Craft Works : Ganesh made from Gourd

Hi all

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all!

As I looked at one of the gourds, an idea popped into my head. Day by day, the desire grew stronger and stronger. Now I needed my DH's help . Initially however he tried to put off saying he doesn't have time, but eventually had to give in.

My DH's colleague gave me a couple of gourds a few years ago. She had carved , painted and converted them into birdhouses and pots among many of her other creations. To me, it appeared that the gourd was waiting there to be converted into a Pillayar.

After much pleading, DH did the prep work and with the help of paper mache and clay, Pillyar was slowly in the making. DH finished the entire formation and then I set about the painting job.

Finally I could say " gourd இலும் இருப்பார் பிள்ளையார்"

Happy to share our gourd pillayar.

Amazing Usha !!

Very creative and looks fabulous !

Can't believe it was made out of gourd ! Looks so real !

So, did you paste the paper mache and clay on top of the gourd after it dried out?

How did the gourd stay fresh all these years?

Originally Posted by Jithiks

Amazing Usha !!

Very creative and looks fabulous !

Can't believe it was made out of gourd ! Looks so real !

So, did you paste the paper mache and clay on top of the gourd after it dried out?

How did the gourd stay fresh all these years?

Thank you Krithika.
Over the years, even though I have done some craft project or the other, this is the one I am very proud of as it was not from a kit and all the raw materials were used from imagination.

See, we started making it the old-fashioned way by soaking newspapers and making a pulp. It was a long and slow process as we had to wait for it to dry before going to the next step. Clay was very minimally used and that too towards the end to bond. After painting, we sealed by clear coat.

It has now been 10 yrs I think since it was made. On normal days, I keep it covered with saran wrap on a shelf and only open it prior to Ganesh chaturthi.

The Kozhukattais are made of paper pulp( mache) and the bunch of bananas is a bead creation that I had done befor marriage.

WOW Usha this is truly unbelievable... If you hadnt said so I would never have guessed..
So interesting and innovative.. Great job you both.. and the bead work!!!

Thanks for sharing

Happy Vinayaka Chathurthi to you and family:)

your work is superb

dear usha,

you people are so creative. HE looks very divine.

happy ganesh chaturthi.....

I know how time consuming, the traditional method of paper mache is..

great job dear....

Extremely fascinating to know about the bananas and the kozhukattais too. So the other fruits are also made of the same material?

The paper mache method reminds me of the projects the kids did at school Usha. If you remember, they used to make models of the Earth using a balloon, newspaper pulp, dry it for a few days and paint on top of it. Is it the same way you did?

The painting looks absolutely divine and authentic ! Nobody will know that there is gourd inside...

Guess your creative juices are overflowing....

Keep it up !

Cheers
Krithika

Originally Posted by sundarusha

Thank you Krithika.
Over the years, even though I have done some craft project or the other, this is the one I am very proud of as it was not from a kit and all the raw materials were used from imagination.

See, we started making it the old-fashioned way by soaking newspapers and making a pulp. It was a long and slow process as we had to wait for it to dry before going to the next step. Clay was very minimally used and that too towards the end to bond. After painting, we sealed by clear coat.

It has now been 10 yrs I think since it was made. On normal days, I keep it covered with saran wrap on a shelf and only open it prior to Ganesh chaturthi.

The Kozhukattais are made of paper pulp( mache) and the bunch of bananas is a bead creation that I had done befor marriage.

Originally Posted by Anandchitra

WOW Usha this is truly unbelievable... If you hadnt said so I would never have guessed..
So interesting and innovative.. Great job you both.. and the bead work!!!

Thanks for sharing

Happy Vinayaka Chathurthi to you and family:)

Glad to share the photo. I will convey your appreciation to DH.

Thank You AC and same to you!

Originally Posted by aruna_sudha

your work is superb

Thank you Aruna. Glad you like it.

Originally Posted by Shanvy

dear usha,

you people are so creative. HE looks very divine.

happy ganesh chaturthi.....

I know how time consuming, the traditional method of paper mache is..

great job dear....

Thank you Shanti. Yeah, it took a long time, but worth it.

Originally Posted by Jithiks

Extremely fascinating to know about the bananas and the kozhukattais too. So the other fruits are also made of the same material?

The paper mache method reminds me of the projects the kids did at school Usha. If you remember, they used to make models of the Earth using a balloon, newspaper pulp, dry it for a few days and paint on top of it. Is it the same way you did?

The painting looks absolutely divine and authentic ! Nobody will know that there is gourd inside...

Guess your creative juices are overflowing....

Keep it up !

Cheers
Krithika

Hi Krithika

The tiny fruits are from Michael's. The coconut look-alike is some betelnut my mom gave me after her Kerala trip.

My DH is an artist (drawing and oils-- once upon a time--in his school and college days) -so his guidance helped me. He is very thorough in any project. That made me uneasy about the amount of time spent after work and weekends.

Dear Usha...

Absolutely stunning.....its marvellous yaar...

I just went through the explanations you gave here in the FBs....simply great...so much of patience, love and dedication involved in it....

Yes...the beaded banana is such a wonderful idea...now I will hunt for those shaped yellow bead...thanx for putting it here
And the coconut looks so natural...

thank you so much for sharing