Pueblo pottery style gourd - from start to finish
















Finally completed "Earth Song", a carved and painted gourd done in the style of Pueblo pottery. This piece turned out better than I anticipated and I'm so excited! I took photos of the process so I will share with you here how I did it.





After cleaning the gourd and cutting the top off to create the look of pottery, I drew in the design...


Once I was satisfied with the drawing, I had to determine which parts I wanted to carve out.  Once this was decided it took me two days to complete the carving (not all day - 2 hours each day).



I probably spent at this point 2 or 3 days trying to visualize a color scheme. I loved how it was coming along and I didn't want to mess it up with the wrong colors. I finally chose earth tones and painted on the first color...


This was exciting - it was really starting to manifest a personality now...I was going to leave it basically with the natural gourd colors and others that saw it at this stage agreed but then I had a dream that night that it was painted with black where I had carved it out. It looked so amazing in the dream that I decided to go for it...



I was so happy I did. It was the right choice and after all the black was laid in I sprayed it with 3 coats of satin varnish and glued in the vintage glass, turquoise looking cabochons I collected for this project. Ta da! The finished piece!


It's now for sale for $95.00 + shipping in my Etsy shop.

Comments

Sadia said…
Wonderful Kaia! Beautifully designed and the earthy tones lend it full justice!
March 29, 2010 at 10:45 PM
Kaia Thomas said…
Thank you so much Sadia! I just went to your blog and your work is incredible!
March 30, 2010 at 4:54 PM
Carol Brown said…
Exquisite work, Kaia. I love gourd art. Love your blog too, so beautiful. Can't wait to see more of your creations and adventures.
April 10, 2010 at 6:52 AM
Kaia Thomas said…
Thank you, Carol! I'm hoping to have more adventures to share here soon:)
April 10, 2010 at 3:48 PM
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