Well it is completed now.

What a sweet journey this has been! The Little Gourd has led me down memory lane in more ways than I could ever have imagined. It will be a little heart wrenching to let it go on its journey, but it really wants to go to Linda. Hopefully she will like it as much as I liked doing it for her. I was going to attach the wise old owl to the top of the gourd but he did not, I repeat, did not want to be there. The owl stands alone! So it will be a very small rattle. Why, I do not know but that is the way it is to be. It will make the why known in its own good time.

The painting of the gourd was easy but taking the photos in a manner that the photos came out correctly was something else. Refer to "Techie I am Not". I must have taken a hundred photos to get what I have on the blog.

I have listened and followed, painted and prayed, and have had a fine journey with this project. To all who follow the Little Gourd; thank you. Positive thoughts do help any artist in what ever medium they choose and they are appreciated. They are helpful. They give courage when we need it and always send inspiration.

We all have different talents. They are gifts that we must use for good and always, always give thanks for them.

What will be my next project? No sure, but it will have my all as has the Little Gourd . You know when you give your all, you get it all back.

Well the Fox is in it now

I know, I know, wolves and butterflies were in my head but you know those foxes are pretty quick.

That is the wonderful thing about art It is so fluid and it is best to be open to change lest frustration lay you low.

I love Indian Paintbrush and Horsetail because they bring good memories to the surface of my mind.

Memories of Big Falls the one place on earth that is a sanctuary in my heart. It is a place of peace, tranquility and unbelievably clear water. At the headwaters of the Henry's Fork of the Snake River you could count the pebbles if you were so inclined. It is called Big Springs and there are trout that you can feed. They stay by the bridge and they are BIG trout. Uh uh no fishing!

You might think this has nothing to do with the Little Gourd....actually it doesn't. But yet it does because Island Park has all that I am putting on the Little Gourd. Things stored in my memory often make it to my paintings. Experience and observation are the arts best friends, then with imagination thrown in, oh what worlds we can create.

Oh the butterfly did make it. It flew in and is sitting on the Indian Paintbrush. A little blue one. Maybe more will join it; we will just have to wait and see. It will be featured in the next blog which should have the wolf, maybe.

The Little Gourd Part 3

Well since the last posting I have been pondering the design. You will see that my wise old owl is not quite finished. I think he is waiting for more of the little gourd to be finished before he will enlighten me on how to finish him. The wise old owl came quite easily but for some reason the gourd puzzled me.

I would just see dragon flies and the "four directions". I decided to see what I could find out about the "four directions" and was very excited to find that there are colors attached to them. Yes, I now had my direction for the "four directions"

Truth is associated with Dragon Flies. As a child I remember my mother telling me if I lied the dragon flies would sew my mouth shut. I cannot tell you the impression that made on me. I would rather say any thing than maybe tell a lie. As a child I think I could tell some pretty good stories. Although, there are some ideas floating around in my "gourd" regarding what to do with him. As I write this wolves and butterflies are playing in my head. It is quite pleasant actually.

I am champing at the bit to get going on those visuals.