Gourds: From Seed to Sculpture

Gourds: from seed to sculpture has something for gardeners and crafters alike. Fine woodworker David Knipfer and artist Judith Krauthamer offer beginner and advanced hobbyists tools and tips on how to start gourds from seed, build a trellis, and harvest their wares. Various homegrown gourds will be used to demonstrate how to process homegrown luffas, create and design gourd birdhouses, and design gourd objets d’art. There will be time for Q & A.

Click here to visit David and Judith's studios, and stop by our Miller Branch to see their display in the lobby in August. 

Please register with an email address to receive an immediate registration confirmation.

About our presenters:

• Judith T Krauthamer, Artist:      

 Judith creates gourd objets d’art and sculptures. Gourds provide a unique opportunity to marry organic material with ink and paint. She incorporates pyrographic and painting techniques with embellishment: beads, rocks, seed pods, dried flowers, feathers, and pine needles. The gourd itself-- birdhouse, canteen, kettle, and snake— provides the form and inspiration.

Judith’s fine art works are miniature paintings, typically no larger than 3.5 x 3.25 inches. Her goal in creating miniatures is to present a different perspective, to give the viewer an opportunity to see the world through a different lens. Her art comprises sketching and painting on sheets of plastic, using oil-based and alcohol-based pens, gouache and gold paints, and mica powder.

She is an invite-only member of the Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers Society of Washington DC, the oldest miniature society in the United States and the second oldest in the world. She is the recipient of their Honorable Mention in Drawing Award (2017). She is also the author of three coloring books, “Color Me Resisting,” “Quiet Coloring,” and “Color Your Future.”

Judith’s work can be seen at various exhibitions, such as the annual Howard County Celebration of the Arts and the Strathmore museum’s annual exhibition of miniatures, and through her studio, K and K Studios, at www.jk-dk.art.

• David Charles Knipfer, Master Woodworker

David’s artistic goal is to build heirloom quality wood objects that are functional for daily use and that showcase the wood’s natural figure, color, and textures. His wood designs harmoniously blend form and proportion while incorporating flowing curves and spectacular figured hardwoods. David’s work-- hand crafted boxes and turned bowls, among others things—are created with the intention that the objects pass from one generation to the next. His craftsmanship results in pieces that transcend convention.

David has exhibited in numerous juried art shows and has been recognized with five awards for artistic excellence, including Best of Show at Arts Alive, Ocean City. Photographs of his work have appeared on the cover of Crafts Report magazine, Fine Woodworking gallery, and in Lark Books 400 Wood Boxes. He is an invited instructor to the Howard County Woodworkers Guild and the Washington DC Woodworkers Guild. David has been cited on various social media how-to videos for his design expertise.

His journey as an artisan began 30 years ago with making bedroom furniture for his infant son. Currently, his work can be seen in galleries, such as HorseSpirit Gallery in Savage, MD, and online from his studio, K and K Studios, at www.jk-dk.art.