Gourd Relief

filigree6, originally uploaded by avision4.

This is one of the new pieces I uploaded to my Etsy shop. It is called "Filigree Dreams" and is made up of four distinct panels of intricate carving. Each panel is a relief made up of many different levels.

Two new , small, gourd Jack O'Lanterns were added to the shop for Halloween as well. They turned out quite cute.

And now for a bit of Off-Topic news:

Still working on getting my car running perfect again. Replaced the plugs and wires (platinum plugs) total spent on that: $155.00. Car still runs terrible...or should I say barely runs. It has no spunk, no get up and go at all. While driving and trying to accelerate, the car sputters and chokes like it is going to die... and nearly does. It has a very hard time just trying to get to 55, it is quite scarey trying to drive down the highway like that.

Anyway, my Son is coming up this weekend to see if he can get it running right again. :) When he is not roofing, he builds stock cars and pulling trucks. :)

That's it for now! :)

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What is That Made Out Of?

Gourd cuffs and bracelets are some things I work on now and then. When I cut a bottle gourd to use as a bowl, many times I will use the top bulb to make a new cuff or bracelet. These three here, are some I made in 2007.



I have one on the workbench now that is not quite ready to be finished yet. :) What I really like about these is that no two will be alike. Gourds are, after all, grown on a vine and mother nature likes to make each one different.

After I cut the cuff from the bulb, it gets sanded on the inside and on the edges until they are smooth. That can take quite a long time and use up a lot of elbow grease. After that, any number of things can happen to turn that piece of a gourd into a piece of wearable art as you can see from the three pictures above.

Speaking of sanding...I have a few projects today that need to be sanded, so I best get to it.

Have a great day and for those of you in the USA; have a happy Labor Day weekend!

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Gimme Steam (80s Flashback)

I've been so into listening to Peter Gabriel and watching his videos again. Boy, it's been awhile! I would love to meet the art director behind his videos someday, they are fabulous!

Anyway, on the subject of Steam...

Day 2 Steampunk gourd, originally uploaded by avision4.

I will be picking up where I left off on this gourd over the weekend. In my flickr album, you can see the progress shots up to this point here. After Sunday, I will post a couple more to show how much I got done this weekend.

Hope you enjoy the video as much as I do :)

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Sneak Peek!

flower gourd, originally uploaded by avision4.

This pretty flower is made of a small gourd and a piece of driftwood that I found on the river. It is just about finished too and I couldn't wait to show it off.

This flower was sort of an experiment to see if I could try and mimic some art glass done by Dale Chihuly. His work is so spectacular and I love how he gets the colored glass to do what he wants it to. I will never be a glass blower, but I do enjoy admiring glass artist's creations.

For this piece, I wanted to try and get a totally different look for the inside of a gourd by using a variety of color instead of painting it one solid color such as black. It was a success! Once it is totally finished, you will be able to see many different views of it here.

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Peace!

The theme at Inspire Me Thursday is currently "Peace". This universal sign of peace turns 50 years old this year!

Growing up I drew many variations of the Peace symbol on just about everything around me. Recently, I created this necklace with a shard of gourd and burned the Peace symbol onto it. It sure brought back memories.

I grew up with the Peace symbol all around me. After all, I am a babyboomer. There were peace signs on everything you can imagine; vans, cars, necklaces, bracelets, watchbands (those fabulous wide leather bands), posters, beach blankets, jackets, shirts, and more! They were a prominent piece of art during the Vietnam war that silently showed your hope for the war to end and bring our loved ones home safely.

This is another necklace that I created using a piece of gourd and my woodburner.

You can find both of these necklaces in my Etsy shop, simply click on the photos to go there now.

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Since the last time I posted about a winter storm here, we have had a second one and today we are under a winter storm warning again (for the third time)! If it was the middle of winter, we'd have well over 3 feet of snow by now on the ground. This new storm, destined to hit tonight, will be bringing upwards of a foot of new snow plus ice to give it that extra nice touch. :/

All for now, have a wonderful day!

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Ch.ch.ch.changes! 'Tis the Season

bottom view, originally uploaded by avision4.

It is Spring and for most of us it is time to declutter our homes, scrub walls, and brighten things up after a long, dark, and dreary winter. It is also the one time of year I find muscles I forgot I had...Oooo the pain!

Changes for me this spring come in many forms. While I am depressed about some, I have to keep reminding myself that the world is so large and my options are many. Just thinking about that reminder makes me nervous/excited. More on this another time...
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Remember this small gourd bowl pictured above? If not, you can see more pictures of it in my Flickr album.

This picture shows the bottom of the gourd. There are four panels and each panel has been carved into a fantasy scene. It is now nearly finished! I am working on finishing this gourd in between other projects I have going at the same time.

It will be a cute little bowl for fragrant potpourri or maybe keep your rings safe at night.

This is all for now. May you all have a beautiful day!
((hugs))

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Progress of Steampunk Gourd, Day2

Day 2 Steampunk gourd, originally uploaded by avision4.

As you can see there is a lot of tedious, time-consuming work involved in gourd carving. Where it has been carved out, it has been sanded smooth by hand. Some of the gourd was carved with my dremmel and other, more intricate areas with my Xacto knife.

You can also see from this photo that I am still working on sanding and carving. :) There is quite a bit of carving, shaping, and sanding to do yet and I will be working on this the rest of tonight and part of the day tomorrow.

I Will post the next progress shots either tomorrow (Easter Day) or Monday.
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I have a couple of other gourd projects going on at the same time that are nearly completed and I hope to be posting them to my Etsy shop early next week.

There are quite a few rocks now too that have been prepped and are ready to be made into colorful fish. :)

All for now!

Have a wonderful Sunday and a Happy Easter to all!

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Happiness is Carving!

one side view, originally uploaded by avision4.

This gourd bowl is actually the very top part of a bulb from a bottle gourd.

The four different panels are all based on a theme of circles.

You can see more pictures of this bowl in Flickr by clicking on the picture.

The inside is painted black and the main color on the outside is brown. I have started woodburning and painting the outside of it and it should be completed soon.
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The holidays are upon us! I hope you are all having a merry December so far.

All for now. December is a really busy month for me as I'm sure it is for you too.

Have a wonderful day!

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