Astrid Randall

Gourding bio
I started gourding, attending a gourd workshop by Carol Green at the Arboretum of the University of California, Santa Cruz, in March of 2012. The Gourd Workshop became a fixture at the Arboretum as a means to have creative fun, learning different techniques in a group while at the same time producing crafts which would benefit the Arboretum at the Nov. sale. Two of my earliest creations the “Sea Turtle” and “Gourd Mask with feathers” were featured in the Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper.
In Feb. of 2013 I attended the 10th annual Wuertz Farm’s Gourd Festival in Casa Grande, AZ and my eyes were opened to infinite design possibilities. In their gourd corral, filled with gourds of all different shapes and sizes, my inner eye saw what each of the pieces would become. They range from quirky – a banana slug for the 50th anniversary of UCSC – to sophisticated, and are most often inspired by nature and native American themes.
By 2015 I was selling my creations by participating in the Uesugi Farm Gourd Exhibit in San Martin, CA and at local Craft Fairs.
In April of 2016 we moved to Tucson where I joined the Arizona Gourd Society and my first gourd patch – Old Pueblo. I was thrilled to find that Bonnie Gibson and Phyllis Sickles whose work I have long admired are members of this patch. The Mas y Mas gallery in Tubac accepted 3 of my gourds on consignment, and the gourd patch challenge to create miniature gnome/fairy houses inspired me to create a “Casita de los Muertos” for our departed parents which we paraded in Tucson’s All Souls Parade. It fetched the 4th place ribbon at the 2017 Pima County Fair.

In 2018 my Zuni Mud-head placed 1st and best of class at the Pima County Fair, and since then my gourds are selling at the Casa Grande Gourd Festival, the Mas y Mas gallery in Tubac, the Galleria store at Tohono Chul and in the Solar Culture Gallery, Tucson.