding the 1818 copy book of one Lucretia Mudge. He says he learned about color theory by mixing the colors used to paint the woodwork in the house.

He also hybridizes day lilies, has been known to make a sweater from dog hair he spins, and has taught dancing in the house's ballroom.

Bowen studied zoology in college with the intention of becoming a dentist. But, he says, "I followed my bliss."