Trying New Techniques with Sakura Crystal Lacquer and Terri Sproul Mixers!

 

My post today is going to revolve around one Art medium that I love to work with. Oh now, you know what it is, why it’s gourds of course! I’ve had several classes recently that I’ve been using the Crystal Lacquer and Terri Sproul mixers on. Today I tried the Bronze mixer, Crystal Lacquer and the Extra fine glitter on a gourd with a student. We took an extra long dipper gourd and cut off most of the handle to make it look like a bud vase.

Can you see all of the mottling in the gourd? That is where the mold was, but once it was cleaned it left some beautiful mottling behind. I then mixed up the Bronze powder with the Crystal Lacquer and added a little of the fine glitter(pixie dust). We really didn’t want to lose the mottling on the gourd so we put two coats of the lacquer/powder/glitter on the outside of the gourd, allowing for the first layer to dry before adding the second. We also used a part of a gourd as the base and coated it the same way.

Do you see the handle of the gourd next to it there? Can you tell the difference between the before (the handle) and the after (the bud vase)?

                                         I’m telling you that this bud vase really looked gorgeous when that lacquer dried! You can still see all of the mottling and yet the gourd itself has a shimmer and sheen to it that you just don’t normally see. Of course the inside of the gourd is not waterproof so the only flowers you can place inside of the gourd would have to be artificial. Both the student and myself said at the same time, “That would look good with an artificial orchid in it”. Wise minds think alike I think. wink Another wonderful bonus of using the Sakura Crystal Lacquer is that you don’t have to use a sealer on your gourd because the Lacquer itself is the sealer. Isn’t that neat? What do you think of the project today? I would love to hear from you, please leave me a comment.

Barbara