50/365 gourds

My first gourd was given to me by Jim, on the way home from one of my visits.  It was fat with a handle of sorts.  "It's a sha-woman's rattle." Jim said, and surely it was.  I painted it with mostly rain and thunder bolts, because these things resonate with me.  It had colored floss around the handle, and feathers hanging.  There is no picture of it to be found, unfortunately.  But that gourd rattle brought me on a lot of journies.
I remember playing the Kalimba while Jim and his son washed gourds.  "Music makes the work go faster." Jesse said.  The gourds dried in the California sun, ready to be made into more rattles, perhaps, or special bowls.
I've used miniture gourds for armature for my dolls.  You can see the distinct shape of the gourd in my Prosperity Doll.  I've used it for a couple of little figures as well.

made into bowls to hold the Go stones, a game of Gomoku in progress

*A free-write is a type of automatic writing, where you just go with your stream of consciousness non-stop. There's no thought to spelling or grammar, and no editing of words. Supposedly this opens the mind up to greater creativity. They can be 5, 10 or 20 minutes long. Suggestions for freewrites are always welcome. Visit Evie, with whom I freewrite, at the space between colors.