Nicky Blakeney, Gourd Artist, 4

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 AND 16, 2017
SMITH COUNTY AG COMPLEX, RALEIGH, MS
Classes on both days, plus early-bird
classes on Thursday afternoon, September 14

NOTE: Find Nicky Blakeney on Facebook.

OUR GOURDS AND PINECONE FLOWERS

When Nicky placed the photo of the gourd on the right in this picture, I was blown away. I didn’t 

know  she was a talented artist who could create beautiful objects. I wanted that one. My memory tells me that the one on the right was not for sale. Then I saw the one on the left in the picture. I liked it too.

I decided I would need one of her gourd bowls or baskets to go in our living room. John, my husband, had other ideas about what our gourd bowl should look like. He gave me precise instructions for me to pass on to Nicky, who designed a bowl exactly to fit his specifications. It is interesting, quite beautiful He wanted something more primitive looking. 

The point is that Nicky, who is always cheerful, will create  whatever her customers request. Here is our bowl made especially for us by Nicky.

John wanted black oak leaves drawn on a brown background to give the appearance of leather. Around the top Nicky made a row of holes and laced thread that was various shades of tan and brown.

Underneath the bowl she wrote: For Mary Lou Gregg C. Cooke, March 2016, Nicky Blakeney, Proverbs 3:5-6. 

Both John and I were delighted with the results.

Meanwhile, I told Christie, my daughter, about the gourds. "I want one," she said. "Tell her to make me one with a fleur de lis. on it. Here is the one Nicky made. 

So many times, I'm just wrong about what people are going to like. Although I thought it was beautiful, I was afraid Christie would think it had too many designs on it. Nicky told me, "I did get carried away."

I asked her to make a simple one. Here is Nicky's second design:

I fussed over whether these gourds could be shipped. Since I needed to go to Laurel and visit my sister and then go to Taylorsville to discuss Travelers in Painted Wagons on Cohay Creek with Sarah Walker Gorrell, I met Nicky for lunch. John, Sarah, her friend Mike, Nicky, and I met at the Huddle House. When we started to leave, we found ourselves in a flood. We managed to load the gourds.

After I came back home, Christie surprised me. "Mama, I love the gourd you selected, but I like the other one too."  She has both of them. Nicky, Christie, and I learned that the gourds can be shipped successfully.

A few weeks later, Christie asked  Nicky to make her a Holstein gourd with flowers. Since Christie works with Holstein calves, her office is decorated with pictures and little statues of calves. Here is the vase that Nicky made. It is one of my favorites. (Nicky shipped  it.)