Jan Downey

I trained and worked as a cultural anthropologist, meaning I have studied people all over the world. My background and experiences led me to understand humans as more alike than different, although our differences--and how we express them--are often significant. I want my art to tell a story of humanity: we are creative beings whose creations reflect our world-view, environment, beliefs, and histories. Of course the art pieces I create are personal, but I am also connected to all humans in all time periods everywhere in the world who design, create, modify, reflect, and adorn. In an organic way, an essential component of my art is that it is collaborative with what I am creating. I have always drawn, mostly pencil, pen and ink, and scratch-art. Then I discovered gourds--a surprise meeting and love at first sight. I\'m drawn to the gourds\' blemishes, flaws, and surface unevenness, and despite the difficult process of cleaning and preparing them, the collaboration to create something beautiful or unusual is so compelling to me. The gourds and I often have disagreements, false starts, or easy transitions, but in the end we must both be satisfied. I hope that when someone looks at or holds my art, they feel connected to all other humans and the spirit of creativity.