The Old Woman Out Of Her Gourd

"Out of Her Gourd" 9"(wide) x 10"(deep) x 23" (high)
Gourd:  From a Second Hand Store
Base & Rock Armature:  Aluminum Foil & Tape
Base & Rocks:  Apoxie Sculpt & Acrylic Paint
2 Large Plants, Pots & Saucers:  Polymer Clay
Small Plant:  Purchased
Door "Bell":  Wire and Found Object
Blue Bird & Nest:  Apoxie Sculpt & Acrylic Paint
Door, Windows, Vine, Leaves & Mushroom Chimney:  Apoxie Sculpt & Acrylic Paint

Gnome Home?

 No, no gnome home in the gnome home.  Say that 3 times.  I gave a demo on sculpting with Apoxie Sculpt at the AZPCG Retreat up in Prescott, Arizona.  Apoxie Sculpt is a good alternative when polymer clay cannot be used.  This gourd was unopened so it might explode in the oven.  I did not want to open it.  I just wanted the shape and the lightness of a large gourd.  I will use polymer to sculpt the accessories.

 This is just the base.  I still need to add accessories, more rocks here and there and some hardware, paint and sealer.

And, in the end.......it is not going to be a gnome home at all.  Stay tuned.

Gourd Sculpture Display

The head and arms are Apoxie Sculpt, gourd body is painted with acrylics, hair is string, basket is from Goodwill with the outside covered with air dry polymer clay.  I wove the fringe around the basket and painted the inside with acrylic paint.  She displays my bead crochet bracelets and necklaces.  

My inspiration was one of Retlaw Snellac's photos of a Turkana woman.  Turkana is the second largest pastoral community in Kenya.  I loved how her beadwork looked on her elongated neck.

Gourd in Progress

I'm starting a new gourd sculpture.  I looked at this gourd and saw a figure of a woman holding a basket or blanket full of colorful pieces.  Since I wanted a display for some of my bead crochet, I think this might be it.

First Place Gourd Sculpture

The judging was today...got a call that I won First Place in the Gourds category! Very happy about that! I also entered one of my Bottled Up polymer clay pieces and won First Place in the category! How lucky is that?

Might as well finish telling you the rest of her "parts". I used dimensional liquid polymer clay to create tiny clear bubbles to texture her skirt and top. Air dry polymer clay was used to cover the small gourd and for her head wrap. I used Golden acrylic paints for all the painting.

Her collar was sculpted from air dry polymer clay and hand beaded. Because air dry pc is porous, it can easily be sewn using a beading needle. I beaded her little arm bracelets, glued the felt on the bottom and she was done. Yay. I did sign her on the side and gave her a light sealer. I like her a lot. I'm so happy...I'm re-energized. Such a good feeling!

Gourd Sculpture Part 3

More Apoxie Clay, more painting....

These are two hoops from embroidery frames I glued together and attached with Apoxie Clay.

I weighted the bottom with more Apoxie Clay. The bottom will be covered with a piece of felt so it will look nice.

The "hair" is some old cording I had. Her head wrap is sculpted from air dry polymer clay and glued on. The cording was glued in after the head wrap was semi-dry.

Now she gets more paint, patterns, textures and some beading. Continued......

Gourd Sculpture Part 2

The Apoxie Clay is a two part polymer resin clay that air dries rock solid. It's a very heavy clay, but is great for connections, cementing or attaching difficult pieces. After combining Part A with Part B, you have a limited amount of time to work with it as it starts to stiffen and, depending on size, can be hard in five minutes and cement in 20.

I used masking tape to cover the wire and then doll tape to smooth it out.

I covered the arms and head with Paperclay.....what a mess. I'm leaving the face "rough". She looks weathered, but happy (like me).

I covered the small gourd with Delight air dry polymer clay. I'm letting all this dry and will paint the gourd and add the headpiece next. Continued......

Gourd Sculpture Part 1

I'm continuing to make things more difficult for myself. I KNOW I cannot do a smooth sculpt with Paperclay and yet.....I'm going to try to get it as clean as possible. I'm using a purchased gourd that I have painted with Golden's White Block Out Paint.

I use a baked polymer clay "smoother" for shaping my aluminum foil head armature. I use a Makins tool for indenting the features. I try to sculpt as much as I can in the aluminum so the head does not become too heavy.

However, I can already see that the head is going to be too large, but am I going to stop? Nope. Just going to go with it. I wired the exaggerated arms and neck and will add the Apoxie Clay to the neck and shoulder "T" and let that dry overnight. Continued......