Repetition can be a foundation...

We're back in the saddle, gourd-wise that is!  Let's talk about techniques. There are a lot of ways to decorate a gourd, to paint a gourd, to put a rim on a cut edge, but are the thought processes before putting pen, wood burner, or paintbrush tip to the surface to do the decorating?  What is the mindset leading to an image?

One way to approach the plan is through repetition. By repeating an action, over and over, a broad overall pattern emerges.  Time passes and the focus allows the mind to wander in a controlled way. For example (let's do one here, and post other examples in the days to come), use one part of the wood burner, in this case, the butt end without a tip screwed into place.

Once the tool was hot, it was randomly placed on the backside of a small bowl-shaped gourd. Over and over it made marks on the gourd until time passed and the overall pattern began to look like a turtle shell!  The burning continued until the whole surface was covered. Two colors of green Sharpies scratched in some color areas and rubbing alcohol was dabbed on with a Q-Tip to blur the greens together (the alcohol makes the marker ink bleed and blur).  Once dry the shell was sprayed with a gloss sealer.


All this from one burn mark - repeated over and over.  Adding holes around the edge gives the artist space to sew a rim before adding legs. Cutting and sanding for the neck led to another idea for adding a bobbing head.

AND, none of this was in the plan when the first mark was made!  That's the beauty of repetition. Start with a mark and keep going until the pattern itself presents the plan.  It takes time, and trust, and the willingness to not be in control.




A lesson for life perhaps?