My folks got into this a few years back, and Ivylad got interested too. We went here here yesterday. I have to tell you, the work I saw on some of those gourds was absolutely stunning, everything from wood-burning to painting to relief carving. (BTW, my folks won prizes, my dad a first and second place ribbon, my step-mom a second, third, and honorable mention. The woman who won the masters division had only been doing artwork for three years!)
If you’re into woodworking, you can get into gourd art fairly easily, since the tools and techniques are the same.
Google Gourd Art and you’ll see amazing examples of artists’ imaginations. Not to mention, the gourds range in size and shape from the ones usable to jewelry, to ones that stand four feet tall, so you can find practically any medium to suit your tastes.
Ivylad, who’s into woodworking, got a big bag of gourds of all shapes and sizes, some little egg-shaped ones we’re going to turn into Christmas ornaments, and he’s going to make me a purse out of a canteen gourd. He also got seeds to grow his own.
My best friend has been gourding for several years. Here are a few of her gourds from when she first started with the Gourd Galleria. She’s up at the Welburn Gourd Farm every couple of weeks to buy gourds and supplies.
We’re making a birdhouse and a birdfeeder for our first project. Ivylad’s birdhouse has a crack in it, and I think you can use the pith from the gourds innards to make a paste and seal it. Right now, he’s attempting to glue it, but we think stronger measures are needed.
Mine has been in a bleach bath and is currently drying. Then, we’ll cut the sides to make a three-sided feeder and get the seeds and pith out.
I don’t like using the Dremel…it makes me nervous. It’s amazing how many seeds are in those things…we’ll never have to buy seeds again! Ivylad tried out his woodburning tool, and determing a heat setting of 4-5 is best, with 2 giving a nice fine line and 12 setting the gourd on fire. Not good.
I’ve been gourding on and off for about 15 years. Once you start playing with them your imagination explodes with ideas for projects. Over the years I’ve made birdhouses, bird feeders, ornaments, canteens, purses, cups, spoons, dippers, hats, masks, decorative bowls (some carved, some painted, some embellished with plant material, yarn and beads). The Caning Shop is a good source for supplies and tools. There are several excellent books out on gourd crafting: The Complete Book of Gourd Craft, Gourds in Your Garden and Making Gourd Musical Instruments are all must haves. There are gourd societies in every state (and around the world) that put on shows and demonstrations. The American Gourd Society is a good place to get info on local chapters and happenings. I encourage everyone to grab a gourd and see what you can do with it. The possibilities are endless!
(Thanks Sarahfeena!!) I love making gourds. I gave a bunch away this year as Christmas gifts. Here are some of my older ones Gourds | Flickr . I wish I had more time to devote to them. It’s very relaxing.
I do all kinds of stuff to them. Stitching, drilling painting with leather dyes, beading, horse hair…pretty much anything you can think of can be used to enhance a gourd. There are some awesome books on the subject. They take my breath away.
Thanks. Yes, they are! I’ve cultivated a sub-addiction with the beads. I have a bead store near me and I can drop $100 in there in no time flat. One of the gourds in my link was looking rather ho-hum and I sewed some beads into it and it’s way cool now (unfortunately I didn’t take a picture of it before I gave it away). I wish I could remember the name of the book I found that had some of the most gorgeous examples of what can be done.
Oh, and the seeds make me kind of crazy. The gourds that I use Dried Gourds for Sale - Amish Gourds have a big clump of seeds in the center and are extremely easy to clean out. I buy from the Amish Gourds site…I’ve been very happy with them.
Kalhoun, your work is gorgeous! I must admit, I’m a bit intimidated with the blank slate, but I don’t think I can go wrong with painting a few flowers. Ivylad has sketched out a bird’s nest and branches on his birdhouse, with the nest part right under the hole, and he’s going to woodburn it.
One problem with gourds is that they cross pollinate very easily. So you may start out with the birdhouse gourd variety but it could easily cross with a canteen variety and you could end up with a gourd with an undesirable shape. Most commercial producers grow their seed gourds under controlled conditions and hand pollinate them to assure they are true to type. An excellent resource is Ginger Summit’s book Gourds in your Garden, which has everything you need to know about gourd propagation.
