Carol Signore

Evidently, they grow gourds in Arizona, but they must also grow gourd artists. We have quite a number of customers down there and some are featured here in the gallery. Carol Signore is more evidence that they are not only numerous but accomplished artists as well. She lives in the Sonoran Desert – well, actually she lives in a house but it’s in the Sonoran Desert country.

“Last winter I bought one of your Grip All Jaws vises at the Casa Grande gourd fair. I loved it so much that I called and told you and at your request I promised to send a few pics of me using it. But then I got so busy making gourds (using my vise constantly) that I never got around to doing it. Fortunately for me you didn't waste a minute when I needed some customer support 2 months after purchasing my vise."

"One of the screws was wobbling a bit in the wood base and making it tough to get a solid feel to things. So I wrote asking for a new screw. But you didn't send one screw ... you sent me a whole new base with 3 new screws. I was impressed! My vise was an expensive investment but it has proven in less than a year to be one of the most indispensable tools in my shop. Thanks for a great product and great support.”

Well thank you, Carol. We try to operate Orbital Holding Systems so that we would be pleased as customers. We can’t help but notice that all of our customers seem to have really neat, tidy, and organized workspaces. Is there something going on here? Because our personal workspaces are not like that, hmm…

Carol uses a technique that she calls mosaic glazing to finish her gourds. It has to do with using paints and dyes and wash techniques and a clear finish. I can see using this sort of technique for all sorts of things. Her colors evoke the colors of the desert and are layered on and blended from paints and dyes. Carol used to live in Pennsylvania where she was a watercolor artist and that, no doubt, has trained her eye for mixing shade and hue, form and pattern.

We suggest that you check out Carol's website and see for yourself the examples of her work. She has a very impressive display of gourds that are painted, carved, dyed, and very finely done. She was an award winner at the 2012 Wuertz Gourd Festival. That’s a pretty big event and that’s some accolade.

We often say that if you like our products, tell your friends. We are finding more and more that we don't need to say that. And we are really proud to have fine artists like Carol Signore to refer to.