Materials: Large basket gourd about 9" diameter
Scrubbers
Pencil
Utility knife
Small saw (Exacto, #27 blade) or small jig saw
Scrapers
Leather dyes: red, yellow, green, and russet
Watercolor pens
Dark Prussian Blue water-based paint (gouache)
Wood burner
Clear semi-gloss spray varnish - If the gourd is not already cleaned, scrub the exterior surface thoroughly to remove all mold and dirt. Dry.
- Use a soft pencil to sketch the opening and leaf design around the gourd.
- Use the wood burner to burn the outline of the design and the veins of the leaves (figure A).
- With the utility knife, pierce the gourd in one spot along the pencil line. Insert the saw where you made the pierce, (we used a miniature jigsaw) and carefully cut away the top of the gourd, following your design (figure B). If you have included cutouts, repeat this step for each cut out.
- Fill the gourd with water to soak the interior.
- Using scrapers (a melon baller works well), scrape out all the seeds and soft inside. Be especially careful to get rid of any shiny white fiber on the interior surface. Wear a mask and rubber gloves for this step. (You can throw away the top part that was cut out, but you can also save it, cleaned, for another project.) Make sure the inside is thoroughly clean and dry.
- Stain the interior with russet leather dye if desired, or leave it natural. If you stain it, you can dilute the stain with an equal amount of water. Pour the stain and the water into a small plastic bowl, and dab it around the interior with a wadded up paper towel or a sponge. Wear rubber gloves!
- Paint the leaves with watercolor pens. We used yellow first and then went over that with some orange and then you can use a Q-tip to blend the colors while they are still wet (figure C). We then applied green over the top of that.
- Paint the bottom of the exterior with dark blue, using a small brush for the detail around the leaves (figure D) and a larger brush for the rest. A wet Q-tip will remove any errors if used before the paint dries.
- Use a Q-tip to carefully apply the stains within the burned outline of the leaves.
- When it is dry, spray with varnish in a well-ventilated area.
- Once the varnish has dried, you have a beautiful autumn gourd bowl (figure E) ready to fill with nuts, Halloween treats or dried flowers.
Products: Gourds are available from local gourd farms. Most other supplies are at craft stores. Leather stains can be bought from shoe repair shops. See Resources, below, for more information on gourds, tools and stains.
RESOURCES :
The Complete Book of Gourd Craft: 22 Projects, 55 Decorative Techniques. . .
Model: 1887374558
Author: Ginger Summit
Gourd Crafts: 20 Great Projects to Dye, Paint, Carve, Bead, and Woodburn in a Weekend
Model: 1579901522
Author: Ginger Summit
Gourd Fun for Everyone
Model: 0891349936
Author: Sammie Crawford
To order this title from Amazon.com, click here.
North Light Books (F & W Publications)
Website: www.fwpublications.com
Gourd Carving Tools
Micro-Mark
Berkeley Square, NJ 07922
Phone: 908-464-2984
Fax: 908-665-9383
Website: www.micromark.com
Gourd Craft
The Caning Shop
Berkeley, CA 94710
Website: www.caning.com
The American Gourd Society
The American Gourd Society
Website: www.americangourdsociety.org
GUESTS :
Dorisanne Soyka
Gourd Artist
Sedona, AZ
E-mail: gourddes@aol.com
| 
)
)
)
)
)
)
