The Gourd Lady
By Mickey McLean

    Recently, as I walked down Main Street in Oak Grove, the heat of the day could be seen rising in an upward direction from the sidewalk. I took refuge in an old building that once served as a service station in better days. I was surprised to see the interior of the building filled with artwork by the occupant, Cora Mae Overby. She and I hit it off at once when I recognized her as a fellow birder. Every available space on the walls is filled with her canvases, most of them sporting wildlife scenes and landscapes. But what catches your eye as soon as you step inside is the artwork on gourds that she not only raises but uses as her canvases. This month is harvest time for the gourds that she planted in February.

    Cora Mae is a realtor and her gallery also serves Oak Grove Realty in the heart of the town. She not only paints on the gourds but also builds purple martin houses using them. It is said that a purple martin can eat over 1,000,000 mosquitoes a year. Residents of West Carroll can thank Cora Mae for at least the demise of a billion ‘skeeters each year. 
She tells me she is a real estate broker who has been a gourd enthusiast for many years. “I enjoy growing and crafting-painting gourds. I promote gourds for bird’s house when the opportunity arises.”  She states that the purple martins depend almost entirely on man for their housing. When she realized that she had a lot of gourds that were not suitable for birdhouses, the idea of crafting came about.
 
     Her love for birds was inherited from her father. “One of my earliest memories is watching him carry a pole on his shoulder that he had cut out of wood for a birdhouse.”

     Cora Mae is a long time member of the American Gourd Society and she has been featured on “Back Roads” with Louis Redden. She also appeared in the book, “Only in Louisiana” written by Keith Odom. Ms. Overby also was given an honorary “senator” certificate because of her work with the gourds.

Stop by her Realtor Office on Main Street and look at her artwork and gourds that predominate the office. The Gourd Lady would love to talk about her art, birds, and of course, gourds. If you can't make it by Cora Mae's business and see her artworks firsthand, then fear not because coming soon will be a booklet that she has written and published about gourds.

     You can visit Cora Mae Overby at 105 E. Main Street in Oak Grove. Her phone number there is (318) 428-9452 and her e-mail address in oakgrovegourds at yahoo dot com.

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