Creating a Gourd Bowl

I always find it relaxing and empowering when I have an opportunity to create something. Whether it's fine works of art (OK, so I may not be capable of real fine art) or just a project that takes some Yankee ingenuity (much more my style), creativity is a powerful thing.

This weekend, I created a gourd bowl. I've made gourd bowls before, but each time I choose a gourd to work with, it ends up being a very unique and interesting endeavor. Although I know that I'll end up with a gourd bowl, but I seldom have any idea what it will look like until I start working with it.

On this gourd bowl project, I decided to take photos along the way so you could see what happens during the process. It's fascinating to start with just a dried gourd and end up with a beautiful and decorative piece of craftwork.

The photo slide show is available on Flickr or by clicking the photo.

The Right Gourd Tool for the Job

The right tool for the job really makes a difference. That phrase holds true for pretty much anything, but especially for crafting with gourds. As I become more skilled with each gourd project, the more precise I find I want to be with my cuts, carving, and shaping. I need the right tools. Ahhh tools.

Some tools that I use I purchase through woodworking supply houses, online gourd specialty stores and even the local hardware stores. If a tool works well for wood, it usually works well for the wood-like hard shells of gourds.

Sometimes though it’s hard to find exactly what I’m looking for, or I’m just too cheap to spend a ton of money on something that looks totally easy to make. In that case, I just build it.

The first tool I made (above) was a gourd clamp that holds the gourd while I’m working on it. It functions like a third hand to secure the gourd so I can use both my hands for other tasks. I have to admit that I saw the idea online but was too cheap to purchase the instruction booklet on how to make it so I just used a little Yankee ingenuity and made my own version based on pictures I found. If you’re more comfortable with specific instructions, The Caning Shop (Gourd Clamp) sells the instruction booklet by Jim Widess for $5.95 plus S&H.

The second tool I built (left) a horizontal scribe. I make a lot of gourd bowls and marking an even line across the top can sometimes be a challenge. The scribe lets me place the gourd on a flat surface to find it’s natural balance point, adjust the pencil to the height that I want and spin the gourd to mark the cut line. The beauty of this is that I don’t just get a straight line, but I get a line from the natural balance point on the bottom of the gourd so I don’t have to sand the bottom for a flat surface. This also is available online to purchase through the Caning Shop (Gourd Scribe) for $14.95 plus S&H but I made mine for a total of about $2, which was considerably less.

Whether I purchase or build my own, now I truly understand a man’s fascination with the tool isle at Home Depot. The right tool for the job really does make a difference.

Gourd-ous Gourd Bowls

Gourd crafting has become a great hobby. My initial efforts at making gourd bowls were a bit raw, but I’ve enjoyed the process of learning the craft and trying new things. When I first started making bowls, I used what I had on hand to color the gourds, which was wood stain. I found I could get quite a few different colors from the amount of stain I used and by using more than one application.

I had seen some gourds that had some beautifully rich finishes and wanted to learn more about that. Different colors, rich hues and stunning shine. So I looked into typical finishes for gourds and found that both leather dyes and gourd inks seemed to be the most common finishes used by serious artists. I decided to try gourd ink because it seemed easier to use and clean up. I purchased the ink from Welburn Farms, the same California gourd farm where I purchased some dried gourds.

I also wanted to try my hand at inlaying so I started with inlaying some glass beads in the bowl rims. I used my Dremel tool with a flex shaft which makes it easier to control. I’ve found that inlaying takes great attention to detail and I have to be very present when working on carving out the spaces where the beads will be placed. If I’m not, I tend to mess up and then the bead doesn’t fit snugly without gaps around it.

Here are a few of my most recent pieces. It’s amazing to see how the ink covers the gourd and decides what it wants to look like, with no help from me. The first gourd bowl is inked with sky blue, but the raw colors of the gourd itself made the finish look more like a mottled seafoam green/blue. The exterior was then finished with a coat of spray polyurethane. I left the interior natural with only a mineral oil finish. I like the look and it can be used safely with foods. I placed blue and green beads into the carved out areas around the rim and secured them in place with hot glue, which is transparent when dry.

The other bowl is inked with a medium brown color on the exterior. The hard exterior shell accepts the ink differently than the interior which is more of an exposed surface. So on the interior, I used the medium brown ink but mixed it with varnish. Combining the varnish with the ink makes the ink more closely match the exterior color while also protecting it. Otherwise the ink would be much darker when it covers the rough, exposed surface. The rim of the bowl has amber glass bead inlays. These were also secured in place with hot glue.

I think these gourd bowls are gourd-ous.

Out of My Gourd

A lot of people have said that I must be out of my gourd, and now I think they’re absolutely right.

I’m exploring a whole new world of crafting with gourds and it’s proving to be a lot of fun. It started when I grew some gourds in my Dad’s garden in 2003. We must have had green thumbs because they really took off. I had no idea they required so much room to grow!

I didn’t do anything with them for the longest time. They just sat in my parents garden shed collecting dust and drying out (as gourds do). When my Mom thought she’d clean out a few things and wanted to throw them away, I finally decided to do something with them.

The first things I made were birdhouses. Different hole sizes for different birds depending on the overall size and shape of the gourds themselves. I drilled some small drain holes in the bottom and added a leather strap for hanging. I painted them with acrylic paint and then a top coat of spray polyurethane so they could be used outdoors. They don’t have perches because I learned that perches actually put the birdhouse inhabitants in danger. They make it easy for larger, more predatory birds to hang out on the perch and attack the birds inside.

When I ran out of my own home-grown gourds, I started buying them from Welburn Farms, a gourd Farm in California. Who knew people grew and sold dirt-encrusted dry gourds? With the gourds I’ve purchased, I’ve started making bowls. I began with low-rim bowls and used a Dremel tool to carve some shapes and lines. My beginner efforts were rather primitive, but that’s what gives them their charm. I used regular wood stain to color the interior and exterior. Like the birdhouses, I coated them with polyurethane for a finish. The poly, once dried, makes them food-safe for dry foods like chips or bread.

I really must be out of my gourd because now I have a bunch of gourds in various stages of completion littering my kitchen and workshop area. I’m finding it rather rewarding though. It’s very creative to figure out what to do with each design, very zen-like because I have to be present and pay attention to what I’m doing when I’m working on them, and very satisfying to end up with a useful piece of primitive artwork that I can use around the house or give as gifts.

Now when people say that I’m out of my gourd, I just say ‘thank you’.