De Luz gourd festival a hit with regional artists

By: TOM PFINGSTEN - Staff Writer | Saturday, June 24, 2006 11:51 PM PDT ∞

DE LUZ ---- Thousands of people drove into the far reaches of De Luz on Saturday for the first day of the 10th annual International Gourd Art Festival.

On a warm afternoon, underneath a canopy of oak trees at the Welburn Gourd Farm, visitors browsed a wide selection of gourd art for sale and learned how to make things of their own using the inedible cousin of pumpkins.

Andrea Dominguez of San Juan Capistrano said she was attending the festival for the fourth year.

An aspiring gourd artist herself, Dominguez said, "I usually come here for supplies, and to see what other artists are doing."

The artists who brought their work to exhibit and sell also seemed to be enjoying the festival, which continues today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Mary Segreto, an experienced artist who makes lamps, purses and decorative pieces out of gourds, said that she likes how the festival brings many of the artists who shape and paint gourds to one place.

"It's always a thrill to be here," said Segreto, one of whose pieces ---- a backpack made out of a gourd ---- won the "best in show" prize in the advanced gourd art contest held in conjunction with the festival. "There is so much inspiration and creativity."

Segreto said she likes working with natural fibers, but when it comes to choosing a style, "I'm all over the map. I like the basketry, but the gold leafing is one of my favorites, too."

She said she gets most of her gourds from the Welburn farm, which sells about 200,000 of the odd-shaped shells every year: "I've grown them a couple times myself, and it's fun to do that, but I usually get them here."

The art on display this weekend samples a wide variety of artistic styles, as well as different uses for the gourd. The competition, sponsored by the California Gourd Society, has almost 30 categories, from painting and staining to jewelry, bird habitats and regional styles such as American Indian or Polynesian.

Musical instruments are another popular use for gourds, said event organizer and Welburn Gourd Farm Vice President Phoebe Welburn.

For the annual show, when visitors may try to carve or paint their first gourd, "We have more cleaned gourds" for sale, said Welburn. "People who are new to the gourd world don't always know what to do with the dirty gourds."

Welburn said she especially likes the variety of pieces that were entered in the Gourd Society competition this year.

"That's some of the most phenomenal art we've ever seen," she said.

The artists who brought work to show off this weekend range from beginners who have only just begun working with gourds to seasoned professionals.

Kathy Dale said she has been painting gourds for less than a year, and it was her first time displaying her art at the festival.

Originally a painter, Dale said she finds gourds offer more possibilities, because each gourd has a unique shape. Her career as a gourd artist began late last year, when she found out that gourd lamps made nifty Christmas gifts.

"I pretty much did oil lamps for all my friends, and it kind of blossomed into something else," she said.

A legal secretary during the day, Dale paints scenes and designs on her gourds at night and on the weekends, and said around noon Saturday that she had already sold a few pieces.

Pamela Redhawk of Yucca Valley is one of the most experienced gourd artists around.

Born and raised in De Luz just a few miles from the gourd farm, Redhawk said she now teaches the fundamentals of gourd art at the Pechanga Indian Reservation and has attended every festival since it began nine years ago.

"When I was 6 years old, we used to run around out here on the gourd farm," she said, motioning to where hundreds of cars were parked in the fields.

Like most gourd artists, Redhawk is meticulous in her work. One of her pieces ---- a figure of a woman with feathers for hair ---- was especially painful to complete, she said.

"I drilled 250 holes in her head, then put a feather in every one," she said, laughing. "It's one of those insane ideas you have, and then halfway through you say, 'What was I thinking?'"

Redhawk's daughter, Carrie Dearing, also teaches and crafts gourds, while Dearing's 9-year-old son, Jake, won first and second place in the wood-burning category of the kids contest.

"My aunt gave me a gourd 20-some years ago and said, 'Do something with this,' because I've always been an artist," Redhawk said of how she got started.

The festival continues today at the Welburn Gourd Farm, 40635 De Luz Road. Admission costs $7.50 for adults, while kids 12 and younger will be admitted free.

Contact staff writer Tom Pfingsten at (760) 731-5799 or tpfingsten@nctimes.com.