Gourd Paintings 畫葫蘆

From time to time we all need to become so engrossed in something that all our worries fly away. At that time there is nothing left in the world but the paints, the brush and the painting I am lost in. I never know that I can draw and paint until I received two dried gourds from my neighbor Tom this spring. The following pictures are the before and after I woodburned  and painted the gourds. 

The major task of this project for me is cleaning the dirty gourds. First, I soaked the gourds for 20-30 minutes in a bucket with soapy water. Next, I used a scrubbing ball, dish detergent with warm water to scrub the gourd surface. I had to scrub hard enough to clean off the mold and dry skin, but not hard enough to leave any scratch on the gourd's surface. Once I have scrubbed away the mold and skin just rinse the gourds and allow them to dry again. Here is a helpful link about cleaning dried gourds

Finally they are clean!

When it comes to working with gourds, the possibilities are literally endless! I chose to woodburn the gourds,  and then paint them with acrylic paints.

My dog Smurf