ROCK SPRINGS — Arizona artist Katie Woods is sharing her unique gourd art in Wyoming for the first time. The Community Fine Arts Center will open this exhibit on Saturday, August 1 with a wide range of Woods’ artwork.
Woods runs Kate’s Kreations in Arizona where she lives with her husband of 52 years, Jerry Woods. She has worked in a variety of art work over the years, including drawing, sewing, quilting, doll making, crocheting, toll painting and stained glass. Winning a blue ribbon in the County Fair at around age 10 for a charcoal drawing, set her on a path that leads to her current work. Twelve years ago she picked up her first gourd and hasn’t tired of them yet.
“Gourds have kept my interest for so long because you can create so many different things with them. Gourds come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from tiny little jewelry gourds that look like a peanut, to huge bushel gourds,” said Woods.
Gourds have been around for thousands of years and are on every continent. Our ancestors used them as bowls and dipper spoons. Today, people use them to make musical instruments, vases, lamps, and so many other things including intricate works of art.
Woods uses several techniques in her gourd designs from carving and wood burning, to painting with inks and acrylic paint.
“There are apple gourds, bottle gourds, banana, egg and cannonball gourds just to name a few! You can leave them whole and just paint on them – not needing any special tools, or you can cut them open with a zip cutter or saw.”
Woods usually starts by drawing a design in pencil and then wood burns the design into the gourd. Color is applied mostly with ink dyes and the burned lines, besides defining the design, stops the inks from bleeding into adjacent areas. Another technique she uses is carving the gourds. The outer shell is very hard, but once you take that “skin” off, the material is softer. Carving creates depth, texture and interest.
Living in the Southwest, Woods incorporates Southwest and Western themes onto her gourds, but says “really, I do just about anything, from flowers to ‘beachy’.”
“I usually buy my gourds dirty, right from the fields, and Jerry became my chief gourd washer,” said Woods. “He would also sand intricate places on my gourds for me, not my favorite thing to do! In the past year, he has started creating his own gourds, known for his use of pine needles and pieces of nature, usually cholla skeleton or antlers.”
Along with the exhibit, Woods is holding a workshop to teach her painting technique on Saturday, August 8th. Registration is at the CFAC, and the supply fee covers all materials. The class will be held at White Mountain Library in the Grace Gasson meeting room from 9 am to 1 pm.
The class will practice social distancing and masks are requested especially when distance cannot be maintained during the class. The CFAC and Sweetwater County Library System are following CDC and county health department guidelines to ensure a safe environment.
For more information and to register, visit or call the CFAC or you may email questions to [email protected]. Located at 400 C Street in Rock Springs, the CFAC is a department of the Sweetwater County Library System. Hours at the center are Monday through Thursday 10 am to 6 pm, Friday, 10 am to 5 pm and Saturday noon to 4 pm.
