Beaded Goards

This series is inspired by my homeland of Arizona.  In 2002, I revisited my home of Tucson, Arizona after being absent for some time.  I came across some dried gourds at a craft store and was inspired to wrap them in strings of beads.  The bead work is influenced by Native American ceremonial bead work as seen in jewelry and clothing.  Also, the patterns in Native American pottery and weavings.
I had been using bead, pins, and collage, in my paintings prior to wrapping the gourds in strings of beads.  The gourds are also a symbol of an everyday object, utilitarian , an artifact of previous civilizations.  These beaded gourds also represent how time doesn’t stand still.  They could have been present 500 years ago.  The natural form and the creative enhancement continue through me and artists like me.