Drawing on experience
The blog of Sproutreach, a small, full-service design studio helping socially & environmentally responsible organizations grow and connect with their audiences more effectively.
Written by Rob Gough
View Rob's profile on LinkedIn
Subscribe to this blog's feed
Gourd Birds
For several years now, I’ve enjoyed making simple sculptures of birds from dried gourds. I use local materials, including gourds purchased from local farms and driftwood from the beaches of Plum Island.
Here’s a slideshow of some samples (click on any thumbnail):
Most of these sculptures depict shorebirds, as I’ve always had a particular fondness for this group of birds, their long-distance migrations, and the special parts of the world in which they briefly settle. My sentiments are shared by many others who have studied these wonderful birds. “The restlessness of shorebirds, their kinship with distance and swift seasons, the wistful signal of their voices down the long coastlines of the worlds, make them, for me, the the most affecting of wild creatures,” writes naturalist and author Peter Matthiessen in The Wind Birds.
Although I create these Gourds Birds for my own enjoyment and creative expression, I also sell them locally. When available, they can be purchased at Little’s Block of Shoppes, 1 West Main Street, Georgetown, MA.
Tags: bird art, sustainable art
This entry was posted on Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 at 9:32 PM and is filed under Random Ideas & Inspirations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 4th, 2010 at 7:34 AM
Aimee O'Grady says:Rob,
You may want to consider submitting a design to the IDEA 2010 program. We have 18 categories including service design and ecodesign.
The IDEA® (International Design Excellence Awards) program, sponsored by IDSA and Fast Company, is the premier international competition honoring design excellence in products, ecodesign, interaction design, packaging, strategy, research and concepts.
For 2010, IDEA has partnered with The Henry Ford. Winning and finalist submissions will become part of the Museum’s permanent collection.
Visit http://www.idsa.org/idea for more details. Deadline for entries is JAN.25.2010.
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Aimee
aimeeo@idsa.org
January 4th, 2010 at 12:50 PM
Rob Gough says:Aimee,
While these humble basement-made creations are certainly not of the caliber or importance your contest merits, I will be glad to spread the word about your call for submissions.
Rob
April 27th, 2010 at 1:59 PM
More Gourd Birds | Drawing on Experience | Sproutreach's Blog says:[...] some background on these creations, check out the previous post, Gourd Birds, written back at the start of this year. Share this [...]