Handicrafts, decorative arts & crafts.

In gourd art, there is a vast array of material that can be used when carving and decorating a gourd. When it comes to doing the rim, the options are just as varied. The best rims are those that complement the gourd's overall design. The rim "completes" the gourd--it makes the gourd look finished. Through more than 200 color images and tutorials from contributing artists, learn how to finish the rims of gourd bowls using chip stone, tubular beading, paper, coiling, leather, wire, clay, pine needle, and flowers. The rims illustrated range from the very simple to the extremely elaborate. A gallery of completed works will inspire your own creative ideas. This book is perfect for gourd artists of all skill levels.

Coiling is a basketry technique used as decoration in gourd art. Step-by-step coiling techniques, as well as pattern designs, help gourd enthusiasts use coiled waxed linen and colored thread to enhance their work. 196 color photos show how to trim a gourd bowl or vase and use the coiled threads to add color to your favorite gourds. A special chart will help crafters design their own coiling patterns. Beginners and advanced workers with gourds will be inspired by this book.

Two ancient practices, gourd decorating and the fiber arts, come together in this one of a kind book. Instructive and educational, Gourds + Fiber presents a fresh and exciting take on gourd decoration with techniques borrowed from the fiber arts like stitching, twining, coiling, plaiting, and lacing. In addition to a thorough and engaging history of the relationship between gourds and fiber, this book includes 30 projects with clear step-by-step directions that walk you through the prep, design, and creation of beautiful gourds. Color photographs and diagrams illustrate each chapter, and creative uses of materials like pine needles, silk, leather, beads, and felt will inspire your own original designs. Accessible to beginners and full of possibilities for experienced weavers, basket makers, and gourd aficionados, Gourds + Fiber is not to be missed.

An ever-widening range of materials is being used by today's crafters to weave and coil baskets and to decorate gourds. Over 350 color images display the raw materials, techniques for their use, and final works of art created with them. Along with traditional materials such as reeds, white oak, ash, vines, plants, grasses, and bark, kudzu, grapevines, iris, sweetgrass, paper and wire provide new possibilities. Information is included on where to find natural materials, and how to collect and prepare them for weaving. Exciting uses for alternative materials are also explored, including wire, mesh, and recycled materials. Tutorials and projects from well-known weavers and gourd artists, along with an extensive list of resources, make this book a must have for weavers, crafters, and anyone with a passion for handcrafted fiber art.

Provides examples from twenty artists along with information on their tools, methods, and influences.

A guide to gourd pyrography--using heat to create works of gourd art--that discusses gourd prep and work basics, provides step-by-step instructions for several designs and techniques, and presents secrets from fifty artists.