FALLBROOK, Calif., May 12, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Over the next several weeks it will be virtually impossible to be bored out of your gourd in Fallbrook, Calif.
Visitors to the Northern San Diego County community will have plenty of things to see and do at a nationally recognized fine gourd art show, a gourd festival and classes on how to elevate the humble gourd into a work of art.
Once used as water carriers and ceremonial vessels, gourds are taken to a higher level at the 12th Annual National Gourd & Fiber Fine Art Show, which runs May 18 to June 22 at the Fallbrook Art Center.
"Fine gourd art is finally coming into its own," said Mary Perhacs, executive director of the Fallbrook Art Center. "It's amazing that simple gourds can be transformed into fascinating works of art as well as functional objects and jewelry."
The show this year was expanded to include fiber art such as basketry, weavings, quilts and large-scale wall hangings. It has attracted 24 artists from all over the Western United States to Fallbrook, which is nationally recognized as a gourd-growing destination and center for the fine arts.
The final weekend of the show coincides with the Welburn International Gourd Art Festival on June 20-21 at the Welburn Gourd Farm, which is 12 miles north of the center.
On June 7, the Fallbrook School of the Arts will offer a workshop in Basic Gourds for all those interested in becoming "gourdies" or perfecting their craft. (www.artcampusatfallbrook.com)
When Fallbrook arts patron Helene Ross teamed up with renowned gourd artist Robert Rivera to help launch the first Gourd Fine Art Show in Fallbrook in 1997, the art form was still in its infancy.
Today gourd art pieces can be intricately designed and can sell for thousands of dollars. And the show, one of eight or so the art center puts on each year, is one of its most popular.
"We have really come around," explained Ross, who has collected nearly two-dozen gourd art pieces herself. "It's a very exciting show."
Gourd art today is only limited by the imagination of the artists who rely on time-honored as well as modern methods for transforming it into a work of art. Pieces on exhibit at the art center can incorporate carving, coiling, decoupage, dying, lashing, painting, weaving, wood burning and polymer clay. Gourds are embellished with acrylic paints, gold-leaf, dyes & waxes to accessories such as bone, cane, coins, eucalyptus pods, feathers, glass beads, hemp twine, leather, leaves, Pakistani grass, palm fronds, pine needles, raffia and shells.
An artists' reception will be held at the Fallbrook Art Center at 103 South Main St. in Historic Downtown Fallbrook on May 17 from 5-7 p.m. The five-week show is open daily from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and from noon to 3 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is $5.
For more information and media passes contact:
Mary Perhacs Fallbrook Art Center (760) 728-1414 www.fallbrookart.org