Communicating through art goes back as far as 40,000 years. Many indigenous peoples used visual art to capture the oral tradition and preserve ancient stories for future generations. Native American gourd art has a rich history featuring gourds, from everyday objects such as bowls and spoons to ceremonial pieces. Today, gourd art has moved into highly collectible fine art. Artist Darlene Saucedo is one of the individuals who continues the tradition with gourd art and shares her techniques through her workshops for others.
Born in Saginaw, Michigan, Darlene’s family moved to Southern California when she was ten years old. She explains, "I was part of the Woodstock generation always trying to find and express ourselves creatively." She says, "I have always loved art and took classes in High School. However, I never excelled in those classes." Darlene received a basic foundation in various media while taking drawing, painting, ceramics, and woodwork classes. The majority of her education in the arts came from books, classes, workshops, books, and, in her words, "Good old trial and error."
Once married, she and her husband moved to Arizona. That's when Darlene fell head over heels in love with the art of the Southwest. She continued to explore her creative interests with a variety of mediums. However, many of them would fall by the wayside after some time. Finally, Darlene's mom found a book about gourd art in an estate sale she was attending and gifted it to Darlene with the comment, "I think you should try this." Darlene took the suggestion seriously, scrutinized the pages, did an internet search, and made a call to a basket weaver friend, Deborah Nelson. The two were intrigued with what they saw and booked classes at The Welburn Gourd Festival. The festival was the first of many Gourd Festivals she would attend, and Darlene talked to as many of the Gourd artists as she could to build foundational knowledge of the art. Darlene was hooked, and the rest is history.
Working with gourds as her canvas brought together all that foundational knowledge from high school. Despite the initial challenges, Darlene persisted over the following years, perfecting her techniques and gifting the gourds to family and friends as she felt the pieces came out well enough. Her perseverance, even in the face of personal challenges like her husband's cancer diagnosis, is truly inspiring. Her art not only allowed her to be with her husband but also provided an income, despite having to quit her job to be available for treatments, operations, and doctors' appointments. Darlene attended art fairs, entered shows, and sold her gourds for a few dollars like every beginning artist.
"Then, one day, I took the plunge and decided to participate only in fine art shows and competitions," stated Darlene, shifting the focus of her art. She formed her business, Gourdgeous by Design, and grew from there. As her art evolved, prices went up, and the clientele kept building. Her gourds began earning awards in both fine art and gourd competitions, and her prices and pieces moved into the high-demand range. Darlene's work caught the eye of several galleries that approached her for representation, which she readily accepted. Through this time, Darlene sold her work through the Canyon in Laguna Beach Art Fair and entered her work at fine arts events in Santa Barbara and Napa, California; Denver, Colorado; New Mexico; and Arizona.
Darlene looked back over the years and thanked her mom, husband, and son for their encouragement and the honest feedback that allowed her to push forward in the evolution of her work. Now a retired widow, Darlene turned her home garage and spare bedroom into her workshop and painting studio. She teaches classes for the Holland Center in North Scottsdale, Milkweed Studio in Phoenix, Arizona, and her home in Peoria. Darlene is a member of and shows her work with the Sonoran Arts League in Cave Creek, Arizona Gourd Society (AZGS), American Gourd Society (AGS) Westbrook Fine Arts, Arizona Arts Alliance Gallery, the Gourd Gypsies Patch, Wham Art Association in the Surprise, Arizona, On the Edge Gallery in Old Town Scottsdale. Artist Darlene Saucedo summarizes her inspiration by saying, " When it comes to creating with gourds, I don't think about what I can't do, but what I want to do."
Email: gourdgeousbydesign@gmail.com
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