Artist’s Spotlight

Rhino is Done, plus Recommended Books for Surface Decorations

The Indian rhino that I made last month, using plaster cloth and my new air dry clay recipe, is now finished. She was coated with Sculpt Nouveau iron coating, sprayed with Tiffany Green and Darkening patinas, and then glazed with warm grey acrylic paint mixed with Golden Acrylic Glazing Liquid. I like her a lot, [...]

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Paper Mache Fund-Raising Idea for Greyhound Rescue Group

Well, I really goofed up this time. (You’ll see how in a moment). Last week I received an email from Terri Malloy, the Marketing Director for Fast Friends Greyhound Rescue in Swanzey, New Hampshire. Terri said: I just wanted to share with you what your video tutorials on YouTube helped me create. We are auctioning [...]

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How to Paint Eyes – Guest Post by Joan Allen

We have a real treat today. Joan Allen offered to show us how she paints the fabulous eyes on her dolls and figures. (See her blog here.) Joan’s instructions begin below the images (click the images to make them bigger): A good way to begin painting eyes on a 3-dimensional object is to first draw [...]

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Dodo Bird – Mixed Media Sculpture

I really had fun making this dodo. The body started out like most of my animal sculptures, with a cardboard pattern and crumpled paper and masking tape. I intended to take a photo of the pattern, but I was having so much fun putting him together that I forgot to get out the camera. (Does [...]

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Jessie’s Having a Black Friday Oil Painting Sale!

If you are looking for a really nice present for an art lover, today’s a great day for shopping, because my daughter (Jessie Rasche) is having a black Friday sale – 20% off of any of her paintings. You have to order by midnight today to get the sale price, so head over to http://jessiesfineart.com [...]

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How to Make an Armature for Doll Heads and Puppets – Guest Post

A few days ago I received an email from Barbara Bell, a doll-maker from Kingsport, TN. Barbara uses a technique for making armatures for paper mache puppets and doll heads that I’ve never seen before (but I’m definitely going to try it!). She graciously agreed to let me publish her email (and a few photos [...]

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Restore Art Auction Lion Mask

This display mask is the first project I managed to finish in my new house in Volga, South Dakota. I’ll take it down to the Brookings Restore tomorrow, right after the varnish is dry and the brass washer has been hot-glued to the back to reinforce the hole I made to hang the mask. It [...]

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Make a Paper Mache Halloween Pumpkin Lantern

In this guest post, Kim teaches us how to make a paper mache pumpkin lantern for Halloween. (I’m going to make several of these myself – the plastic forms are on sale now at the local Wal-Mart for $1!) I’m trying a new format for this post, with a gallery of photos first, and the instructions [...]

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African-Inspired Mask and Totem Pole, A Guest Post from Cory Triplett

Today’s guest post is from our old friend, Cory Triplett. You know him from his previous posts about a Paper Mache Mummy and Sarcophagus, a Paper Mache Panther, and some fabulous Paper Mache Masks. Cory and his students always come up with wonderful projects, and I think this one is a real treat. I’ll let [...]

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Barbecued Clay – It Actually Works (Sort Of)

I did do one experiment this month while I taking a break from putting books in boxes. I wanted to find out if you can really fire clay in a barbecue grill. And yes, it looks like you really can. I started out turning some of my Wonder White low-fire clay from Georgies into paper [...]

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Dolphin Pinata Video – And More!

I’ve been a bit busy lately with all the issues that go along with selling a house and buying a house (whew – I forgot how much work it is!). I haven’t had time to start any real projects, so there hasn’t been much to say here on the blog. Fortunately, Silas Donham offered to [...]

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Harry’s Mask Is Done

Yes, I finally finished the paper mache mask of Nancy’s beautiful greyhound, Harry. As you may recall, this is the mini-mask I volunteered to make for a fundraising event for a sighthound rescue group. I’m embarrassed to see that I started this little paper mache mask on May 24 – almost two months ago! [...]

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Pete’s Concrete Pothead

My father and brother came to visit this week, and they brought along a concrete pothead that my dad made. (Thanks, Pete!) I think I’ll find some sedum to plant in my new concrete planter to make it look like he’s growing hair. (I don’t know much about sedums, so if you happen to [...]

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Chimpanzee Sculpture is Done!

The chimpanzee sculpture that I started three or four weeks ago is finally done! I really like this guy. As soon as I finish painting my kitchen I’ll make a stand for him. This is a mixed media sculpture. The face was cast in Aqua-Resin, and the body was formed with paper mache over [...]

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Harry Progresses – Slowly

This week I have proven conclusively that you really can have too many projects going at once. However, I’ve still made time to work on Harry’s mask, and I’m starting to like the way it’s coming out. Harry looks like a fellow with a great sense of humor, (but we haven’t met, so I [...]

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