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Maria Isabel Aguilar
San Antonio, Texas
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Maria discovered gourd art nine months ago when she came across a
picture of a decorated gourd and told herself, "I can do that!" She
researched gourds and bought a book on how to decorate them.
She acquired her first two gourds through an E-bay auction and was
not happy with the quality of the gourds. After that experience,
she wanted to be able to pick her own gourds and get a feel for
them. Eventually she found the Texas Gourd Society (TGS) and the
Austin Gourd Patch. Through those contacts she found a grower
and was in "hog heaven" after buying her first 20 gourds.
When people started to show an interest in buying her creations he
went to the TGS website and discovered there was a state
competition in Waco in November. Maria joined the Austin Patch in
October of 2006, submitted 11 entries into the Waco show and
came home with five ribbons from that competition.
Maria enjoys working with her hands and gourds art is the latest
talent to add to her long list of artistic accomplishments. She
gravitates towards a Native American style and researches specific
tribes for authenticity and tries to stay as close as possible to the
colors, designs and textiles that were historically used. She does
admit to taking liberties when she uses semi-precious stones as
embellishments on her ethic pieces.
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