Gourd Class Yes Or No

I've been asked to teach a gourd art class, but we are moving. I think we will end up getting rid of many of our gourds.  We just won't have room. At this point I don't even know where we are moving or if there will be a yard or a garage or storage space of any kind, so it's hard to downsize. I'm not really fond of getting rid of stuff. I worked too hard to buy it to begin with.

I told them maybe I would teach the gourd class at the same event only a year from now.  They don't pay their teachers anyway.  I need the money so I probably would have said yes if it was going to help me pay rent on the new place. Of course teaching has side benefits, like publicity and maybe someone would buy some of my gourd art. But too much volunteering and not enough income earning leads to starvation and no one likes that. It's sort of a double whammy because I have to pay to get into the event and then work for free. That's why I haven't taught much for that organization. If anyone out there wants to hire me to teach a class, I'm all ears.

Faery House Gourd

I got to work on my faery house gourd today. I used the wood burner to add ferns, mushrooms, lady bugs, a butterfly, some acorns and some oak leaves to my house.  I need to make a chimney next.

Two Gourd Fairy Houses Work in Progress

Last Sunday I took gourds to the archery meeting and started working on 2 gourd fairy houses.  It was supposed to be just the one, but the first gourd I cut open had no seeds in it. Zip, zilch, nada. So I had to cut the second one open because I wanted to glue the gourd seeds like tiles around the windows I had cut into the gourd. Then yesterday the plan was to continue on the fairy houses with the wood burning tool, only yesterday was a mess and I never got to it. So today if the rain is done I'll try again. I want to work in front of the garage but it's a bit chilly out so we'll see.

Some gourds have a pretty silvery interior like this one.

This gourd had no seeds so I had to steal them from the one above.

My Friend's Garden

My friend Jessica in Santa Ana is growing gourds this year.

Princess Gourd Doll Folk Art Pyrography

I just finished a gourd doll with wood burned designs (pyrography) and I really love the way she turned out. She has a heart shaped face and a little crown and decorative patterns swirl around her. They include lady bugs, chicks, a bird in leaves, some lacy moss, 2 caterpillars, some butterflies, some flowers, and other random designs. Such a joy to make although it took many hours. It makes me so happy when something comes out nice.

Looped Gourd

One way to embellish a gourd is by looping it with wire or thread. So here is a gourd I just started working on.  I've never tried embroidery thread and it seems to be going a lot slower than when I used linen or hemp. I'll have to keep you posted on how it's coming along.

Making a Gourd Scoop

When I flipped this warty gourd over it had a crack running horizontally through it.

So I decided to cut it in half and keep the good half to make a scoop.

Since the warts make it look interesting, I'm leaving it as it is.

When you purchase gourds, clean them well, make sure they are dry, and store them indoors in a cool dry place.  This gourd was left outside in the weather and when I flipped it over it had a long vertical crack.  I was able to cut it in half and use the good part for a scoop.

Even though many cultures have used gourds for centuries to eat from I think I'll just use this for non-food uses, like scooping lavender into sachets or scooping birdseed into juggling balls. Some people are allergic to gourd dust, so I'd hate to sell it to someone and have them use it to scoop their oatmeal or flour and then have an allergic reaction. But that's a whole 'nother subject.

Turning a Gourd Into a Pouch

My friend Sal gets the credit for this next project.  It's based on a gourd he brought back from Mexico. See the photo of it at the top of the page.

For this project I needed a gourd that could be turned into a little bowl. The first one I picked up had a good shape, but when I flipped it over it had a long lengthwise crack.  Rats.  But I figured I could save half of it and make a scooper for birdseed or lavender or something.

But I'm glad I kept looking because then I found a gourd in my stash that was a twofer. I was able to cut it in half and make 2 bowls.  I used my gourd saw, but a hand saw would have worked.

After I cleaned it inside and out, and sanded it, I drilled holes around the rim with a Dremel drill. Then I did pyrography petroglyphs. In other words, I used a wood burning tool to draw 2 lizards in a petroglyph style. And on the other bowl I put a cat line drawing.  I thought part of the appeal was to keep it really basic and primitive looking.  My boyfriend looked at them and said, "The art is too basic." Sigh. We always have different visions for things.  Simplistic was my goal. I feel like the crochet is going to add yet another element, so I wanted to keep the art basic. 

Next I will apply a clear finish over the art, because when I do the crochet part, I don't want the overspray to go on the string. If you look at the photos this will make a lot more sense. I think I am done with this project for today so stay tuned.

Cleaned bottle gourd.

The top and the bottom of the gourd.  I saved the middle part for another project.

I used a drill to put the holes for the thread to go through.

lizard and cat in pyrograpyhy