From the monthly archives:

August 2009

Paper Mache/PVC Didgeridoo

August 31, 2009

This handmade didgeridoo (didge, for short) was made with a 4′ section of 1 1/2″ ABS plastic plumbing pipe, covered with paper mache and then painted. I finished mine in one day. You buy the pipe at the hardware or plumbing store in standard 10′ lengths, so you will have enough material for two didgeridoos. [...]

3 comments Read the full article →

Elephant Sculpture – The Movie

August 29, 2009

I wanted to do something just a little different today, so I created a how-to video showing the baby Indian elephant coming to life, from beginning to end. This big baby used several of the techniques you’ve probably already seen in other tutorials on this site, but this baby is definitely the largest project I’ve [...]

54 comments Read the full article →

Oops, Elephant Needs a Bandaid…

August 27, 2009

I was so excited this morning when I woke up.  This was the day that Elsie the Elephant would be finished. But dang -  it looked like she’d come down with some rare disease during the night. In five or six spots on her legs and tummy perfectly round areas about the size of a [...]

2 comments Read the full article →

Seattle’s Mystery Sculptor

August 26, 2009

A mysterious artist left a rather elaborate multi-piece paper mache sculpture at Gas Works Park in Seattle last night. The newspaper sent me an email just a few minutes ago to see if I knew who the artist was – which I think is rather flattering. Unfortunately, I don’t know who created this piece, which:

…consists of several pieces: a full-size gold-plated man standing on the waterfront surrounded by what appear to be shells, some with the heads of people emerging from them…

4 comments Read the full article →

An Artist’s View of the Health Insurance Debate

August 24, 2009

Update, 9/27/09: If you support real health care reform, as I do, please take time to sign this petition and ask that the Senate pass the bill that passed Ted Kennedy’s senate committee. I know this is supposed to be a blog about paper mache – but paper mache has been used traditionally to make [...]

32 comments Read the full article →

My Next Paper Mache Project – What Should It Be?

August 23, 2009

I’m waiting for the second-to-last layer of paper mache to dry on my big baby elephant so I can attach the ears and add the final “skin” of paper towels. (Paper towels looked very skin-like on my other hairless animal, the flying pig.) While I wait I’m trying to decide what I should work on [...]

14 comments Read the full article →

Paper Mache “Bronzed” Dog Portrait

August 20, 2009

One of my readers just posted a fully detailed and illustrated blog post, telling how she used some of the techniques shown on this blog to create a fantastic “bronzed”  paper mache portrait of a friend’s dog. In fact, she created a sculpture that is so lovable you wouldn’t be able to stop yourself from [...]

6 comments Read the full article →

Baby Elephant is Progressing

August 17, 2009

My paper mache elephant project got sidetracked temporarily by an Elizabeth George novel, and I’m now working at my computer because a yellow-jacket got a bit too interested in the paste. (I’ve already been stung twice this week, so I get a little nervous around the little beasts). But all in all, I think the [...]

14 comments Read the full article →

Baby Elephant Pattern to Download

August 12, 2009

A reader asked me this morning for the pattern for the baby elephant I’m working on, so here it is. The sculpture isn’t finished, of course, so we don’t really know yet how it will turn out – but if you’re brave, you’re certainly welcome to the pattern. To print the full-sized patterns, click on [...]

14 comments Read the full article →

← Previous Entries