 Seven Spirits Gourd Art was inspired by Kathy Riker and her beliefs in the American Indian traditions of blessing & conserving the earth and all that revolves around it.
 Gourds are my canvas and I bless Mother Earth, Father Sky the North, South, East & West and the Four Seasons that it takes to grow a single gourd.
 Father Sky gives us the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the moon and the tears of joy. Mother Earth gives us rich soil for all things to grow. The North, South, East, and West bring the four seasons which create the cycle of all life.
 Kathy blesses every gourd that comes from the spirits with sage smudging and tobacco. From the time the gourd is selected from a farm to the day it leaves my hands to go to it's home. A single piece of my art may be blessed several times over until it finds the right owner who will wear it and know it took a year to create it.
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 Kathy Riker was born and raised in Southern California. She has been exposed to nature's beauty as a child and for most of her adult life. She was introduced to the world of art by her mother at a very early age. She has sampled every form of art and has used almost every medium, from sewing to oil painting, from ceramics to doll making. Her mother provided her with many opportunities for her creativity and to find her own path in the art world. Kathy started basket weaving in 1980 and has been a very successful basket weaver she loves to recycle from nature. Her interest in gourds began when she saw Bev Robbins gourd art in Mt Shasta in the summer of 1997.
 Kathy started dabbling with some broken gourds in January of 1998. She joined the American Gourd Society and the California Gourd Society. She entered the CGS gourd art competition at Welburn's Gourd Farm in June of 1998.
 Kathy won 3 ribbons in her first competition. All three pieces are pictured on the left...The first ribbon was a Blue Ribbon for Container Vessel named "Three Feathers" she received a second place ribbon for Cut &Painted or Stained Gourd named "Igor" after her 4 foot iguana she had as a pet. The third ribbon was another second place ribbon for Cut Gourd with Weaving named "Frustration" this piece really deserved its name. Kathy went to compete again in 1999 in the CGS Gourd Art Competition at Welburn's Gourd Farm and won 5 more ribbons. A second place ribbon for Woodburn Only Gourd named "The Zenith" this piece is in the Woodburning Book by Jim Widess. Another second place ribbon for her Gourd Mask and second place ribbon for Painted Only Cut or Whole Gourd this piece was called "Out of Africia". She took two more second place ribbons for a doll named "Diva" and Functional Item which was a Purse.
 In 2000 Kathy entered in the CGS gourd art competition and won two First Place Ribbons one in Jewelry it was a "Drum Fetish Necklace" and Cut Gourd Carved named "Sun & Moon". Kathy also entered in the Los Angeles County Fair and won two First Place Ribbons in Woodburning on a Gourd "Keepers of the Secrets" and "The Zenith" and two second place ribbons in Jewelry "Mini Drum Necklace" and the other was a doll.
 In 2001 Kathy was invited to the Indiana Gourd Show and entered their competition and won three Blue Ribbons. One for her
"ZOZO Doll Necklace", one for her "Mini Drum Fetish Necklace" This had 7 mini drum on it with lots of beads and fetishes.
 The last ribbon was for a Purse which was entered in Ethnic/Tribal Category. Kathy does not compete anymore due to too many politics. But you never know when she might throw her hat back into the ring.
 Gourds are her canvas to create her art. Each gourd inspires her creative vision and is treated as a sacred vessel with its own essence. She blesses each and every gourd with Sage & Tobacco from the time the gourd is selected at the farm, through the birth of the design, to the time it is completed. Her larger art pieces and her very fine jewelry may be blessed hundreds of times until they are finished and find a home. She woodburns intricate designs and embellishes her woodburning with dyes, inks and acrylics paint. She adds natural stones for their healing properties, horse hair, feathers and beads made of wood, glass, horn and bone to her art work. Each gourd is chosen by its unique shape and or size. Each piece of Kathy's art work whether it's a large vessel or a piece of her jewelry "is a one of a kind". She likes to make drums
to play and wear. The drum has healing properties and she escapes from pain while she is creating her art work.
 Kathy is a twice survivor of cancer. She has Hodgkin's disease And Fibromyalgia with chronic pain and fatigue syndrome. Her art has moved into several new directions of ethnic and tribal designs and colors. She now has a wearable art jewelry line which include Mini Drum Necklaces, Pins & Necklaces carved with mystic figures of angels and dancers and American Indian Elders, Shaman and Kokopeli. She also makes Purses, Pouches, Trinket Pouches, Medicine Bags and Trial Knotted Pouches. Kathy is now starting to add Leather Medicine Bags and Purses to her wearable art line.
 Kathy likes to design vessels and wearable specifically for Individuals which will hold meaning, trinkets, sage or that very
special item that they want to keep close to them for years to come.
 Kathy is now teaching classes and would like to spark your Creative fire and lead you to express yourself on the canvas of a gourd. Love the Earth Kathy.
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