Nancy Y Hardesty has been crafting for over 30 years.  She is a published author and an award winning artist. If there is a craft out there she most likely has tried it.   Being an artist had been a life long dream.  It took many years before she was convinced that her dream had become a reality. Fine art and crafts have always held great interest and sometimes it became a challenge to decide which was the ultimate choice.  Oils, acrylic, watercolor, pencil, pen & ink, ceramics and woodburning are among the mediums that she has used for many years.  Many times crafting and fine art ran neck and neck.

She finally decided that an artist creates and can have many canvases.  So to choose from craft or art is not necessary.  It does not have to be a painting or a sculpture of clay, bronze or plaster to be art.  Many times crafty items are just the beginning of an artist's vision.  A Gourd as a canvas is definitely  the most versatile canvas one could ever use.  Give 100 people an identical gourd and see what you get.  All will be different and will be everywhere on the scale from craft to fine art.

Creating with them for about 5 years now she can honestly say "there isn't a gourd I don't like". Each one is different and has many possibilities. Constantly amazed at the versatility of a gourd there have been many ideas that were experimental and became a great project.  The wind chimes are a great example of  this.  The bell shaped chime was used from a discarded piece when a bowl was created from a past project.  The 3/8 inch thickness of the gourd would surely hold up if the chime was designed properly with support inside to hang from and also for the chimes themselves. Visit www.artbynancyhardesty.com to see the different types of art and crafts that have been created by Nancy.

During the past 4 years she has been known more for her "handle" as Gourdessa Great Gourds and the popular email list Club Gourd @ Great Gourds.