Murphy's Law

Murphy has struck again!
Two of Gary's gourds that were given to family members, have met with accidents.


The large dragon gourd, which is about 2 feet round was shattered during home renovations by "unknown" assailants. I think someone dropped a 2X4 on it. LOL We've promised our niece and nephew that we will repair it if possible.


The Samurai Warrior was given to my son in North Carolina and was proudly displayed on his mantle. It is made up of several parts, all carved and decorated with Inlace, which has also been carved and inlaid with a second colour. His curious cat wanted to check it out, and bumped it off onto the floor. I'm not sure if we can repair it, since we haven't seen it yet.

Oh well, if pieces of art are going to be displayed I guess you have to expect that bad things can happen!

THE PARROT'S NEST
Gary has finished his 2011 spring project. Mine is still incubating (going on a year now, almost as long as an elephant's pregnancy!)


Just as many artists use cultural symbols in their work, such as Santa Fe, tribal motifs, eskimo art symbols etc, Gary likes to relate to his ancestry with Celtic weaving, and tie the cultural beliefs and symbols into his designs.
He is moving away from the traditional bowl configuration and is now working on sculptural pieces. His latest piece is along the same lines as his last sculpture, but a bit larger, and more detailed.
It's a canteen gourd that has been taken apart, carved and painted to resemble a bird's nest and put back together.
The front is a pencil crayon drawing of a Macaw, showing all the beautiful colours of the feathers.

The sides are a carved and painted profile of the Macaw with cut-outs so that you can see into the interior of the nest. Inside are 10 golden eggs.

The back is inverted and fully carved with a celtic motif of two parrots interacting. Rather appropriate for inside the privacy of their nest, I think!

The top is carved in scrollwork that says "Parrot Nest".

A friend found the following information on the site of Sacred earth-Sacred art.
CELTIC MYTHOLOGY: MACAW known for their higly coloured and exotic plumage, these birds are highly intelligent and resourceful creatures with a great sense of fun. The energy of this bird is said to symbolize bringing 'colour and vibrancy' back into our lives, and also aid our communicative skills. Also thought to help us with both 'emotional and physical healing'. The feathers of the Macaw are highly prized by some cultures and are used in ceremonial costumes. To work with Macaw energies is to link with the energies of Mother Nature. Macaw can help us to increase our psychic and spiritual development. This bird is also strongly allied to the energies of the Sun, and therefore linked with masculine energies, helping to bring balance to the male and female aspects of self. It is also believed that Macaw energies can aid us by helping us to heighten our perceptions, our intuition, our understanding of our inner voice. Thought also to help with calming emotional anxieties and bringing about a sense of balance.

September 20 update

We're back from the first Michigan gourd festival and all things considered, (rain and new event) it went very well. I hope they have it again next year.
Gary's gourd was well received and won the Best of Show ribbon. My last year's Bird of Paradise gourd got a first place in weaving. I really should have done another piece, but I'm obviously in 'drift' mode this year.

September 13 update

Here is the finished front of the gourd with the saddle attached for mounting. The sides have been left uncoloured, finished with Deft.
The centre and saddle have been painted with acrylics.







This is the inner disk that will be added inside the gourd to provide depth and contrast. It is a canteen gourd that has been shaped and reconstructed. Gold metal leafing has been applied, and it will sit on a small gourd to raise it to the correct level inside.









The base is a section of a canteen gourd that has been filled to add weight and stability. The surface has been left uncoloured, but sealed with clear sealer.








Assembly is completed. The gold insert has been attached inside, and the back panel replaced. The entire sculpture is centred with a 1 inch wooden dowel to hold everything in place. The drawing of a jaquar has been started on the panel using coloured pencil crayons.













By clicking on the picture you should get an enlargement which will show you the details of the pencil drawing. It is outlined in white and then coloured in a bit at a time.

Fall 2010

Well, it's been a lovely hot summer, but it's time to get back to work. We didn't do the Goderich Celtic festival this year, so we had the entire summer to enjoy. Now it's time to gear up for the fall shows.

Gary has started his latest carving. He's always more intense and dedicated than I am, once he gets started. He carves for several hours at a time. I admire his determination.

So far he has rough-carved the base, the front and three sides of the canteen gourd that he will be constructing. He is doing a Mayan theme again.


This is the decorative shoulder that the gourd will sit on. It reminds me of a large hair barrett.







This is the rough base structure that will be assembed once everything is done. You can see the carved shoulder on the top.







He had to do some infilling in the centre of the gourd where the stem was, to make it level. The carving is very detailed and intricate. This is a fairly thick canteen gourd.








This is one side of the gourd. It has a Mayan warrior figure.











This is the other side of the gourd. It is a very confusing carving, depicting the warrior being swallowed by a giant snake. If you look carefully you can see the body of the snake at the bottom. His jaws are spread wide and the head of the warrior is coming out of his mouth. Mayan carvings are quite disturbing!







To relieve the gloom and doom of the more complicated carving, the one across the top is more light-hearted and simple. It depicts a relaxing jaguar.






He plans to insert another gourd inside to increase the depth of the carving, but we'll have to wait and see what that will look like. Stay tuned.

Art of Coiling and Carving classes

Coming in May 2011, to Epping, New Hampshire. See the flyer at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Blue-Whale-Arts/120803174626882

October update

September was a hectic month, with two shows. Gary took his big dragon gourd to the Raleigh NC show, and I worked hard on my gourd and got it finished for the Ohio show.

Gary's won first in his division and Best of Show at NC as well as the Steven's Family award at the Ohio show. This is the equivalent of the Best of Show award in the crafted gourds division for Ohio.

My piece won first place in it's division as well as an award for special recognition....whatever that means. Anyway, I'm pleased since this was my "Murphy's Law" gourd. (As in, if anything can go wrong, it will.)

It started with my carving lesson. I was working away, concentrating hard, when I noticed that the drill bit was getting shorter. As I watched, the bit pulled back into the handle and was about to fall out onto my leg. In a panic, I reached over with my other hand to shut off the drill, and sent my gourd flying across the room. Of course it cracked!
After gluing it back together, and getting hubby to put the handle back on the drill I finished carving.

The painting and leafing went well, but when I went to insert the tapestry it wouldn't fit into the hole I had carved. Apparently the curve wasn't deep enough for the inside of the gourd, although it had fit nicely on the outside when I shaped it.
Using two part Sculpy epoxy, I thickened and shaped the inside of the opening to hold the insert. I had to cut a couple of rows off the bottom of the insert, and the edges of the design were too close but I got it in. Then using the epoxy I filled in the back edges to hold the insert in place.
As I was decoupaging the inside, the weight of all that epoxy overbalanced the gourd and it fell onto the floor again. Luckily this time it hit the open side and bounced. (must have been the epoxy)
Now the gourd was too heavy on one side for the base, so I had to fill in the bottom of the base to give it more weight. This thing could work as an exercise weight if nothing else!
After all these delays for repairs, I was down to one day to coil the 9 rows of design on the top rim.
Well I finished it at 3am on Friday morning and by the time I got all my packing done it was 5am. We left for Ohio at 8am, so I was one tired puppy.
However, I'm pleased with it as it is.