03-BB #1852 Swimming Turtles

Swimming Turtles 03-BB #1852 By Barbara Bellchambers $45 6”w x 5 ¼”h Sometimes inspiration comes from wondering about how to incorporate small items into a gourd. In this case, it was a small bottle of crushed turquoise chips. I have used 2-part epoxie to cement crushed stone before, but wanted something different. I have worked with Powertex, and had ivory Powertex on hand, so I decided to use that. First the area to receive the mixture had to be carved out of the gour; I made 4 downward triangles around the gourd, filling them with the turquoise mixed with ivory Powertex. To have it lay flat with the gourd, I had to overfill the cavities, leaving room for possible shrinkage with drying. After a day I was able to sand the area smooth level with the gourd. The gourd is painted in 2 shades of blue, with the inside white. The turtles I found in my “stash” completed the picture, turtles swimming around the gourd.