Gourd Art

Did anyone get the chance to decorate any of their gourds this winter?

Hi there, I'm in the process of making some chickens.. so far, I have cleaned, and put two coats of paint on them, now I need to paint the feathers on them. The beaks, eyes, and crests I made out of polymer clay, then stained those because they were so bright, then had to stain them some more, finally they look more of a worn look. Still a work in progress here. Will post photos when done. (my first painting gourd art..lol)

What about you?

Not yet, I figure that after I get the planting done then I will take some time to do a little carving. I want to make more swans to decorate my garden. There is so much going on here right now that I just have wait until all the workmen are out of the way and I can put my house back in order.

Gourds step 1. washing off the mold and whatever else ails it..lol.

Washed Gourds Step. 2 repair station..

This message was edited Mar 30, 2004 3:48 PM

Gourds step 3 (painting) 101..lol

more of step 3..

Gourds step 4

More of Step 4... I know, they look like cows right now.. but, they will be chickens one day..lol

Gourds step 5

Chicken eyes, beaks and crests (made out of polymer clay)

Oh my gosh, they are going to be awesome. Can't wait to see the finished project. You do great work Antoinette.

Here's one almost ready for the final touches, needs a few things (those red flappers the chicken has), they go on tomorrow.

Here's the 2nd Chicken, needs a little more details and body parts..lol..

Here they are together, about the same size in height.



edited to say: hopefully they will be on their way home to Iowa sometime this coming week.

This message was edited Apr 4, 2004 8:23 PM

OH my gosh, they are just beautiful. What in the world can I do for you? You have spent so much time on these. I love them. I'm in awe of your artistic ability. Just beautiful.

No, no .. You have already done lots for me. You gave me my first cuttings of brugs years ago and some, and seeds, and the MG seeds from the CO-OP (which I already planted half and they are up and now getting their first true leaves) they are in one gallon pots.

My mission is to get them to you before they learn how to fly..lol.

Oh A. you are just too nice. I'm more than happy to share my plants when I have them and you know, you are welcome to anything I have. Thank you so much. You are just the best.

Thank you for the compliment Brugie.. you deserve them... A

This message was edited Apr 4, 2004 10:46 PM

Oh these are going to a great home. It is an art form. So amazing! And what fun too!

I didn't even know there was a gourd forum! LOL.

I am so impressed!

Good job, I think they are cute and will add a beautiful addition to any garden.

Thanks guys, they are coming along, slowly but getting there. There is so much to gardening too, you can make things from the things you grow, so, it is a different kind of addition to gardening. It is alot of fun, just starting to learn to woodburn them.

They are ready to go.. already boxed them up.. here goes...

Here's the 2nd one.

Here they are together, that smaller one (looks like it's up to something),,

Here's one that I am burning, it is not complete. I took some patterns out of one of the gourd books (The Decorated Gourd)

Thanks A. They are adorable. I like the one you are working on too. Very clever. I can see that you could make some really cool and fancy birdhouses by burning the gourds too.

Gourd, those are adorable! Did you make the beaks and combs out of clay? Jo

Hi Jo,
Yes, made the beaks and combs out of polymer clay and baked them in the oven. The neat thing about the polymer clay is that I was able to shave off some of the combs and made them fit the shape of the gourd. This was a nice project for me.

Now have to make a couple of roosters for my daughter too, she collects roosters (I do too)..lol.

Brugie, they are in flight..lol..

Burning them give's almost instant satisfaction. You can trace a design and then burn it on. I am reallly liking this type of gourd.

Great. I'm going to plant all the gourd seeds when the weather warms. Hopefully I can get them grown and then dried soon enough to be able to do something with them the next spring. I've never had to dry a gourd before. I do know where I can get some already dried though. Luckily we have a guy up the road who grows pumpkins and gourds and has a festival at his place each fall and sells them in all stages.

Shirley,
They have some that are tiny little things just about the size of a plum (mini-gourds).. if you can get those, the kids love to decorate those. I planted some, but the seedlings already met their fate with the snails.. will try some more in about a week.

Those are some neat looking chicks.I like the other one you did too Gourd.I found this book,(Flowers From My Garden),it's a book with iron on transfer patterns.It has all sorts of garden related patterns,flowers,seed packs,gardening tools,birdhouse's,butterflies,ect.I though instead of using up the patterns,that i would trace over the patterns and then use carbon paper to transfer the design on my gourds,or whatever the project is i want a cute picture on.Then i could keep my original pattern from the book and trace over it again and again.Does that make sense?Anyway,there are 489 designs in this book by House of White Birches.I'm going to try to trace a few of them and see how they turn out.And then maybe i can share some patterns with others who are interested in a couple of them.

Hi Bittyone,

There is a site called The Woodburner.com, they also have lots of free patterns you can download. I just haven't had time to do too much.. I do all of mine freehand, but really need to use a pattern because you can tell where I get tired or when I stop and start. I Will try to find that book you mentioned. I am interested in woodburning some Cherubs and can't find a nice looking cherub face, they had one, but it looked like a tired little cherub..lol..

Thanks for the info on the free patterns.I will look later and see if there is a cherub in the book.I don't remember one being in there.There are some angels.

I do some freehand drawing,mostly folk art.But,i thought these patterns were so cute,and i do love your chickens.
I have lots of chicken stuff in my kitchen.lol.

Edited to say that there was not a Cherub in the book.
I hope you can find one to use.If i come across one,i'll let you know.



This message was edited Apr 13, 2004 8:05 AM

Cute Cute Cute .Really enjoyed this thread.. glad it got brought back so I could have a chance to see this. Gourd you are one talented artist. LOL I thought the black & white ones would end up as those gateway computer cows..

Lovely chicks! You're very creative.

How did you do the polymere clay? Roll them? Shape it with cookie cutter? Bake it at what temp for how long? Never did polymere clay before. Instructions please.......

Linda

Linda, Windsurfer is no longer on Dave's....You can probably find out about using polymere clay by using Google...or going into the Crafts Forum. I have never used it either, but my DD has...they bake it in a slow oven. Jo

I'm glad that this was bumped back up because I never saw it before and those chicken gourds are awesome!!
Love them! Cindy :o)

Howdy, all. New to the website, and I have to say I'm SO glad I joined. These chickens are a hoot! Talk about inspiration. Now I just have to figure out how to buy enough land to plant enough gourds to do enough projects to...

I suspect y'all know what I mean.