Author: welsht

Gifted

Spirit of the Horse

This is a large tall gourd, dyed with leather dye. The rim is finished with leather and deer antlers, there are bone feathers with turquoise wrapped around the antlers. The horses are wood burned into the gourd, then dyed with various shades if ink dye. I have woodburned a horse shaman onto the shoulders of this side and have embelished the neck with a copper feather and turquoise chip. The piece is supported by a base of deer antler which have red pony beads wrapped around the prongs.

Hand Painted Gourds by Tammy

Fat Pony Design

Hand-Painted Gourds by Tammy

 

 

Originally from North Wales … land of Welsh Ponies & Corgis

Tammy, a self-taught artist first found artistic expression in

children’s wall murals and hand painted furniture; these days her focus

is uniquely designed hand painted gourds.

The gourds I use are hard shell gourds, these vary significantly in

size, shape and thickness depending on the growing season, harvesting and curing.

At the time of harvest the gourd is composed of 90% water ; curing is the process

of evaporation as all the interior water leaches out

through the porous ‘woody’ outer shell and eventually dries on the

gourd surface, which then has to be scrubbed off. The drying time for gourds varies from

6 weeks to maybe a year depending on weather and other variables.

Once dried the gourd feels quite light when picked up and if you shake it

the seeds inside give it the sound of a rattle.

Tammy uses larger gourds for her creations and chooses each one individually,

“ they are like good friends; no two are the

same … lumps and bumps included ! “

I grow some gourds but the larger ones I use come from Fallbrook, CA.

Leather or ink dyes are used to bring out the characteristics of the whole gourd, then

depending upon the final design & detail I will use a variety of colour mediums.

The decorative long-leaf pine needles

used I have gathered in South Carolina or California and are

hand dyed, I then coil them around the top of a gourd as with a basket

and stitch with artificial sinew. I like to use embellishments that are natural & in sync

with the unique feel of each gourd; beads mostly

used are turquoise, red coral and bone. I also use deer antlers

because of their raw natural essence, the horse hair I use comes from a variety of my

supportive friends equines…… luckily it grows back !

“I have discovered great delight working with gourds: an interest in Native American culture

and my passion for horses affords me constant inspiration with my work”.

Tammy also works with high quality deerskin hides creating handmade leather pillows,

throws and beautiful hand painted wall hangings embellished with

assorted beads and deer antler buttons.

 

~~ the gift that is the horse will always be my inspiration ~~

 

Boot Jacks

Boot Jacks

These are SO MUCH FUN !
I wood burn the design first then paint these outrageously cool boot jacks. I stain some first, others I leave the natural wood color. They are all sealed and finished with a Marine grade clear varnish. Some have small cross charms , some have rhinestones; some have a tape measure down the sides, some have studs.