Symmetrical, intricate and flawlessly designed, Allen Graybill’s gourds are truly works of art.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Graybill moved to the Meyers/Christmas Valley area a couple of years ago to be closer to family. Graybill worked in architecture and created art as a hobby, experimenting with various media such as stained glass and metal sculpture.
“My work in the past brought us to California and we also visited here a lot, so my wife and I came here after we retired and we love it,” he says.
However, while building sculptures in his retirement years, Graybill found that he had to apply a lot of repetitive finger tension in working with glass and the stress became too hard on his joints. A few years before that, one of Graybill’s artistic friends gave him a few gourds and encouraged him to create designs on them, so he thought he’d transition into that. Graybill joined two gourd forums — Meadowbrooke Gourds in Pennsylvania and Welburn Gourd Farm in Southern California — to help him source his gourds and build on them.
“I never run out of ideas from Mother Nature and indigenous people from around the world.”
–Allen Graybill
He admits that it takes a bit of time picking out the gourds, but his background in architecture, in figuring out how to follow the design of a building, helps him choose the ideal cylindrical forms. Once he picks out the gourd, he imagines triangular, pentagonal and other symmetrical shapes that would look seamless on its exterior when viewed from any angle.
“My gourds have to be fairly symmetrical because the pattern travels around the design,” he says. “Sometimes a gourd defines what kind of design I do. It’s like imagining the longitudinal and latitude lines on a globe. You know how they diminish at the North and South Poles? I put my design on paper, see how it works when it narrows and when the latitude vanishes.”
As far as what inspires his work, he explains that he is heavily influenced by architecture, mathematics, geometry, native peoples and the environment around him.
“It fascinates me; I never run out of ideas from Mother Nature and indigenous people from around the world,” he says, adding that he likes to tune into the natural cycles, rhythms, patterns and movements of the earth.
“The trees, mountains and [Lake Tahoe] definitely influence a gourd. I did one specific to Tahoe and someone from the Carolinas bought it. It’s an interpretive gourd influenced by the landscape and environment around me and a book I read called “The Hidden Life of Trees.”
When asked how long it takes him to create a gourd, Graybill laughs: “I get asked that question all the time. I don’t punch a clock, so I don’t know, but the other answer is that it takes a lifetime to complete one when you factor in all my experience of architectural design. I can put hours and hours into just coming up with the design and putting it on paper. It depends how detailed it is, and the type of curves the gourd has. A very small gourd might take 20 hours, but most take around 40 to 50 hours.”
Graybill’s gourds are anywhere from 10 inches to 30 inches in circumference. He uses a variety of unusual sizes and shapes; some as small as his fist, some as large as a hefty pumpkin. He’s made a couple hundred gourds so far, shipped in from Pennsylvania, many of which are now on display at Tahoe Art League (TAL) Art Center & Gallery in South Lake Tahoe.
Graybill procures dried, cleaned and tooled gourds before he starts working on them, applying media such as permanent inks, leather lacing and a sealer when finished.
“I messed up one gourd and sprayed it all black and covered one up in leather lacing and it looked pretty good. The ones that are black are all my mistakes, but I just keep going on. I try to be receptive to influences and mistakes, keep open, keep exploring. I want to keep being amazed by what’s out there,” he says. “Like a lot of artists say, my last piece of work is my favorite and my next favorite will be the next one I complete. I keep finding inspiration everywhere to help evolve my work.”
Allen Graybill sells his work on Etsy through CrowHillStudio and through TAL Art Center & Gallery. | (530) 544-2313, talart.org
