The Ipu Guy (Gourd Artist)

Just down the street from my home is in an old coffee shack, entirely devoted to gourds, called Ipu Hale (or House of Gourds). Gourds were the first domesticated plant, and for thousands of years, people have been hallowing out gourds to store water and food. But the uses of gourds go beyond the practical. Gourds can also be transformed into drums and into objects of extraordinary beauty.
Here in Hawaii, gourds have been decorated for hundreds of years. The smallest Hawaiian island, Niihau, is also referred to as the forbidden island because only invited people can set foot on it. There, a unique method of gourd decorating developed, which involved carving an image on the outside of the gourd and then filling the gourd with dye and allowing it to slowly seep out. This ancient method dropped out of practice over one hundred years ago, and my friend, Mike Harburg, has devoted his life to reviving it.
Today, well learn how Mike went from being the worlds only desert mushroom farmer to the worlds only modern practitioner of the Niihau method of gourd decorating, and well experience the process, the struggles and the unique joy of this ancient craft.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• ipu
• gourd
• gourds
• crafts
• art
• hawaii
• holualoa

[Budkeywest]

GREAT STUFF!!!

[louann5840]

Woah! This is just amazing!! I'm gonna have to take 2 reality pills to get back to earth now. That you can put dye in the gourd and be surprised by mother nature what you're gonna get #1, that doing this art has therapeutic medical benefits #2, that you get to do it on a beautifull secluded Hawaiian island #3. Did I leave anything out??? Are you not the luckiest person on the face of the planet?

[SirWegro]

I was already planning on growing gourds when I saw this video. I would love to learn how to do this. Does Mr. Harburg have any books or DVDs available? I ask because I can't travel to Hawaii at this point in time. I'm fascinated by his work.