As soon as the seeds rattle inside they are ready to be cleaned. Before a gourd is cleaned, Rowena looks at the gourd and gets ideas of what to create with it. Then she cuts a lid or opening and cleans the gourd out. She creates her art with a variety of media, including watercolors, acrylics, oils, stains, carving and woodburning. She then gives them a final touch of leather, feathers or other natural materials.
Gourds date back hundreds of years.
The American Indians used gourds for containers to hold and store food, and as masks in tribal ceremonies. I love the Indian heritage and gourds were such a big part of that- just being able to create art with them gives me great pleasure. I hope you enjoy looking at and displaying my gourds as much as I enjoy creating art with them.