| PLEASANTON TIMES FRIDAY JUNE 23, 2006 3 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 miles to sell them for $.25 ... she has always been a lover of Nature.
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 "engraves" on vintage wooden
sewing items, small boxes, magnets, signs, and even burns pictures on paper.
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!"
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 talent) to have won many awards, including Best of Show.
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 the state 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 takes her an average of 10 - 40
hours per gourd! The joy of seeing this unique, original art emerge is worth it all.
cream" cones out of pine cones. A few years later she made necklaces out of bark
and walked miles to sell them for $.25 ... she has always been a lover of Nature.
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 "engraves" on vintage wooden
sewing items, small boxes, magnets, signs, and even burns pictures on paper.
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!"
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 talent) to have won many awards, including Best of Show.
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 the state 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 takes her an average of 10 - 40
hours per gourd! The joy of seeing this unique, original art emerge is worth it all.
