I was born and raised in the south of France and graduated from the National Engineering School of Geology of Nancy.  I had the opportunity to do two internships in Austin, TX for an American company and figured that it would be my only chance to see the US.

Guess what?  I never left — that was 10 years ago!  I have been developing software for the oil and gas industry since then.  More importantly, I have met great people here and discovered many different crafts.  One of them is gourd crafting.  I discovered this during a trip to Hawaii in a local art exhibit.  As soon as I was back in Houston, I googled it.  This is how I found the TGS Southeast Texas Gourd Patch.  It is a very active patch with regular classes and events taking place plus experienced artists always eager to share their techniques.  I serve as web master for the website. (http://artisanart.iz/tgs_southeast)

My personal drive in crafting is the learning experience.  I have a large collection of craft books that keeps growing and I tend to mix different crafts on my gourds such as Kumihimo brading, Japanese lacquer, weaving and eggshell inlay.  I, also, enjoy teaching and presented classes (lacquer and eggshell inlay) at the last two TGS shows and to our gourd patch.  My work is largely influenced by my love for the Japanese culture.  Another strong influence is my friend, Clara Willibey, who always pushes me to do more!  She persuaded me to enter the competition at the Lone Star Gourd Festival in 2009.  As a result, I was rewarded with two ribbons — blue and red.

I'm lucky to have a great family and friends who encourage me and a loving life partner who doesn't complain too much whenever I leave tools and dust all over the house.

Claire Cassan
Houston, TX
http://www.artisanart.biz