| PLEASANTON TIMES FRIDAY JUNE 23, 2006 4 of Joan's Gourds were featured (with 2 of another artist's gourds) in a Bay Area Tri-Valley local newspaper ......... on the FRONT PAGE. |
Gourds Galore
| Joan Cousins |
| 510/471.6401 |
ARTIST, AWARDS, PROCESS
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| Artist - Joan has been a "home grown" artist since the age of 2 when she made "ice cream" cones out of pine cones. A few years later she made necklaces out of bark and walked many mountain miles to sell them for $0.05 to $0.25 ... Joan has always been a lover of Nature and seven decades later is still producing and selling her many forms of art. Over the past 70+ years Joan has used many art mediums, including oils, acrylics, charcoal, chalk and pencils, plus natural and man-made embellishments if needed for further effect. All are used to gently enhance the articles of nature that Joan prefers to work with as her "canvas". Besides gourds, Joan also pyro-engraves on vintage wooden sewing items, kitchen treenware, boxes and signs. Pictures and portraits are also 'burned'. Gourd art is a recent art form for Joan, having started her first gourd Feb. 1, 2006. With each new gourd, her daughter Lorie says "she just keeps getting better and better!" Joan is a wood carver as well and is currently carving her interpretation of the famous American Classic, 6.25", wooden, pegged, pocket doll, HITTY. Go to the links page and click on www.cousinsoriginals.com to see many of her other art projects, including this doll. Awards - Being a wood carver for years, Joan has been featured in the Argus Newspapers (Bay Area, CA) and recognized in her local wood carvers newsletters. Though fairly new to Gourd Art, Joan is self-taught and has learned enough (combined with her natural talents) to have won many awards, including 1st Place, Best of Expert and Best of Show. Joan has also won equal awards on her wood carvings and wood burnings. Process - The process of creating these fantastic gourds is long and tedious, but definitely a labor of love and creativity. Joan embraces the natural beauty of the gourd as nature made it, so she prefers not to cover a gourd in paint (a popular way for many gourd artists to work). Instead, Gourds Galore gourds are in warm nature colors, with a great deal of the gourd showing through, which adds to the individual beauty of each piece. The Process: From searching for the gourds she wants to buy, to cleaning the outside, imagining and penciling the original one-of-a-kind design, burning the design ("pyrography"), cutting the top, cleaning the inside, drying and painting the inside, coloring her art, and finishing the gourd -- it can take up to 40 or more hours to finish one gourd! The joy of seeing this unique, original art emerge is worth it all. |
Joan and her Gourds at a local Bay Area Show.