Not all that long ago, if someone had told Tracy Swartz that TV and movie stars would be posing with artwork that she handcrafted in her Lake Township home, she likely would have said he was out of his gourd.

Yet at the MTV Movie Awards held June 5 in Los Angeles, a number of celebrities stopped to pose for a photo with “Horace the Flying Pig” – a whimsical pink porker Swartz crafted from a dried gourd.

Swartz’s ladybug pins, also handcrafted from miniature gourds, were included in “swag” (Stuff We All Get) bags given out at the award ceremony.

The serendipitous path to “Domestic Gourdess” began in 2004, Swartz said. Though she had always had an interest in writing, arts and crafts, a busy mom of two, her creativity was put on the back burner.

“When my son was 3 or 4, he claimed all items colored blue as his,” Swartz said. “We’d be running errands and he’d see something blue and say, ‘blue for me!”

Shortly after that, she penned the story of “Blue for Me!” which her mother illustrated and she later self-published.

“The bug had bitten and the muse called me forth to write,” she said. Writing opened the door to other creative endeavors.

In 2005, she traveled with a friend to a craft show in Michigan where the pair would sell handcrafted items that they had made.

It was there that Swartz saw her.

“My friend brought out this round-looking primitive figure,” she said. “I asked her what it was and she said, ‘It’s Gourd Woman. I’m selling her – she needs a new home.’”

Swartz recalls being inexplicably intrigued with the figure, taking photos and asking questions, wondering what the heck a gourd was and how she might make something similar.

“I just kept thinking, ‘I can make Gourdesses! I can make Gourdesses!’” she said.

“I brought Gourd Woman home and that was all she wrote,” Swartz said. “Who knew it would lead me down such a delightful and unexpected path?”

Inspired by Gourd Woman, she began researching dried gourd art online. “I found that gourds are a lot like wood. There’s so much you can do with them – engrave, paint, carve, etch them or sculpt with them,” Swartz said.

She tried different techniques, fashioning maracas, bowls, vases, figures, ornaments, jewelry and more, each with a unique design.

“I like to think I’m a gourd whisperer, able to see the hidden beauty beneath their dull dusky exterior,” she said.

She began taking custom orders and selling her items through word of mouth and through her website. When a friend told her about IndiExhibit, an organization representing independent artists in celebrity gift lounges, she decided to check it out.

“IndiExhibit’s mission is to help artists and craftspeople take their work to another level and get exposure they normally wouldn’t get on their own,” she said. “I joined because this year, I really wanted to play in a bigger game.”

For the MTV Movie Awards, she supplied 95 ladybug pins decorated with rhinestones and microbeads for the gift bags. Horace the Flying Pig was part of an artists’ display.

“As the celebrities came up to look at the table, photographers got pictures of them holding the artwork, which is really cool,” Swartz said, noting that IndiExhibit will also be participating in the Emmy and the American Music Awards.

Swartz is currently working on a special gift bag for the girl group, The Electric Barbarellas, who had a reality show on MTV earlier this year.

“They loved the IndiExhibit concept and that artists could work together,” Swartz said. “They asked the group to make a special swag bag for them. I'm creating Fairy Gourdarellas for each Barbarella and a special Fairy Gourdmother for their assistant.”

She is also writing poetry and working on a second book, which she hopes will be finished later this year. “When I finished a gourd project called Susan B. Cat, I just looked at her and her story just dropped in my head,” she said. Yes, it’s good to be a Domestic Gourdess, a Maven of Mirth and Magic and a Diva of Whimsy. “My gourd artwork, short stories, and poetry capture the whimsy of life, remind me to smile more and giggle often even when people are watching!”  Swartz says.

View a portfolio of Tracy Swartz’s work and see celebrities posing with her gourd art at http://tracyswartz.com, or call 419-837-1004 for more information. Her pieces are also available for sale at InProcess in Woodville Mall.

Tracy Swartz’s whimsical art pieces, handcrafted from dried gourds, serve as a reminder to smile more and giggle often, she says.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed