Hello, my name is Darlene Tetarenko.  My journey as an artist began at an early age; ever since I can remember, I have comfortably communicated and expressed myself through art.  My earliest memories included the love for drawing about 4 or 5 years old. As a child, I struggled with a stutter and would often use art to express myself. Thankfully I outgrew the  stuttering and am now told I talk with my hands.  As a way to communicate, I could always draw a picture when I couldn't think of what to say.  In later years, when our family lived in Germany and I was just learning the language, I would often draw pictures to communicate what I was after.

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Art was always my favourite class in in school.  My first "serious" attempt began when I was in my late teens, I started in oils painting mostly landscapes.  I was a little impatient so when I discovered acrylics and realized how fast they dried I was hooked. I started painting a number of different subjects from still life, landscapes and flowers. I tried portrait painting, and though the faces were good, they never really looked like my subject.  I also experimented with folk art painting and then moved on to watercolour painting.   The softness of watercolours and how you could manipulate the paint before it dried appealed to me.  I spent much of my time in this medium painting flowers.

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All these early art experiences have lead me to my present passion for gourds.  The first gourd project I did was a painted snowman.  Now I enjoy painting, wood-burning, sculpting or carving them - sometimes all three on the same piece. Another artistic approach involves applying 10,000 volts of electricity directly to the surface.  The result looks like lightening has struck it as a random pattern changes the surface of the gourd.

 

Over the years I've had the chance to travel, live internationally, experience the beauty of our world and be inspired by what I have seen. My husband and I are fortunate to spend our winters in Arizona where I stock up on gourds from a nearby gourd farm.  We travel between Canada and the US with a cargo trailer which I have set up as a small "gourd studio".  I work on my gourds in the winter in Casa Grande, Arizona and then start again when we come back to  Strathmore, Alberta in the spring. 

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