The next featured speaker for the Town & Country Garden Club, Ceil Rossi, will be demonstrating an art form that is new to many in New England: a three-dimensional art medium, the gourd.

Ms Rossi will be in Sandy Hook on Wednesday, October 12, for a program scheduled to begin at 6:30 pm.

She lived in Arizona for more than 26 years, where she discovered the unique qualities of gourds and found their characteristics of size, shape, texture, and color to be more challenging for her than working on a flat canvas.

“The gourd has a smooth, buttery skin with varying shapes — and it is like working on wood and canvas at the same time,” she said. “And these earthy, hard vessels can be painted, carved, or wood-burned.”

Ms Rossi says she learned from the best, taking classes from well-known gourd artists in the Southwest. She then opened her own gallery, The Carefree Gourd Gallery (and teaching studio) in Carefree, Ariz.

Now, her work can be seen locally in various galleries in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Additionally, Ms Rossi perpetuates her passion by teaching her art in Avon, West Hartford, and Windsor, and at her studio in Agawam, Mass.

She also lectures on the history, art, and culture of the gourd and has won honors in several fine art shows.

Town & Country Garden Club meetings are at Newtown Senior Center, 14 Riverside Road in Sandy Hook. Programs begin at 6:30 pm and are always free and open to the public. Reservations are not needed, but additional information is available by calling 203-426-5418.