Gourd #10: Glowing Petroglyphs

With the inspiration from yesterday's experiments in mind, I went out to the shed and picked out a gourd for today's artwork. This is what it looked like before I got started. Not very promising, is it? But there is gold hidden under the wax and mold, honest!



I scrubbed it and cleaned it out. I dyed it with leather dyes, and wood burned along the rims. I took some time researching the petroglyphs of the US South West, then painted some of them on the gourd with leather dye and a Q-tip. And then I took a dremel to the lines, to poke holes for the candle light to come through. Here is the finished product:























































I am really pleased with the way it turned out! I actually designed this one in my head last night while I was modeling. Hey, you have to do something when you can't move for 40 minutes, you know?

There is a sale pending on this piece, so you won't see it in the Etsy store. But I like it so much that I'll probably make a similar one sometime soon.