Dates: Wednesday-Thursday, June 3 & 4, 2026
Time: 10:00 to 4:00 pm
Location: Chota Classroom A
Prerequisites: Some hand strength and dexterity are helpful
Contact Information: info@GracehillArt.com
Cost: $195 (member) $230 (non-member) Includes supplies
Class Size: Min 8 Max 12
Sign-up: Class is full. Contact Kathy to see if you can be added to the class.
Deadline: May 20, 2026
Cancellation Policy: Participants may cancel up to 14 days prior to the start of the class for a full refund. There will be no refunds within 14 days of the class unless spot can be filled from wait list. To cancel, fill out the class refund request form
Class Content: Students will be provided with a prepared gourd that they will decorate with alcohol inks like in example (D). Once dry it will be coated with several coats of UV varnish then a coat of wax. If you wish to draw on your gourd instead, like example (A), she’ll have a few felt tip pens.
After an early lunch, students will start weaving southern long leaf pine needles onto the gourd using the simple or spiral stitch. Students will learn how to start a basket, how to wrap a coil to add color, how to add a bead, and how to add thread when it runs out. Ways to add texture to your basket will be taught as well.
The gourds are prepped ahead of time by the instructor. Prepared gourds have been cut, the guts cleaned out, sanded, holes drilled with proper spacing, wood petrifier added to the inside, formula 49 applied to the outside, and the interior sprayed black. Pine needles will be preconditioned using a turkey roaster and glycerin.
BRING YOUR OWN LUNCH. Dessert provided. (Email Kathy ahead of time if you are gluten free or have a nut allergy. 865-660-6400 or info@GracehillArt.com)
Supply List: All alcohol inks, varnish, and wax to decorate the gourd are provided, along with prepared Southern Longleaf pine needles, choices of artificial sinew, jewelry twine, or waxed linen and beads. How many beads depend on what you pick out. These are your supplies to make the basket.
IF YOU WISH TO BRING A SMALL DEER ANTLER OR PIECE OF DRIFTWOOD OR OTHER NATURAL WHAT NOT WE’LL SEE IF YOU CAN WEAVE IT ONTO YOUR BASKET. Certainly if you are in love with your own beads bring them.
If you wish to have a gourd with cut outs on the sides like example (B) and (C) Bring an extra $10 with you and contact the instructor ahead of time so she can bring one. If you wish to use some Palm Inflorescence like example (B) and (F) (the squiggly stuff) you can buy that for $1.50 a strand. If you have a piece of driftwood or other wood that you would like to mount a “gourd top” on like example (E) and (F) contact Kathy ahead of time. There is not an extra charge but she needs a photo of your hunk of wood so she can pick out an appropriate gourd top.
She will also provide different-sized sewing needles, clips, and gauges that stay with the instructor. She’ll bring a couple of spare scissors, needle nose and regular pliers and awls with her but if you have them bring them, it will save you some time. She’ll have an assortment of prepared gourds in different shapes, but mostly round, cut with a wave in the gourd rim rather than straight across. (Adds interest.) The rim you sew on can take many forms. No two baskets are ever the same. You will have plenty of time to finish this basket. If you want to see examples of what students have created in the past she has a link on the home page of her website with student work.
Biography: Kathy works in several mediums, primarily alcohol inks and pine needle basketry. She currently sells her art in her newly opened art gallery, Gracehill Fine Art and Basketry, in Townsend, TN. She is the recipient of the State of Tennessee Art Commision’s 2024 Fellowship in Craft.
Instructor Website: https://www.GracehillArt.com
