Turning gourds into art: Ann Arbor artist coming to Monroe Tuesday

Michele Robb has a stockpile of gourds.

“I probably have over 800 gourds in my inventory right now,” Robb, owner of MishaBella Creations, said.

The Ann Arbor artist is a member of the Michigan Gourd Society. She creates everything from fairy houses to rain sticks from the fruit and other natural items, like pine needles, sweet grass, feathers, seed pods, walnut slices, rocks, gemstones, crystals, wood, even cactus skeletons.

At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 23, Robb will show some of her projects and talk about her work at the United Way Building, 216 N. Monroe St. The program is offered by the Monroe Art League. Admission is free. The public is welcome.

“I have never seen work like this before. You simply have to see it,” Eve Weatherholt, Monroe Art League president, said. “I had no idea there were so many people involved in creating artwork from gourds.”

Fairy gardens got Robb interested in gourd art.

“I was visiting Frankenmuth and loved all of the fairy gardens I saw up there,” she said. “I started creating fairy gardens after that, but didn't like the mass-produced, manufactured, store-bought things I was seeing. Wouldn't a fairy want to live out of something natural?”

Then her aunt and basket weaver Helen Springer introduced her to gourds.

“She gave me my first few gourds to make into fairy houses, and I was hooked,” Robb said.

Today, she’s turning gourds into troll houses, mushrooms, drums, rattles, vases, lidded balls, lamps, rain sticks, turkeys, sheep, rabbits, spirit dolls, hanging planters and tree of life lighted vessels.

“I especially enjoy making the fairy houses and my zipper/corset vases,” Robb said.

She goes through about 150 gourds each year. Most come from Arizona.

“With the longer growing season and warmer climates, you get the thickness of the hard shell needed for many projects. I spend the bulk of my winter in Phoenix, and one of the country’s largest gourd farms is about 45 minutes south of Phoenix. Yes, there are farms that grow nothing but gourds,” Robb said. “We also have a member of the (Michigan Gourd) group who is a gourd farmer in Niles. I have a friend who lives in the country who's had some success growing some gourds for me.”

Although gourds are perishable, when properly treated they can last “many lifetimes,” Robb said.

“If cleaned of mold and treated with protective sealant (it will last). If used outside (birdhouse, fairy house, planter), the finish or embellishments may need to be refreshed, but the gourd itself will last a long time,” she said.

An artistic person all her life, Robb is largely self-taught. She’s learned much from the Michigan Gourd Society.

“I look at some of my earliest pieces and see how far I have come. Through our gourd patches and attendance at festivals and classes with master gourd artists, I have learned so much about different tools, techniques and embellishments. I have started teaching classes myself over the last few years,” she said.

Recently, she also began adding woodburning to her art.

“I incorporate a lot of fractal woodburning. It’s a process that combines high-voltage electricity with a solution of water and baking soda (for the salt content) to create these very organic lightning strike-like burn patterns into the surface of the gourd. Yes, it can be dangerous, but I take lots of safety precautions,” Robb said.

In addition to gourd creations, Robb also makes what she calls “bohemian/metaphysical multimedia art pieces” that also use natural elements.

“Dream catchers, tree of life wreaths, magic wands, mini Zen/fairy garden displays, dragonflies with gemstones,  mushroom lights made with the skeleton of cholla cactus, to name a few,” she said.

She sells her work at art shows, sometimes with her sister, Karen Renee Robb, a Nashville-based sound healing practitioner.

“I am known for my very elaborate display which I refer to as the 'enchanted forest.' The display itself really pulls people in. It's a lot of extra work, but a very pleasant space to hang out in when doing shows. I often hear from visitors that it's the most beautiful booth they have ever seen and some of the most unique art they have ever seen,” Robb said.

Although she aspires to become a full-time artist, Robb currently works as a vocational expert.

“I testify about the world of work and how different disabilities impact employability and wage-earning ability. Much of it is done from home, telephonically,” Robb said. “In my ideal world, I would be able to retire in a few years and travel six months out of the year to various festivals and teaching opportunities. I'm not ready to be a starving artist though.”

To learn more, visit facebook.com/mishabellacreations.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Ann Arbor gourd artist coming to Monroe May 23