Artist Statement
After a career as a commercial artist, I decided to try my hand at fine art and chose gourds as my canvas. I enjoy the organic shapes and textures of gourds and find their unpredictable quality an interesting challenge. I use wood burning techniques to incise my illustrations and I add color with dyes, pastes and acrylics. I make them into bowls, vases, lidded pots, and rattles. Some are embellished with wood, beads, leather or buttons. Most of the raw gourds come from Georgia and Southern California. I show my work regionally and at my Vashon Island studio. For more information, please click here for my resume.
Developments and Inspiration
I began learning how to work with gourds by focusing on various aspects in a phased approach, such as wood burning, color, shapes, etc. Once I learned the basics and became familiar with wood burning, I delved into color by researching and experimenting with leather and gourd dyes, acrylic paints, gilders pastes, and wood stains. All of this with an eye toward style as I developed my own particular approach.
Next, I analyzed shapes and forms. Each variety of gourd has its own unique shape and many are naturally suited for a particular application, such as bowls, rattles, etc. While studying the shapes and turning them every which way, I developed the concept of making a vase by turning bottle shaped gourds upside down and cutting off both ends and adding a wood base to the bottom as an extension and stabilizing element, as well as, creating visual contrast. At the same time, I developed bender board rims for my lidded pots. I continue to research and experiment.
The shapes of gourds inspire my imagery and many utilize flowers, plants, and insects while others have abstract patterns. Wood burning adds depth, texture, and shadow to the illustrations.
For more information on gourds, go to:
Or, google gourds.
