What do you get when you mix influences of college art classes, a long-ago job on a local farm, and a love for the Peruvian art of mate burilado? For Stephanie Gush, this mix turns into carving and painting gourds.
Gush transforms local hard-shell gourds into painted and carved birdhouses and painted ornaments. She sells her art at the annual Winter Craft Market, local businesses, and the Stocking Stuffer Magical Holiday Market at the Centre Furnace Mansion.
“It combines my love of nature and art, and it’s a stress reliever, too,” she says.
Gush searches for gourds at local farms throughout the fall. She’s looking for just the right ones—as she did in fields when working on a farm—that will ultimately become painted birdhouses or ornaments. After drying them for a hefty six months (since they are ninety percent water when freshly picked), the gourds are cleaned and ready for her brush.
“The larger gourd varieties, like bottle, gooseneck, and martin, become birdhouses for small birds like wrens, chickadees, and tufted titmice,” she says. “I drill a hole so they can use the gourd for a home, and add hangers and perches. After that, I sketch a design, carve the surface and paint it.” Gush is inspired by mate burilado, the Peruvian art of gourd carving as a means of storytelling.
She decorates the gourds by painting birds, insects, and flowers that naturally live in central Pennsylvania like cedar waxwings, woodpeckers, owls, and dragonflies. “I’m inspired by John James Audubon’s detailed illustrations of birds,” she says. After a clearcoat, the gourds are ready for their second life providing shelter and art.
The smaller gourds, she turns into painted ornaments. “I enjoy seeing their character and unique shapes and imagine what I can turn them into,” she says. “They often become penguins or owls, bees or squirrels.”
Art has been part of her life for as long as she can remember, says Gush, who grew up locally. “I have been creating all my life and enjoy painting, illustration, printmaking, and working with clay. It provides expression and builds connections to others. When I was very young, my parents encouraged me to go to a Saturday art program hosted by art students of Penn State’s School of Visual Arts, and that started my love for art. Then came art teachers in high school and professors at Penn State—all inspired me to create and provide the same experience for others and to engage students to create and develop a connection with art.”
And she has. For the past twenty-five years, Gush has been the program manager at the Center for Arts and Crafts at Penn State, located in the Ritenour Building and the HUB-Robeson Center, which provides students, staff, and faculty with opportunities to learn about and create art.
“Every semester, the center holds over sixty non-credit classes and workshops in art like painting, wheel thrown pottery, stained glass, drawing, dance, and embroidery,” Gush says. “The majority of the instructors are art students and other majors, along with several local artists, my colleague, and I,” she explains. “Other students assist with operations, class setup, and customer service. It provides valuable leadership experience.”
“Art is impactful in so many ways. Art provides creativity, self-expression, problem solving, and self-care,” she says. At the end of each class, students have the opportunity to give anonymous feedback, and Gush shares some of the comments:
“Art is necessary for my mental health.”
“Besides learning [art] techniques, I have learned how to enjoy life.”
“I’ve learned to let things go. Not everything needs to be perfect.”
“Planning time to sit and be creative is very beneficial.”
“Art making can have a positive impact on students, no matter what major they are pursuing,” Gush says.
And as the semester winds down, the summer warms up, and with it, a whole new crop of gourds to be discovered in the fall by Gush and transformed into art. “Fall is my favorite time of year,” she says, “when I can treasure hunt for gourds and create something new.”
For information about how to buy birdhouses and ornaments, contact Gush at [email protected]. T&G
Cara Aungst lives in Belleville with her husband and five kids, who are taller than she is.
