Took a break today because I have been working non-stop and recently inherited a new student. New students are always an inspiration because their fresh eyes on my work helps me remember why I started all this in the first place. When Lynn came over the first time, I blazed my way through as many bits of information as I could impart. She was like a sponge – they are the best ones to teach. When she left, I began a list of the things I needed to share with her the next meeting.
The second time she came she brought a piece of her own work she had done freehand. It was a nice start, and I could tell she not only absorbed what I shared but was applying it as well. The other thing about a new student is that they tend to be fearless. They are starting something entirely new, with endless possibilities; how exciting! It has taken me 2 years to get that fearless and less a perfectionist.
When Lynn arrived this morning, I had a large box of gourds to share. Unfortunately, I had not read the ad well and what had arrived was a lot of damaged gourds, a bunch of gourd scraps and several small gourds which I tend not to do. Most of the gourds were cracked to the point of my not being able to use them for my work. Lucky for me Lynn is not trying to build a business but is doing gourds for the pure joy of it. She was elated when I offered to sell her as many out of the box as she wanted. We shared the gourd scraps for testing and experimenting and I gave her the small ones. She took all but three of the gourds which I had indicated I thought I could save. It was a win/win for both of us.
This is how things tend to work. One day you are cruising along working on something and suddenly you realize you need something. Perhaps you have decided to use horsehair around the rim but, what you have on hand is too short or you may not have enough. Check-out Gourding Destash on Facebook. People put “ads” of a sort on there to sell long pine needles from northern Florida, leftover paints and dyes, miscellaneous tools and even gourds. It’s always worth a cruise through and I find the prices mostly reasonable – don’t forget you will need to pay shipping.