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Jessie’s Oil Paintings – Spokane Gallery Show

March 3rd, 2010

My daughter, Jessie Rasche, has been invited to present her work in a gallery in Spokane, beginning this Friday and continuing all through March. As you can imagine, the family is rather pumped up about it. I’ll let you tell you about it herself:

Painting by Jessie Rasche, Cows

Painting by Jessie Rasche, Cows

I am having my first art show in a gallery this Friday and I am really excited (and nervous!). I’ve shown at lots of little shops, but for some reason the move to a gallery feels like a really big deal.

My work can be seen at the gallery’s Facebook page, and comments are appreciated.

My work is in the impressionist style, where I attempt to capture the feeling and mood and light of a scene, but not many of the details. The press release described my work this way:

Man with Baby, by Jessie

Man with Baby, by Jessie

“Jessie Rasche is a talented, emerging artist with vigorous raw energy.  She works in the confines of small canvases with limited scope, which naturally entices the viewer into an intimate experience with each work.  Her enchanting, careful studies favor form and light to precise execution.  This show will also debut two larger pieces, both of which will explore character and color, feeling and weight. Preview the work and become a fan of our Facebook page, “Second Space Gallery”.”

Thanks again for all your support and encouragement!

If you just happen to live near Spokane, be sure to drop by for the opening this Friday, or anytime this month. And be sure to check out that web page and leave her a note – I know she’d love to read your comments about her paintings.

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Paper Mache Sputnik – Ideas Needed

February 28th, 2010

(Note 3/6/2010 – see how Suzy’s project turned out at the end of this post)

I received an email today from Suzy, asking for help with her daughter’s school project, and we’re hoping you can add to the suggestions I came up with. (I’m amazed by the number of people who are brought back to playing with paper mache in order to help their kids with their homework! I think the moms have more fun with these projects than the kids do!)

Anyway, here’s Suzy’s email. My answers are below. I’m hoping that you may have had actual experience making a round, metallic object (rockets, maybe?) and that you can offer more help than I could:

Wow! Thank you so much for your informative website! I enjoyed seeing the various sculptures you have made. I have searched the web over for a site such as yours. I am not artistic by any means and the last time I made a paper mache project was in elementary school!! Years later, here I am, my daughter in elementary school and an assigned science project.

The assignment is space missions and she chose the Sputnik I as her mission. The Sputnik was about the size of a basketball and of course very smooth as any any satellite would be. I can certainly use a balloon, beach ball, styrofoam ball, etc.The problem is that the Sputnik had 4 attached antennas that hang from the satellite almost like tentacles from a jellyfish.

If I use any of the items mentioned, I am limited to how I can attach these, and frankly, I am worried that the antennas will not stay in place. If I use paper mache, I could attach, I think, with hot glue gun, etc. Plus, I could also get the polished finish for the satellite that I seek. Then, just  finish with metallic silver spray paint.
» Read more: Paper Mache Sputnik – Ideas Needed

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How to Protect Your Hands While Working with Paper Mache?

February 21st, 2010

This morning Liz left a question on a previous post, and it’s one of those questions that you may be better at answering than I am. I’m sure she isn’t the only one who has hands that get dry when working with paper mache. Here’s her question:

I have a very practical and basic papier mache question. The skin on my hands is somewhat delicate (particularly in the winter) and I try to keep it happy. I keep wondering if PM artists just sacrifice the skin on their hands for their art or just how they protect their hands from deteriorating. I can’t imagine wearing even thin gloves to do PM. What do you do?

So – what would you do? Like told Liz, I’m not into self-sacrifice, but this just isn’t a problem I’ve run into. I do use Bag Balm on my hands when they get dry and cracked from gardening, (probably shows how old this country gal is getting), but is there a way to protect your hands from getting damaged in the first place? Any products that work really well, to protect the hands without making the sculptures all greasy, and without encasing the hands in latex? Your suggestions would be much appreciated.

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Fear of Drawing? Sculpture Anxiety? Creative Block?

February 2nd, 2010

Do you have potential paintings or sculptures in your  mind that are so real you can close your eyes and touch the surface of the canvas, or walk entirely around the piece, exploring it’s every detail? Do you have a short story or a novel in your mind that’s so real you can see yourself turning the pages? Is something stopping you from actually creating it, so other people can see it, too?

I’ve started thinking about what my next sculpture should be, now that my book project is starting to wind down. And whenever I start thinking about what I should do next, three “old friends” keep trying to get my attention. These are the three sculptures that I’ve been living with, (only in my mind, of course), for at least 5 years.

Is there such a thing as artistic phobia? Sculpture anxiety? A fear of drawing? Do you have ideas that you fully intend to pursue, but you never seem to feel the time is right?

I thought it might be fun to talk about this issue, because you, too, might have a great masterpiece in your mind that’s trying to get out. If so, maybe we could offer each other some support. I admit that I have a mild superstition that prevents me from talking about the three sculptures that I would love to do, someday. I think it was Earnest Hemingway that started my superstition when he said a writer should never tell a story until he has it down on paper. So I don’t want to describe the works that I haven’t yet created, but I would like to talk about the possible reasons why that they haven’t been created yet. » Read more: Fear of Drawing? Sculpture Anxiety? Creative Block?

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Storing Paper Mache in Hot, Humid Climate???

January 2nd, 2010

How can you store paper mache Christmas ornaments so they’ll still be beautiful next year? Your suggestions are welcome.

Hi Everyone. A reader sent me a question I can’t answer, and I’m hoping you can help her out. She lives in Texas, and she wants to know the best way to protect a pair of paper mache snowmen she just found,. She normally puts her Christmas decorations in the attic, but she worries that the paper mache won’t survive the heat (or the humidity).

I live on the edge of a desert, so I am not the expert here. If you have any ideas at all, please post them below. I know Mary Jane will appreciate any help you can offer.

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New Paper Mache Forum — Died…

November 18th, 2009

Sorry — the Paper Mache Forum died.

It became a target for spammers, and I don’t have the time or technical expertise to keep the bad guys out.

I want to thank everyone who contributed their thoughts and projects to the forum in the brief time it was online. If you have questions about paper mache, please add a comment on my blog. If you have a great project you’d like to show off to other readers, please contact me. I may invite you to submit a guest post for my blog.

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New Gallery Page, Plus Rant About 18-hr Bus Ride

November 12th, 2009
New Online Sculpture Gallery

New Online Sculpture Gallery

I’m back from my short vacation, and this morning I took all new photos of my recent work so I could create a new online sculpture gallery. Please check it out and tell me what you think – all comments, as usual, are welcome.

Now that my visiting is done and the long-awaited gallery page is finished, I can start on my how-to book. Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions.

Last Thursday I took a Greyhound bus to Spokane, where my daughter and her family are living. Then on Friday we all rode together to Issaquah, where my brother and his wife live. The plan was to ride up to Bellingham on Saturday to visit my father and his wife Dianne, but that idea got squashed when Dianne came down with the flu. However, my brother and I did meet my dad at the casino in Bow, where we had a nice lunch. (I lost 47 cents, my brother won $30, and my dad put way too many quarters in the machines while he waited for us). » Read more: New Gallery Page, Plus Rant About 18-hr Bus Ride

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