South Central Texas Art League
Gourd art is an old art form that is practiced in cultures all over the world. Primitive cultures used gourds for utilitarian purposes and used crude tools to embellish them. Today’s gourd art ranges from simple craft projects to works of fine art by nationally recognized gourd artists.
Blanche Cavarretta's interest in gourds started with the planting of some seeds in their garden given to them by her daughter seven years ago. The gourds flourished and took over the garden. After they dried, painted bird house were made and sold them at the local craft show. During a vacation to the Southwest, she visited with some gourd artists. This peaked her interest and with research, she and her husband discovered the world of gourd art.
After retirement, her husband pursued his interest in pen and ink drawing and begin drawing local historic landmarks. With his new found passion for gourds, he turned his pen and ink drawing skills into pyrography (fire drawing) on gourds.
Blanche’s interest in gourd art started later when she retired and decided to try doing pyrography. Her skills grew and soon, she and her husband were both selling their work at juried Art Shows as well as galleries. Blanche’s and Roy’s work have been and are featured in several Texas galleries and at a gallery in Santa Fe, NM. They each have their own styles and work only on their own pieces but critique each other’s work.
She and her husband often teach classes in different techniques used in gourd art. They also do demonstrations and presentations at schools and civic organizations.
Their work has been featured in several magazines and newspapers.
Roy and Blanche are members of the American and Texas Gourd Societies. Both are Board Members with the Texas Gourd Society and Blanche also serves as Treasurer and Membership Chair. They are also active promoters of this art form.