Papier Mache

This is one of those ideas that will need to be "worked through" several times.  I'm not happy with the first go around, but I'm learning from it.

 I wanted a centerpiece for a sea food dinner; more of a tablescape.  A mermaid vase full of flowers and interchangeable pieces around it and situated down the table runner on either side of the vase.

So I built the aluminum foil armatures.  Made a huge mess with the CelluClay which is a ready made papier mache mix.  Covered the armatures with the CelluClay.  They turned out much larger than what I wanted.  But, carry on I must; I've gone this far.  Then I started covering one of the tea light holders with polymer clay and baked it.  Turned out OK.  I painted it, and moved on to the next piece.  As I am working on all this, I realize I'm using a huge amount of polymer clay experimenting with this idea and thinking, "When all this is done, where am I going to store this rambling creation?"

Polymer Maghong Tiles

 I made some polymer clay Maghong tiles that I will make into a necklace sometime this week.  I don't play maghong so I don't know much about it, but I love all the tile patterns. I had the mold and I mixed a beautiful blue, so what the heck.  My maghong playing friend came over last night and told me (very emphatically) there would NEVER be maghong tiles this color and shape!  Oops.

Last minute, I am making more cork necklaces and putting the base coat on some paper mache' ornaments.

Abstract Jewelry Display

I am using some of my abstract paintings as jewelry displays.  They were a big a bit hit Saturday at our local art fair here in Sun City West, Arizona.

Polymer Clay and....

The above pin combines PaperClay and Polymer Clay.

These are little sculptures I was experimenting with to see the differences between using PaperClay and a paper mache' fiber mix. The PaperClay was much easier and cleaner to work with than the Paper Mache' fiber mix. Although the PaperClay dried much quicker than the paper mache', it could be easily formed and sculpted. Achieving small detail with the PaperClay was not a problem. The paper mache' fiber mix was messy and hard to work with. They both dried hard as a rock without any structural cracks. A fun experiment; a not so fun clean up.

Polymer Clay over Papier Mache'

This was an experiment in sculpting with polymer clay over papier-machẻ. I wondered how successful layering and sculpting would be. After blowing up a small balloon, then covering it with newspaper dipped in water & white glue, I let it dry for a couple of days. I repeated this process 3 times. I popped the balloon and started sculpting with some very old polymer clay over the papier-machẻ.

I never want to waste or throw out polymer clay if I think there is a remote chance of using it, so I had nothing to lose by giving this a try. I sculpted and built up the facial features layer by layer, baking each layer (according to the manufacturer’s recommendation). The eyes are glass and I used some acrylic paint to accent and age his skin. Because I used a lot of old clay, I decided to exaggerate the facial wrinkles, color and texture in case there was any discoloring or cracking later. But more so, he was a weathered, worn, "been through hell and back" character, so the exaggerated wrinkles defined him.

I placed a wig with a headband on him and thought, "Now what?" Now I had to get to work on how I was going to put together a body to go with this enormous head. I made the body out of PVC piping, polyester batting and old clothes. I sunk the PVC piping into boots that I had poured Plaster of Paris into and let it set. He stood almost 7’ tall.

I displayed my sculpture at an art show to draw people into my booth. Although I was not prepared for the amount of curious people. I had placed very large basket of my lower-priced beaded necklaces in his arms and draped several around his neck. I did a lot of talking about polymer clay and its many uses and sold a couple of necklaces, but I was shocked at the number of people who had not heard of polymer clay and they were just so fascinated.