Outside Inspiration: Unbelievable Gourds

Trying to figure out which of Mark Doolittle’s gourds to share with you was a serious exercise in restraint. I was inclined to post a dozen of them for he creates such a variety and this is no ordinary gourd art. Not that I even need to tell you that. You can see it from this one image:

Mark carves the gourds and his wife Kathy creates the paper appliques that add the color to the pieces.  I wondered as I looked through his gorgeous online gallery if he ever tried combining polymer with these. How wonderful would that be?

This has me seriously considering trying out gourd carving just so I can see first hand the possibilities with polymer. Of course, we could even make our own polymer vessels to carve and add to. The idea machine in my head has just been going full bore since finding these. You really must take a moment to go to his site and see the huge variety of stunning pieces. He does similar work in wood as well so there is a just a ton of eye candy on this site. Get a cup of something warm and explore!