After the harvest, Pablo “greenscrapes” the gourds, using a dull knife to shed the outer
green skin and reveal the lighter color below.
Then they are thoroughly cleaned in preparation for the drying process,
which gets the gourd ready for carving.
Now the creativity of our artists really shines!
First, original designs are sketched on each gourd.
To bring out the rich, natural colors of the gourd, fire is carefully applied using a
technique called pyrography.
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Gourds are vegetables very closely related to pumpkins, squash and cucumbers, and can be
grown in a variety of shapes and sizes.
Pablo travels to the vast gourd fields on the northern coast of Peru to check the quality
and growth of his raw material.
Laid out on the sandy beaches, the gourds dry naturally in the hot Peruvian desert sun.
With simple hand chisels, the design is carved by hand, one gourd at a time.
The finished artwork: beautiful and original hand crafted gourd art created by modern
day master carvers.
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