Gourds Galore!!!

Gourds have always intrigued me. The shapes can really stimulate your imagination. I remember my reaction to all that could be done with gourds when I attended my first Gold Rush Festival in Dahlonega, Georgia. Gourds were not just used as bird houses. There were beautiful boxes made from these. The paintings on them were also fabulous; from sunflowers to Santa Claus. You name a season, a flower or a holiday and you could get a gourd for each. I could not believe my eyes. We decided, on another trip to Georgia, to visit The Gourd Place. If the items at the festival were great, they could not compare to what I came across during my visit. The owners of this place know that once you see what can be done with gourds, you will also want to try it. To my delight, there were boxes of gourds (all shapes and sizes) that were for sale to let your imagination go. They provide you with instructions on cleaning them. I bought a few, and so did my Mom and my sister, but since I am the artist in the family, they were handed over to me for cleaning and beautifying. I painted one for each member of the family and stored the others for when I had more time. On my visit to Georgia this past April, I picked up three more. I decided that I could not continue to store these. I did not want any type of country theme, so I decided to do my "Flower Power" style painting on some of them. As you can see, my country gourds have now put on their City style!!

www.artistamundo.com/rosiesart