Wildife Gourd Art - my story

My start in using gourds in my artwork really happened by accident in 2006. A co-worker brought a bag of old gourds she had found in her father’s basement to work and was looking for someone to take them to use in some way. I told her I would take them and try to do something with them, not having a clue what it might be. Now most gourds I have seen at craft/art shows usually involved painting the gourd with a Christmas theme or making it into a bird house. I wanted to do something different. I decided to try using my woodburning tool that Debbie had given me as gift some years ago. My first woodburning was done on a short handled dipper gourd. On one side I burned a squirrel with the handle section serving as the tail and on the other side was a screech owl looking out a hole in the side of a tree. For my first attempt at using a gourd as a “canvas”, it didn’t look too bad. My division at work always sponsored what was called “the Boo Bazaar” in which craft/art items, centering around a Halloween theme, would be part of a silent auction for charity. I submitted the squirrel gourd along with a "penguin" gourd. On the penguin gourd I woodburned a skull that had a deer mouse looking out of one of the eye sockets. I also woodburned a bobcat on one side and a cardinal on the other side of the gourd, that was basically about half the size of a basketball with a very short neck. The gourds were one of the highest bid items and were very unique for the bazaar. I received many positive compliments which inspired me to continue experimenting. Since then, I have been woodburning mostly wildlife images on various gourds and selling them at craft/art fairs, with Debbie selling her baskets. I have pictures of the squirrel/owl gourd which I’ll post in the near future. Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures, or at least good pictures, of all the gourds I have done and sold. I'm going to make a concerted effort to take more and better photos in the future.