A Decorated Gourd

This project was done last year, but I thought it would be fun to revisit it. 

I bought a box of gourds a few years ago here in Cornville and this is the last one I have left. It has moved to New Mexico, Nevada and back here to Cornville, Arizona.

Cleaning on the outside of the gourd was done a couple of years ago, as well as cutting the top out. I finished cleaning out the inside, making sure to get all the papery lining. Then I sanded the inside with 100 grit sandpaper. I also sanded the edge and refined it to include the crack that it had gotten over all this time. Gourds are fragile so you do have to be careful. (For cleaning information, check the great YouTube videos)

I began by painting the inside with some Golden Matte Medium to seal it. I started with a brush but ended up using my hand to get the medium up under the rim.  I am a hands-in-the-paint type of person anyway. (At my last job I worked with developmentally disabled adults. I taught them arts and crafts. They, and my staff, all thought me weird and crazy. No matter what the medium, I had my hands in it.)

After the inside dried, I used my Dremel to drill a decorative hole at the bottom of the crack on the edge and one hole at each end of the other crack that I found on the bottom. This prevents the cracks from growing and looks kind of cool. While drilling the first hole I got the idea to drill holes along both sides of the cracks and then lace up some cord to make it look more interesting. Of course, my new layers of paint did cover some of the holes I had drilled, but I drilled them again after all my painting was finished.

Then I mixed a little Red Oxide acrylic paint with some of the matte medium and painted the inside with it. I found a short handled brush to do this and it fit inside the gourd just fine.

Using the same Red Oxide/matte medium mixture, I painted one thin coat on the outside of the gourd.  I rubbed this coat on with my fingers (ahem, hand in the paint!) because I didn’t want brush marks and I could create light and dark areas of paint. Then I mixed some black acrylic paint with a little of the matte medium, and applied it in the same way to different areas to give an aged look. Both coats were light enough to allow the natural markings on the gourd to be seen through the paint. They add character.

The paint layers were left to dry for at least an hour, just to be sure all the moisture in the paint was out. This was to avoid bubbles forming under the coat of gloss ModPodge decoupage medium/glue that was applied as a final seal and base for gluing on embellishments. I put that on with my fingers as well. I rubbed the ModPodge on the top half, let it dry and then did the bottom half. ModPodge was also used on the inside as a seal.

I opened up the holes and threaded the cord as if lacing a shoe. Deciding to thread the cord along the top edge, I drilled more holes.

Using ModPodge I added the dragonfly images. Each piece was torn so the edges would blend, then the Red Oxide paint mixture with just a touch of black was rubbed on to give the papers that antiqued look like the rest of the gourd.  

I decided to put handles on the gourd using a couple of sticks from the tree in the front yard. I painted them with the black paint and then used the Gloss Medium/Varnish to give them a shiny finish.  I drilled more holes in the gourd and used the waxed cord to tie them on. I had previously cut and drilled some of the same type of sticks to make beads, so I used them to help hold the handles up off of the gourd.

I added the beads and I Ching coins to the cord hanging down and glued a nice dragonfly on the top edge. The dragonfly was a lapel pin, I removed the pin back to make it lay flat.

This was not a one day project, but well worth the time I spent on it. 

This was an example of a project that created itself. I had one idea, then it changed as I worked. It shows that when you are working on a project being open to new ideas is important. If I had refused to see the possibilities I might still be trying to force the gourd to be something it didn’t want to be. (I thought it would be a Steampunk bowl.) Yes, as krazy as it sounds, I do think that art, crafts, dolls, all have personalities and they do tell us how they want to look. We just have to listen.

On to my next project…..

Terri

Product Note:

The ModPodge, acrylic paints, and matte medium are all available at Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, or Joann’s.

The beads can be purchased at firemountaingems.com 

The dragonfly pin is a vintage one that I found in my grandmother’s jewelry box, that I was given when she passed away in the 1970’s.