Dawn has lived in Colorado since 1979 and enjoys using textures in her artwork. She had her eye on gourds for quite awhile, but didn’t get her hands on one until 2011, when she decided it was time to “do it” and took a week off from her high tech job to take classes to acquaint herself with some of the many techniques of gourd art available. It took another few years before time was available and more classes were taken, but the passion was there and in 2016, Dawn officially became a ‘gourd artist’. Dawn continues to experiment with different art methods on gourds, but currently finds the most enjoyment in creating pieces using some aspect of coiling/weaving techniques. Many of the pieces she creates integrate long-leaf pine needles that have been dyed to offer a distinctive visual effect. Other techniques include weaving Teneriffes (similar to a design woven on a spider-web); closed-coiling (which most people are familiar with due to its use in basketry); and ‘weaving’ with waxed Irish Linen. These techniques combined with wood burning and carving are all integrated to come up with the designs available.