Gourd Art!

gourd virginia — Gourd Art, Courtesy Virginia Lover’s Gourd Society

Join us this Saturday for a Gourd Art Workshop by Denise Sharp of Sharp’s at Waterford Farm. Denise will cover the basics of gourd design step by step – design transfers, inks, pigments, acrylics, conditioning and finishes. In the end you’ll have a complete gourd project to take home. Additional gourds and materials will be available for sale.

When and Where: Saturday, November 12 (2011) from 10 to 2:30 at Behnkes Beltsville.

Price: $65 includes materials for one gourd art project, and lunch.

If you’re unfamiliar with gourd art, check out these very cool projects from our area and beyond. Above you see examples from the website of the Virginia Lovers’ Gourd Society, which just celebrated their yearly festival. Below are photos from the famous Ohio Gourd Show.

And have you heard the Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra? They do indeed play music on instruments made of gourds, and because they’re home-based in nearby Richmond, they’ve been known to perform as close as Brookside Gardens and the Smithsonian. Check ’em out! Here are some photos from their website.

AAANov20117 — Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra

Ohio Gourd Show photos by Vasenka.

Stephanie Fleming

Stephanie Fleming was raised at Behnke’s Nurseries in Beltsville. Her Mom, Sonja, was one of Albert & Rose Behnke’s four children. She was weeding from the moment she could walk and hiding as soon as she was old enough to run, so many weeds, so little time. Although she quickly learned how to pull out a perennial and get taken off of weed pulling duty.

Gourd Art