Ace of Trades: Stoey Stout's travels inspired his artistic endeavors

Stoey Stout discovered his artistic side when he co-hosted a senior travel club and an event called Arabian Nights. Today he is part of the Pyrotechnika Fire and Light Performance Group and he creates Turkish gourd lamps.
Stoey Stout discovered his artistic side when he co-hosted a senior travel club and an event called Arabian Nights. Today he is part of the Pyrotechnika Fire and Light Performance Group and he creates Turkish gourd lamps.

ZANESVILLE – He finally found a home – as an artist.

“My study of languages has instilled in me a lifelong passion for travel to new places,” began Stoey Stout. “I’ve traveled to more than 30 countries now. But I’ve found what I love the most is sharing what I’ve learned with others. This is what inspired my artist journey.”

Stout, now 59, moved a lot as a youngster – 32 times before he graduated from high school. He finally graduated in Omaha, Nebraska in 1980 and attended Brigham Young University that fall. He studied German and French, then took a two-year break to serve in the military “to learn Arabic language at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California.” He was then called up to translate for the Army in Desert Storm.

“My goal with languages,” he said, “had been to get a master’s in business with an international emphasis, with the idea of working in the Middle East. When I met my wife, Mary Beth, she said something like, ‘The Middle what?! How about the Middle West?’ And that’s how I made it to Ohio. I graduated with my MBA in 1993 and moved to Zanesville to work with Murray Investment Company, a local company doing business internationally, and then in 1999 I became VP of Zandex Healthcare.

“After so many years of moving from place to place,” he continued, “I finally knew what it was like to live in one place and truly be a part of a community. I fell in love with Zanesville early on.”

In the process he became an artist. It all started when he co-hosted a senior travel club and an event called Arabian Nights.

“That started a decade of Middle Eastern and Hawaiian shows,” he recalled, “and inspired the creation of Pyrotechnika Fire and Light Performance Group. We joined the Artist Colony of Zanesville and still perform at events. But the idea of light as an art form really stuck with me, and, on a trip to Turkey in 2015, I discovered the most amazing lamps. In the Middle East they love to put light in a container, poke holes in the container, and when the light comes through it creates designs on the walls. It also creates a mystical half-light that is very meditative.

“So,” he added, “I began practicing the art of creating Turkish gourd lamps. I imported colored beads from Turkey and got Amish-grown gourds and had my first show at The Art Loft. The designs are Middle Eastern inspired, and the effect is mesmerizing. I proudly accept the title ‘artist’ these days.”

“The Gourd Guru,” assessed Becky Clawson, executive director of The Carr Center, “is a great name for him as he’s such a kind and talented man in so many ways. His personality and kind manner are just what we need in Muskingum County.”

“I feel so lucky to have landed in Zanesville,” Stout responded, “and to learn what being part of a community feels like these past 29 years. I think in many ways I’m at the place I dreamed of as a child.”

For more information, look on Facebook.com/thegourdguru.

About the series

Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at trnews@zanesvilletimesrecorder.com.

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Stoey Stout Pyrotechnika Fire and Light Performance Group gourd guru