PHG Member Jane Wilson is a Featured Artist at the Lincoln City Cultural Center

PHG member Jane Wilson is a featured artist at the Lincoln City Cultural Center Fiber Arts Studio Gallery, April 2 through June 13, 2021.

“Gourds offer the opportunity for me to coil, twine, carve, and wood burn as well as use paints, stains, and inks, (often on the same piece) in the creation of my original gourd art,” explains Jane Wilson.

An art walk in downtown Parsons, Kansas in 2007, introduced her to gourds as an art medium. A gourd artist won best of show and the use of color and wood burning intrigued Wilson and she realized she could use her woodcarving techniques on gourds. 

Coiling, a basket weaving technique, added intense color in the design. She developed a technique of dyeing cord to match the colors used on the gourd. In Wilson’s pieces, coiling with the dyed cord compliments the flow of the cord as part of the design.

The gourd is one of nature’s greatest treasures. Hard-shelled gourds are strong, durable, lightweight, and water resistant. They also require no complex manufacturing process, are nontoxic and in the end, environmentally friendly and biodegradable. Gourd bowls were found in Peruvian archaeological sites dating from 13,000 BC to 11,000 BC and in Thailand sites from 11,000 to 6,000 BC.Wilson was raised in Southeast Kansas with an enthusiasm for all sorts of art and crafts starting with sewing projects in 4-H as a child to oil painting as a young adult. Currently living near Portland, Oregon, she is a member of the Columbia Basin Basket Guild and Portland Handweavers’ Guild and teaches classes and shows her work regionally. 

The new Fiber Arts Studio Gallery is just opposite the main entrance from the Chessman Gallery inside the Lincoln City Cultural Center at 540 NE Hwy. 101, in Lincoln City. Lincoln City Cultural Center is open: 10 to 4, Thursday through Sunday. Masks and social distancing required in the building.