Gourd Baskets

Gourd Baskets
A common type of gourd which grows on trees in Puerto Rico is the higuera. Unlike the more familiar vine gourds, these calabash are relatively thin, leading many people to think they are like fragile eggshells. Not true! Once dried, they are hard and dense like a hardwood, allowing Andrea to apply fine details on the inside as well as the outside.

These baskets are just some of the ones produced by unlikely self-taught artists Andrea Jansen and Ken Preskitt during their years in the Caribbean. On the right is Sr. Vazquez, a dear friend as well as an higuera source. He had several trees like this one, and using wire ties would shape them as they grew to make interesting shapes.