Gourd Designs
by Melissa
Your Subtitle text
Vessel Design
This category of gourd design generally ranges in size (five inches and taller) and generally has thicker shells than smaller gourds. An exception to the rule is the Toothpick Holder. By nature, they are best suited as bowls, vases, or any open-type container.
What are they???
Each has a common purpose and is made from the bottom of a bottle-shaped gourd. They are napkin holders. The Calla Lily is challenging to photograph, but such fun to decorate. The one on the right is colorful and the overall shape is more easily seen.
"Paint or Eat?"
Using toothpicks to paint in tiny areas of the gourds, I was compelled to make this toothpick holder. This is the smallest fabricated design so far. And of course, if I happen to have cheese and grapes while working on the gourds, the toothpicks are very useful!
"Bronze Flowerpot"
The flower and leaf are carved and painted leftover gourd pieces on this bronze and green flowerpot . A copper strip separates the colors in the body of this vessel.
"Journey of Soul"
The Journey of Soul gourd (above) is an open vessel measuring approximately 8-3/4 inches in height. The image shows cattails in water. The source of inspiration was from a favorite book of mine entitled "Stranger by the River' written by Paul Twitchell. (This and other books I find inspiring can be ordered by visiting this website: https://www.eckankar.org/Books/index.html)The middle image is a dragonfly emanating the sound of HU (or hugh). From singing HU, soul leaves the body and becomes what it really is, a spark of God (represented by the stars.) The right image shows Soul as spark of God returning home to God -- a place above the heavens.
The Journey of Soul gourd (above) is an open vessel measuring approximately 8-3/4 inches in height. The image shows cattails in water. The source of inspiration was from a favorite book of mine entitled "Stranger by the River' written by Paul Twitchell. (This and other books I find inspiring can be ordered by visiting this website: https://www.eckankar.org/Books/index.html)The middle image is a dragonfly emanating the sound of HU (or hugh). From singing HU, soul leaves the body and becomes what it really is, a spark of God (represented by the stars.) The right image shows Soul as spark of God returning home to God -- a place above the heavens.
"Nature's Gift"
The gourd on the left is a praying mantis on leaves with a bright red love bug on the far right leaf. A vine of leaves arches over the design.
On the right, the archway over the stone walkway has a bluebird perched on the top-right and a black spider dangling on the top-left. A vine covers the archway as geraniums blossum around the base. The stone walkway has a cast iron turtle steppingstone seated into the walkway. This is the design my husband and I created for our front lawn. (My life is filled with simple beauty and many blessings for which I am grateful!)
"Survival of the Fittest"
A special request for a gourd design with a black panther was a golden opportunity for me to create this design.
"Water Bottle"
This is a bottle with a cork stopper and a macramé shoulder strap of jute. Bright red beads are tied into the tassel. To seal the gourd making it safe to store drinking water, melted wax is poured into the gourd and the gourd is quickly but gently shaken to coat the inside. The gourd is then turned upside down for any excess wax to be discarded.
