Meet Our Featured Artist
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Introducing Mary Pinick Ward
Our featured artist, Mary Pinick Ward, lives in Derby, Kansas. Derby may be a small town, but it is rich in opportunities to explore art and be inspired. This inspiration is evident in Mary’s winning contest entry, “Hope Blooms.” Although she earned other awards for her art, it was her first entry into Bonnie Gibson’s quarterly Gourd Crafting Contest featured in this magazine. Mary loves the 3-D aspect of creating gourd art. While some gourders prefer to focus their efforts on the front of the gourd, her gourd art surrounds the entire piece. She often uses revolving display stands so the viewer can appreciate her gourd art from every angle. Mary’s attention to detail is evident in all her artwork. No wonder she describes it as “labor intensive.” She often embellishes her creations with pieces from other gourds as she did with her contest entry. Mary loves using color to express her passion and combines painting and dyeing with the carving she does on the gourd’s natural canvas. One of her favorite pieces is her elephant, “IRIS”, shown in photos 1 & 2. Mary was encouraged to attend the 2021 Lone Star Gourd Festival by mentor and friend, Judy Ritchie. At the festival, held in San Antonio, IRIS, (from the Greek for Rainbow), won the prestigious Texas Award, second to Best of Show. Investing so much of herself and her time in her artwork makes Mary reluctant to part with her gourd art creations. She did sell IRIS at the Lone Star Festival, but only after making sure it went to someone who would cherish it and give it a good home: Judy Ritchie’s daughter Janet. Mary does do commissioned pieces and also sells her holiday themed gourds at local fall festivals. Always an animal lover, she has donated her gourd art to fundraising efforts on behalf of the Humane Society and the local zoo. Mary and her husband Mark, a talented watercolorist, have displayed their work at the Derby Public Library which she describes as the center of their community. The Derby Arts Council partners with the library to showcase a variety of artists and art forms in the library’s Gathering Space. When the library featured a joint exhibition of both Mary’s and Mark’s artwork a visitor to the exhibit commented that gourding is a craft, not an art. Mark was quick to correct this impression and encouraged the person to look a little closer, pointing out the unique level of detail and skill in each of Mary’s gourds on display. Mary’s inventiveness, and often her sense of humor, carries over to her other artistic pursuits, which include custom wedding cake sculptures and unique special occasion cakes. It’s easy to mistake her cakes for the food items they imitate. (See inset photos) Mary also enjoys working with dichroic glass to create jewelry. At holiday time Mary teaches gourd and other art classes in her home. She says when several artists share the same space creativity explodes. We couldn’t agree more! 
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