Please introduce yourself and briefly describe your art.
Hello, my name is David Roseberry, a professional gourd artist. My personal connections to the Southwest and a strong passion for basic colors has led me to a truly unique position among other fine art gourd artists. I create gourd models that are made, almost entirely, from gourds and gourd parts manufactured by me in my tiny shop. I have created gourd models as large as eight feet tall to as small as two inches and have covered subjects from Kokopelli to coocoo birds and almost everything in between.
What led you to be an artist and to share your art in Auburn Old Town Gallery?
I have been an artist my entire life, I guess I was born that way, but it was my extreme interest in Southwest art that led me to a part time career in the arts about thirty-five years ago. Having participated in way too many outdoor art venues to count, I’ve managed to learn a lot about location and traffic flow and feel my artwork requires a slower pace and maybe answers to a question or two. AOTG provides both of these things for me quite nicely.
Where are you originally from?
I was born in Sacramento California and never really ever left.
What did you want to be when you were younger?
As a small child I was very much a momma’s boy. I baked cakes and pies with my mother from a very young age. I knew that I wanted to be a chef when I grew up, and became a chef’s apprentice many years later at the Mansion Inn in Sacramento.
Tell us about a compliment that you’ve received that you’re most proud of.
It was at the first gourd festival I participated in. I was doing a hands-on demonstration for the kids in attendance and had a table laid out with all the components needed to assemble a simple gourd rattle which they could then take home and decorate. It was my job to assist each child with the assembly. The event was hugely successful but suddenly became very emotional in tone when a young vision impaired person with huge glasses and even a bigger smile asked for my assistance on that wonderful autumn morning. Now some thirty years later, I can close my eyes and hear the rain he made that day and the smiles on his parents’ faces will, forever, be all the thanks I’ll ever need.
What’s one thing that has made you smile recently?
Many observers of my work might guess that I’m a big fan of birds and they would be right as I have a handful of Parakeets in my patio observatory at home. Nothing brings me greater joy than watching them destroy a brand-new toy in minutes. That’s how I roll.
