It was a pleasure meeting Graham Ottoson last night and hearing about her work with gourds. In a day and age where bland, clean, modern style is popular, her work was a breath of fresh air as she helped me see how we can preserve natural beauty and use it to decorate our homes.

She scraped and polished the gourds to bring out their rich dark brown color. When she light up one of her finished gourds with holes in it, she revealed a starry pattern on the already beautiful gourd.

I immediately thought that such a gourd belongs in a warm small house, lit by a fireplace with cozy red rugs lining the hardwood floors. Even in trying to depict the Milky Way Galaxy on my pear-shaped gourd, I wanted to preserve the simple and earthy impression I got from the gourd. This experience has brought back my appreciation for a warm, organic aesthetic in my surroundings. I am inspired to appreciate more the beauty outdoors as well as indoors.