Gustafson's Gourd

 Gustafson's Gourd -Work in Progress- B.Grady

We were were lucky,unlike many in the state, not to be ravaged by Sandy.
Sequestered by the storm,I finally got a chance to start working on this painting today before this gourd grows a fur coat of mold! 

The gourd was grow at Gustafson's, a family farm located here in Watertown. I love these crazy botanical sculptures. (My students can vouch for this)!
The gourd has a history of being one of the first plants to be domesticated. The hard shelled varieties have so many uses. They are used as vessels for storage and for a myriad of musical instruments, such as the sitar. The soft shelled varieties such as this one are grown expressly for decoration.

Still working on the first pass here.This subject is a true exercise in form modeling:)!