Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a series of profiles of artists participating in the Slightly West of Spokane Studio Artist Tour set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 30. Look for more profiles in upcoming editions of the Cheney Free Press.
MEDICAL LAKE — Stop No. 4 on the Nov. 30 Slightly West of Spokane Artist’s Studio Tour is all about squash and gourds, and lives and portraits.
Gourd artist Ruthie Franks and painter Adam Blalock will be present to talk to tour-goers at 17005 W. White Road.
“I grow my own gourds at my small farm just east of Medical Lake, where we have lived for the past 22 years,” Franks said. “The process begins in mid-February when I start seeds in my greenhouse. By late May I transplant them to my “gourden.”
They are picked in September and dried for 4-5 months before being cleaned and processed into art.
“My greenhouse becomes my studio in late fall, where I begin working on last season’s crop,” Franks said.
According to Franks, gourds were first cultivated in Peru and Mexico from 8,000–10,000 B.C.
Unlike all other plants in the vegetable family, gourds were never valued for culinary purposes. Instead, they were valued for their utilitarian purposes as tools, containers, floats, utensils and, in some cases, currency.
Gourds come in many sizes and shapes from the 2-inch tall spinning top to the very large bushel gourd ranging from 15-18 inches in diameter.
Franks said they can be carved, stained, painted and burned into creative and beautiful art pieces and ornaments or, utilitarian functions such as dippers, bowls and plates.
“Learning to grow, dry, clean, stain and carve the varieties of gourds has become a passion for me,” she said. “I create templates for carving designs on the gourds with a rotary tool with a variety of bits. Other gourds are only stained if the shape is near perfect.
“I look for each gourd to “speak” to me before I begin the process of creating and incorporating color and design.”
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