Making gourd birds look awesome. Elevating your gourd art to sell at events or galleries means rethinking. Mindy Hawkins’s new gourd birds shows us how she enhance her quality work to sell more.
I have often been intrigued as I ponder the question, When does a piece of gourd art become fine art?
Fine Art, in my mind, means museum-quality, gallery-worthy, and high art prices. I have several gourd artist friends who have moved into that realm and watched them learn what is needed to succeed. This question always comes to mind when I see a gourd in this arena.
Awesome Traits
There are a couple of things that seem to ring true with every piece. One, the craftsmanship is excellent. Many artists use only a few techniques in the majority of their gourds. This helps establish their style and allows them to master the technique, thereby being able to take less time making gourds.
The other thing my artist friends tell me is that you have to be able to talk about your art, why you created it, and then you have to have a story that the buyer can relate to and find funny, interesting, or related to a common experience we all have. This narrative is good to know as you make the piece because it directs you to the right colors, size, and embellishments. The story helps you convince the buyer they want to share that with others and they must take it home.
I have also seen in these fine art settings, that the gourd is described as a sculpture and is treated as such. They are displayed on pedestals so the buyer can walk around them.
Gourd Artist Mindy Hawkins who lives in Florida, has been creating gourd bird sculptures for eighteen years. She has a wood burning technique that is uniquely her own.
Like most gourd artists, she started thinking about how she could enhance her birds, but still keep her style. This stepping stone is one we all must meet if we stay in the artform.
She talks about her change on her website and I think her new work is a masterstroke we can learn from.
“My gourds are a 3-D canvas that allows me to introduce a variety of textures, patterns, and colors to the foundation of the sculpture. It is the basis whereby I then add elements such as legs, beak, wings, tail, and eyes.”
Making gourd birds look awesome
As you look at her birds, begin to notice how woodburning techniques are repeated and how the eyes and legs all look similar.
After Mindy draws the feathers and body sections on the gourd, she craves each feather tip away from the gourd. Then paints the edge with black or dark paint. Leather dye is used for the feathers. In many cases, the theme is often offered by her husband, sometimes in the middle of the night or while driving. Using a play-on-words using iconic characters, both real and imagined.
If this were your work, how might you elavate it?
“I have become intrigued and inspired by the combination of two sculptural mediums: the natural and organic shape of gourds and the sculptural and textural characteristics of hand-made soft figures. The combination of these two elements has sparked my imagination and inspired me to create artwork that tells a more elaborate story.”
“The soft figure allows me to express the emotions of the character through facial expressions; body language; and the style, color, and patterning of the clothing. The added accessories further enhance the narrative. . In the end, the two mediums are combined to create a harmonizing composition.”
Mindy enjoyed sewing when she was younger and this addition means she gets to be creative with clothing and accessories. And it adds even more to her story ideas!
Making gourd birds look awesome.
What a difference the new approach makes for the birds!
ATTILA THE HEN
26″ Tall x 18″ Long x 10″ Wide
Attila is a soft sculpture, mighty warrior. He has accessories, including a breast shield, helmet, bow, knife, and leather boots. Attila is riding the gourd “Hen” that has been hand-carved with wooden beak and glass eyes.
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE
21″ Tall x 18″ Long x 21″ Wide
Sir Francis is a soft sculpture piece holding his globe.
He is aboard his trusted friend, the Drake. Drake is a gourd duck that has been hand-carved and dyed with wood beak and glass eyes.
KINDRED SPIRITS
28″ Tall x 20″ Long x 9″ Wide
Kindred Spirits include a soft sculpture fairy with palm wings, moss hair, an acorn hat.
Making gourd birds look awesome happen because of their new story.
Now Mindy has a wonderful object that she can weave a story around that is timeless for the buyer. A History buff would love these! Here is her Mother’s Goose. As you look closely, already a story begins to develop in your head.
To help you create a better narrative you might what to find special embellishments or a stand that adds to the narrative. Mindy’s soft sculptures sitting on the bird could be something else. Maybe a mouse, a chicken, or a butterfly. It could be made from polymer clay or air dry clay. What materials do you like to work with?
When I was looking for something different to keep my jewelry unique, I turned to my interest in Zentangling and began to create my patterns. This led me in a new direction with my jewelry images and even changed my wood burning skills.
Put your thinking cap on and consider how you might elevate your work with another element or technique you enjoy that will also improve the narrative of your gourd.
There is one video with Mindy giving the History of Gourds slide show. It is about an hour long and very informative, The last 30 minutes she talks about her birds. So just skip to there.
https://www.gardenclubjax.org/combined-circles-the-art-and-history-of-gourds/
Have you faced this stepping stone?
How did you change your work and how has it added to your work’s quality? Share your thoughts here in the comment box or share them with all the gourd artists on our Facebook Group Page.
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