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Gourd Art
Last week, I rediscovered a few gourds "drying" in our garage... In fact, I was searching for them after doing a doll making workshop where we transformed gourds into doll bodies, with the addition of polymer clay and apoxie sculpt. I have researched a little to identify the gourds I have - they seem closest to the water jug shape gourds.
The gourds we used in the workshop were Chinese bottle gourds.
my gourd doll - a flower child /hippy fiddler?
Workshop dolls - Christmas sprite by Jane Lambert , and my doll
Flower doll also completed in the workshop by Lee Hennequin
Balloon seller - gourd art doll by tutor, Janice Laurent
Working with gourds made me very curious about the history and cultivation of gourds. A gourdis a plant of the family Cucurbitaceae or the fruit of the two genera of "calabash tree" . The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. Likely one of the earliest domesticated types of plants, subspecies of the bottle gourd have been discovered in archaeological sites dating from as early as 13,000 BC (found in Peruvian archaeological sites dating from 13,000 to 11,000 BC and Thailand sites from 11,000 to 6,000 BC.[5) ]
Gourds continued to be used throughout history, in almost every culture throughout the world.European contactin North America found extensive gourd use, including the use of bottle gourds as birdhouses to attractpurple martins, which provided bug control for agriculture. Almost every culture had musical instruments made of gourds, including drums, stringed instruments common to Africa and wind instruments, including thenose flutesof the Pacific.[10]T Gourds have had numerous uses throughout history, including as tools, musical instruments, objects of art, film and food. (From Wikipedia). There are many wonderful gourd artists worldwide One of my favourites is John Hernandez,whose gourds are beatifully painted, highly polished and embellished with sewn pine needles. I also admire the work of Serena Kovalsky whose gourds are organic sculptures ... here is a video of some of her amazing work.
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Background Information: Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap. 2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...
Mannequin and Mercedes Benz logo Christmas trees Advent Blog Day 23 - Mannequins and Motors ... or... What does a Mannequin have in common with a Mercedes Benz? I have been in such a dilemma as I have so few days left and so many Christmas trees I want to feature. So, in the spirit of balance today, I've combined a couple of categories into the theme of Mannequins and Motors - winsome wonders and winning wheels .... Mannequin and motor oil Christmas trees Hubcaps and Mannequin Christmas trees Not satisfied with auto parts? Decorate with the whole car.... Mannequin and Mini Cooper cars Christmas trees And tyres seem to be a popular choice and somehow they go beautifully with these 'green' mannequin trees... Tyres and red ribbons Tyres and baubles on mannequin Christmas trees Red bird wire form and sparkly tyres Ch...
Magpies are always around in our garden , strutting, poking about for insects and having a splash in the birdbath. They often call if the water is at a low level in the birdbath until one of us replenishes the water supply. It is no coincidence then that they have figured prominently as part of recent little works in the stitched garden series. I also like to include human figures in my gardens, especially taken from old photos of family members. This "impressionist ' stitched garden features my husband's great aunt, Sarah Ann Bath. I like to think of her in this abundant garden , when in reality, she grew up in the early 1900s in rather cramped living conditions in Birmingham UK See more and read more about my stitched gardens - other posts: How does your garden grow with stitch? How does your garden grow with crayons?
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What sweet little dolls! I am always delighted by the cleverness of the creatives such as yourself.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing, and for the links to other gourd art. Lovely xx