Ultimate Paper Mache

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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What’s Next?

I move to my new house next Tuesday, so I’ve been boxing up my books and art supplies–again! If you’ve noticed that I’ve been a bit slow answering your comments, that’s my excuse. I have no new projects to report, obviously, and I’m not sure when I’ll get my next one started, but I am [...]

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Holiday Deer

Hello, everyone. I hope you had a great holiday, and that you’re looking forward to the New Year. I haven’t been working on any paper mache this week, but I should get to start some big projects as soon as I move into my new house in the middle of January. In the meantime, I’m [...]

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Santa (and Snowstorm) Are Done

It stopped snowing here in South Dakota, and the wind stopped blowing. My dog is getting used to the cold snow on his feet (but still not happy about it) — and, more to the point of this blog, my Santa is done. If you didn’t see the first post, where I showed the process [...]

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Project for a Blizzard – Santa, Made with Paper Mache Clay

There’s a blizzard blowing outside my window – my very first official snowstorm in South Dakota. The blowing snow made me think of Santa for some reason, so I decided to make a Santa for my wall. Santa would probably look nice mounted on the outside of the door, too – but I’m not sure [...]

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Make a Hummingbird Ornament with Paper Mache Clay

I had a lot of fun today, making this little hummingbird. I would have made a whole tree’s worth, but my little rented cottage isn’t big enough for a Christmas tree. I think I’ll keep him around, and hang in my kitchen window. I made this guy really fast, so I didn’t pay much attention [...]

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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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Wet Paper Armature Idea for Paper Mache Masks – and a Problem With the Comments

Last week I played around with some paper and clay to find a more spontaneous way to make temporary forms for paper mache display masks. And, on a totally unrelated note, we temporarily lost all the comments on this blog. I’m looking for some expert help, so I hope the comments will be back online [...]

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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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Paper Mache Piggy Bank, and Kune Kune Piglet Video

I thought this would be a good time to revisit my old paper mache piggy bank tutorial, because this week I met a friend’s Kune Kune-cross piglets. What friendly little fellows they are! If I wasn’t renting my next house, I might have taken one with me. Sue told me that most of the ones [...]

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Moving an Elephant, on the Cheap

Now that my elephant is in a box, it’s official: I’m moving! (Papers are still not signed yet, though, so I really hope I don’t have to reschedule the moving van again. Mortgage companies can be such a pain…) I know a lot of you have been wondering where I’m going next. I found a [...]

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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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