Bangle’s ‘Nature’s Canvas’ to open Saturday night at The Gallery

According to local gourd artist Kate Bangle, whose show “Nature’s Canvas” opens at The Gallery this Saturday night, she is “living the gourd life.”

Bangle, a Mermentau resident, is, in fact, devoted to gourds. She was first introduced to them about 10 years ago when she saw some growing along a fence line in Estherwood and stopped to ask about them. Garland Monceaux, who was growing them just for fun, gifted her with a number of them and, in doing so, sparked a hobby that would turn into a passion.

Bangle painted those first gifted gourds as Santa Clauses for her church and, following Monceaux’s instructions, used some of the seeds from them to begin growing her own. After harvesting her first field crop, she used those gourds to make hundreds and hundreds of bird houses. She quickly figured out, however, that Santa Clauses and bird houses weren’t going to keep her satisfied for long, so she promptly enrolled in a bowl-making class at a Gracious Gourds Festival in Collinsville, Mississippi. Her first bowl was leather-dyed and rimmed with leather stripping and beads.

Since then, she has continued to challenge herself to learn new techniques, attending classes and festivals around the country to do so. Next up for her are three classes at the Louisiana Gourd Society’s retreat May 15-17.

Somehow, the term “gourd art” seems to imply a certain level of primitiveness, but the reality is far from it. As can be seen in Bangle’s work, gourd art is actually quite sophisticated. Artists use special gourd-specific tools to carve, paint, sand, burn, dye and polish gourds as part of an ancient tradition that dates back hundreds of years and was practiced by the Navajo, Hopi and Pueblo nations of the American Southwest.

Bangle is, to say the least, an extremely talented gourd artist. Her pieces range from traditional bowls with pine-needle rims to modernistic, stylized specimens. She says that in spite of the advice of other gourd artists that she should find a particular niche, she has, at least so far, been unable to do so.

When one considers the time and effort Bangle puts into growing and drying her gourds, her work takes on an even deeper meaning.

Gourds aren’t made overnight. Rather, it takes about six months for gourds to ripen to maturity. After they are harvested, they have to be put on pallets and cleaned and turned about once a week until they are dried. For some of the larger gourds, this can take about a year.

Bangle’s “Nature’s Canvas” show will include approximately 30 original pieces of gourd art that reflect her progress from a beginner to her current advanced level.

Bangle strives to use only materials that are native to the state of Louisiana. She likes incorporating cypress, which she is quick to point out is legally harvested from trees on her own property. Much of her work is a tribute to the beauty of the area.

The Saturday night gala, which begins at 6 p.m. and lasts until 8 p.m., is free and open to the public.

The Gallery is located at 222 N. Parkerson Ave. in Crowley. For more information call 783-3747.