The Laurel-Jones County Library wrapped up its popular lunchtime series of lectures Thursday with gourd artist Susan Byra.
Byra, a retired director of the East Mississippi Regional Library, said she has been working with gourds for almost a decade.
“When people think of gourds, they think of a bird house,” she said. “They can be so much more. You can do anything to a gourd that you can do to wood. You’re limited only by your imagination.”
Byra, who is the founder and first president of the Mississippi Gourd Society, said the artform while old has been gaining in popularity.
“It’s finding more followers now,” she said. “People are looking for handmade stuff, and it’s a very enjoyable hobby.”
However, Byra noted that the hobby does come with its own set of dangers.
“You have to be careful and wear a mask while cleaning the gourds,” she said. “They naturally develop mold in the drying process. You can get something called gourd flu, which is a really, really long terrible case of bronchitis.”
Byra said she began working with gourds after learning a basketweaving technique with pine needles. Today, she attends the state’s two gourd festivals, held annually in Collinsville and Booneville in north Mississippi, and is a master judge for the American Gourd Society.
Byra enjoys showing off the collection of gourds she has made in various art classes or bought at auction.
“One uses a South American technique called huichol, which is beeswax and pine pitch,” she said. “Another has gold leaf on it. It doesn’t have to a be long process, from a few hours to several days. It just depends how fancy you want to get. The hardest part is cleaning the gourd, but that can be made simple.”
Byra said gourd art is fun, but it’s also profitable.
“I know people who’ve sold their gourds for $250 to $300,” she said. “One gourd sold for $25,000.”
Byra offered some advice for beginners, looking to design their first gourd.
“Wear a mask for cleaning and cutting,” she said. “And, use broken pieces of gourd to practice your techniques. If it looks good, you can turn it into a piece of jewelry.”
That’s another reason why Byra said she loves working with gourds — the versatility.
“With what we call the gourd guts, you can make paper,” she said. “With the gourd seeds, you can make jewelry and other decorations.”
One common theme with Byra is cats. She showed off a number of gourds that were designed to look like a black cat she owns.
“With gourds, you never know what it’s going to look like when it’s done,” she said, adding that two of her favorite tools are a small jigsaw and a wood burner. “With a wood burner, you can do shading or cutting. You can make very, very intricate cuts (with a wood burner). Some people just use the wood burner and not the saw.”
For more information on gourd art, Byra offers a number of Websites including www.primitiveoriginals.com, www.turtlefeathers.net and www.caning.com, which offer gourd supplies and other products.
Local News
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Photo/ David Owens
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