Canteen Gourd Vase with 'Petroglyphs'

Gourd art by Christy Barajas

This 'Distressed Finish' gourd was made to look like a rustic stone wall by first lightly sanding with 320-grit sand paper to knock off any loose dirt or skin, then sprayed with a high-gloss varnish (wipe on varnish is not recommended as it will remove some of the dried gourd skin). The 'glyphs' were then carved using a GourdMasterTM Pro Carver with Dremel 106 High Speed Ball Cutter.

The artist was inspired by this image of the deep cracks in the stone and decided to mimic the look by carving a faux crack down the middle of the gourd, and more cracking on the sides.

Doing an online search for "Native American Pictographs" or Native American Petroglyphs" will yield many results like these that you can use for inspiration on your gourd art!

See Below for Links to Materials Used in This Project: