Sonoran Jacks
Roy, the Fiddling Cowboy
Carol Signore
WILD THINGS – A Fine Art Gourd Exhibit by Carol Signore will be featured at DeGrazia Museum’s Little Gallery in Tucson March 20 through April 2 (except Easter Sunday) 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily.
Signore was introduced to gourd art in 2009 at the Quail Creek Gourd Club in Green Valley. Her early pieces were tall body gourds with colorful mosaic glaze finishes. She began receiving recognition for the quality and original design of her work five years ago when one of her gourds was awarded a second prize in the Arizona Gourd Society’s annual juried competition in Casa Grande. Two years later an odd little gourd in her studio kept reminding her of a fiddler and another award winner, Roy the Fiddling Cowboy, was born.
Now Roy is part of a fanciful trio that includes Travis, another fiddler and Hoss, the Wash Tub Bass Player.
Dancers, Shaman, golfers, yogis and a variety of animals emerge regularly on Carol’s workbench, too. WILD THINGS will feature Rico, her whimsical 2012 blue ribbon Sonoran Lion mask along with Margot, a four-foot Shaman wall hanging that won Best in Show and Sponsor’s Choice Award in 2014. Newcomers are Clover, Sage and Timothy, Signore’s Sonoran Jacks, a beautiful family of Black-tailed Jackrabbits that took first place in the Master’s category at this year’s 2016 Wuertz Festival
“I love retirement. It has provided the chunks of unstructured time I need to create. To me it’s the best part of not working, although I probably work harder now at times than I did before. I’m not painting watercolors as I once imagined I would. I still paint, but now I also drill, dye, wood burn, sand, sew and order strange things like Emu feathers and skunk skins over the Internet. My paintbrushes and I have been hijacked happily by an ancient and fascinating fruit. I’m excited every time I watch a new one come to life on its own three dimensional canvas.”
Learn more about Signore’s work at www.gourdartsouthwest.com.
Contact Carol directly to see her current collection of original designs or to commission a special piece to suit your needs.