I would like to start carving gourds - does anyone have any information that they would like to share -- I also enjoy woodburning and would like to incorporate that into my carving project.

I have never attempted gourds myself, but I had a customer who woodbburned ???gourdburned them. She then painted them with transparent airbrush paints; using a brush. She thinned the paints even more before using them.
The work was beautiful, I would like to try it sometime myself.

[Captain_Bandaid]

??? I, too, have seen carved and pyrographed (?) gourds and they were very popular at craft shows. Where does one get suitable gourds to work on?

I contacted 'Little Shavers' but was assured by the propriater that 'he was out of his gourd(s).'

[Nancy_G]

Gourds, dried, clean and ready to go, are readily available by mail order. Just look in the classified ads in the back of any craft or tole painting magazine. I don't have a magazine on hand or I'd post an address or two now.

Nancy,
I haven't ever carved or burned gourds, but there is an article in the last issue of Chip Chats on burning them.
As far as carving them goes, I would think that you could learn some methods from someone who carves ostrich eggs. (I don't have any sights available, but I know they're out there.) The reason I suggest this is because of the 'thinness' of the gourd.
In the chip chats article by Bob Boyer ,(e-mail: pyrographer@msn.com ) he comments on two women that excell in decorating gourds (Denise Meyers and Marguerite Smith) and states that Denise Meyers is reported to have sold a burned gourd for $10,000.00. (sure would like to do that! )
I'm thinking that if you contact Mr. Boyer through the e-mail address listed above, he will be able to put you in contact with someone who can give you all the information you need to get started.
Good luck and let me know if this helped.

Have you tried a Google search?

To Nancy Eberlin: Â*My wife is deep into Gourdart. Â*She recommends that you bring up 'www.caning.com' then order their catague. Â*The best book Â*is 'Gourd Crafts' by Ginger Summit, published in 2000, published by Lark Books, a division of Sterling Publishing Co.,Inc. 387 Park Ave. South, New York, N.Y. 10016. Â*If you are wondering why I am answereing your message, it is because I frequently end up doing some releif carving on my wife's gourds and therefore am involved with goards, secondary to wood carving. Waldgeist

in the recent issue of chipchats (vol. 49 no. 2) on page 38, Bob Boyer 'the detail master' opens his feature with the repeat offer: 'I will send you information on gourd sources, gourd equipment, gourd seeds, gourd clubs and other information and sources about decorating gourds. Please send your address to me and two 34 cent stamps and I will mail this information to you.'

he gives an address of :

2650 Davisson St.
River Grove, IL 60171

He then goes on to tell about Denise Meyers selling a gourd she did for $20,000!