Local artist experiments with unconventional materials

Thursday, January 21, 2010

By PAMME BOUTSELIS

Correspondent

PETERBOROUGH – Merrimack fine craft artist Micheline was always drawn to art, but it wasn’t until she took a step back in her life that she truly found her artistic niche.

“Back,” as in back in to school and in many ways, back to nature.

After many years in retail management, Micheline is now able to devote the majority of her time to her artwork, the result of which is on display at the Sharon Fine Arts Gallery and a dozen shops and galleries throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Micheline is the featured craft artist at the Sharon Arts Center in Peterborough throughout January, and her work with gourds is a continual source of fascination for those who view them.

“Micheline’s gourd art is particularly interesting because of the traditional use of wood burning coupled with vivid design work,” said Camellia Sousa, the fine crafts gallery manager at Sharon Arts Center.

“I had never seen anything like the work Micheline is doing, and we are thrilled to have such a unique addition to the craft gallery.”

Micheline grew up in a small town along the banks of the St. Lawrence River near Montreal. With little money for art supplies, she collected used fiberboard from home construction sites nearby to draw on.

While her initial college studies focused on special education and social work at the University of New Hampshire and University of Massachusetts, it wasn’t until she returned to college as an adult in Charlotte, N.C., that she truly discovered her passion for art.

She began creating funky furniture designs and “crazy” clocks, including an award-winning chair.

“The designs come right out of my head,” Micheline said. “I used a lot of the same colors, dark greens, red – I love color!”

Her work with gourds began about six or seven years ago after she saw what she assumed was a piece of pottery in a shop in North Carolina.

“I was fascinated by it,” Micheline said. “I picked it up and it was featherweight.”

The person who had created the gourd had also written a book.

“I went to Barnes & Noble and got that book, and then hunted around for gourds at craft shops,” Micheline said.

She soon began her own work with gourds, which has slowly expanded to include lamps, using the whole gourd, designed, burned, dyed with leather dyes and wired.

Her artwork is a result of self-training. While many artists paint directly onto the gourds, Micheline’s focus was on a more natural look, looking to the gourd itself, with its imperfections and unique shape, to lead the way.

While each gourd is different, the process generally takes a couple days to complete based on drying times for the dye.

“The surface of each gourd is smooth, which makes the dye, which is quite watery, run,” Micheline said. “I burn, because the gourd is porous. I need to burn areas for the dyes. First, I pencil the design, burn, which develops a gutter-like, so that dyes will not run.”

She particularly likes that no two gourds are alike, from their diverse shapes to the actual designs, which are based largely on the shape and the way the dye sets on the gourd.

“It is very much like the grain in wood,” she said. “I don’t know what the dye color will be until it dries.”

Using a limited range of leather dye colors, Micheline often applies many coats of dye to establish the varied shades seen in her work. Many pieces are finished with natural elements, such as feathers, pine needles and sea grass, which are used in her mask work, as well. The pine needles are soaked in advance to create pliability in use.

As a juried member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, Micheline’s work found acceptance in large part because the judging artists felt she worked with the gourd and not on it.

Micheline is delighted to be the featured craft artist this month at the Sharon Arts Center, and the feeling is mutual.

“Sharon Arts Center is thrilled to share Micheline’s unique gourd art with the 22,000 visitors to the gallery to each year,” Sousa said.