Gourd Rehaul

Ever have an art piece that you just weren't totally happy with?

For my first post, I thought I would share a gourd that was finished-even up for sale on Etsy- then after a time I decided I didn't like the end result and so I took off the shelf and redid it.  Sometimes that is just what an artist needs to do, 

​This is my Elijah and the Ravens gourd completed early 2016.  There was something bothering me about this piece and although it was "finished" I decided to rework it.
I thought it needed to lose that dark purple color.  So, I took my sander to it...I mean... what's the worst that could happen?

The sanding process to remove the color took much longer than I expected, and it was not as clean as I had hoped.  At that point (sorry I don't have a picture) it looked pretty bad.  You can see a little glimpse on the bottom of the gourd in the picture below.  That was when I thought to work some texture into the piece and give it some carving.  Since my burning was all complete I was a little nervous to do this but since I went that far I figured it best to go all the way!

I decided to add Celtic interlace into the top and bottom borders.  You can see the color of the sanded area, and the outlines of the knot work.  Then I used a round diamond bit to carve some texture in the background.

Here it is with the carving complete, with no color added.  This was still too contrasty so I used several coats of amber colored glaze to tone it down.

Here it is completed- finally!  And I am pretty happy with it.  Sometimes we need to revisit our art, even if it means big changes.  The risk of completely messing it up is worth it, and better than having something that you are not proud to call your own.  

Do you have any pieces of art that you decided to drastically change?  I'd love to see it!  You are invited to comment with a link to your before and after pictures!
​~Jenn