My interest in art began at an early age and has expanded over the years to include painting (oil and watercolor) to floor cloths and currently to creating designs on gourds using only pyrography and filigree carving. I was introduced to gourds while an instructor at the John C. Campbell Folk School in NC (teaching floor cloth designing). Each gourd is unique and all enhancements are natural.

 

I consider my gourds my canvas and the burner and carvers my brushes. I often add branches, acorns, antlers, leather and wooden buttons/beads. I find ideas for my designs everywhere and try to create something that invites the on-lookers to pick up the gourd for examination. Working on gourds has given me a great deal of pleasure over the years and has often saved my sanity when life throws something at me that seems too large to handle.