Colleen McKnight
Well, the results are in from the big gourd festival, and Spirit of the Desert gourd patch is the Best Patch in the Arizona Gourd Society!
We now have 50 members from all over the valley and are the largest. Not only are we the largest, our members are the most award-winning artists. At the festival, our members won 19 ribbons – by far, the largest number of any single patch. We are so proud of all our members. This includes several brand new winning novice artists all the way to Grand Master Vicki McKenna.
March was so busy! Classes, workshops, supply swaps, meetings – we all seem to love to get together and share ideas and create some art.
* Joanne Miles hosted a Carved Cholla class for 15 members – boy the dust was flying as those carvers were whirling. Thanks again, Joanne, for letting us make such a noisy mess at your beautiful home.
* Thanks to Carl Cooper who taught a second session of members how to leather braid a beautiful rim on a gourd piece.
* Before the March meeting, we held our annual Gourd Garage Sale. This is not as much a garage sale as a supply swap. We all bring what we have too much of and take home something else. You can do any art on a gourd, so the supplies are pretty much endless!
* Leigh Hill challenged our members in December to try something new. She gifted out Swag Bags of unusual supplies, and at our March meeting, we showed off the results. Wow, Leigh, you are always inspiring us!
* Patti Langdon did a terrific job on the demo at the March meeting. We all got to make our own stained glass look gourd Easter egg! Thanks Pattie – you made it all look so easy!
* Eight of our members attended Gourding in the Pines, a three-day retreat in Prescott. This retreat is filled with gourders from all over the state. Our patch is always well represented and brings back some new ideas to share.
* Lorraine Longpre has arranged for our last class of the season – Saturday, April 7, with Maria Dellos. We are so lucky to have Lorraine continually working to find teachers, places to hold the classes and students to fill them.
It’s awesome to have this all come to us as members of this great patch! Consider joining us at our last meeting of the season on Thursday, April 19, in the Sewing Room of the Oakwood Arts and Crafts building from 4:00-6:00 p.m. Or see more about our patch at www.SpiritDesertGourds.com.