Mid-Summer Gourd Art

Sharing a random sampling of new gourd art.   Have a look and hope you enjoy!

Above, Tinners' Rabbits.  I have a bit of a fascination with this design, as I have made a few different versions of this.  First of all, I love rabbits and anything with rabbits.  Second, I love old historical artifacts.  And third, I love a mystery!  So the story behind this motif is that is is ancient, and found in different places around the world.  The earliest one found in China in A.D. 581.  These rabbits, that are 3 rabbits sharing an ear (so 3 ears connected) can be found in sacred sites in East Asia, the Middle East and in Europe.  The European Rabbits or Hares, are located in medieval Christian churches, 17 of them in Devon, England.  They are referred to as "tinners'" rabbits because of the wealth from the mines in that region, the adopted the symbol of their patronage.  What fascinates me is that this is a symbol that their is no clear universal meaning to, yet it is found in very different places and times, so it really depends on where you find it and when it was made will point to a possible meaning (kind of like the Green Man faces).  For instance, it could refer to fertility and the lunar cycle in some places, and in Christian churches is could be a symbol of the Trinity. Historians don't all agree. For me, I like to play around with the design itself because it is visually compelling.  
Referencing this website if you want to read more: 
​Dartmoor Explorations, https://dartmoorexplorations.co.uk/the-three-hares/ 

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Above, Bluebirds.  This is one that falls into the category of experimentation with media.  For the past couple of years I have been working with watercolor on the side of my gourd art.  It has been another creative outlet for me and rediscovering the medium that I used 25+ years ago .  I may do a little more about this in the future, I held back a bit because my outreach has been mainly about gourds but if you are reading this and would like to see me expand a little bit please let me know in the comments! 

​This gourd vase was a way I could combine these two loves of mine, and I am still working on ways to incorporate watercolor, and more, into my gourd art.  I still used pyrography, for the birds and the scroll border.  The birds also have a layer of colored pencil.  The background is all watercolor.  I love the softness it gives, and I am looking forward to using this in new ways in future artworks.

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Above, a few ornaments.  I pretty much make these as the mood strikes.  Although there are some recurring animals that I particularly like to feature, I do like to throw in something new like the flying squirrel (last in the slideshow).  I have never seen a flying squirrel in person, but my parents' once had one get into their house somehow.  They suspected through their chimney.  They are plentiful, but nocturnal, so it is rare one gets to see one.  One goal I have when making ornaments is to evoke a warm emotion, and the idea of them looking like a square kite flying through the air makes me laugh!  

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Last gourd I want to talk about today is my Dunlin Sandpipers.  Oh boy this one was challenging and fun.  Even though I live in Lancaster Co. farm country now, I am still a NJ and NC beach girl at heart.  I grew up (in NJ) near the ocean, my grandparents lived on an island (in NC) and I spent summers with them.  Ocean life captured me and still does, even though I do not get there very often anymore. 

​This very tall and skinny gourd was cut and cleaned and sitting on my shelf, waiting for months before the sandpiper idea came to me.  I used photos (copyright free) of flocking sandpipers as reference, picking out ones from the crowd that I wanted to put into my composition.  I wanted to show a little different personality of each bird, even though at a distance they looked like one big organism.  

Of course, I used my favorite pyrography layered with colored pencil for the birds.  The bottom was so much fun to paint a variety of colors with acrylics.

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That is all for now, I have more artwork to share but I will reserve them for a future post!