paper mache clay

Nikki’s Armature Video – Must Watch

This is great – Nikki made us a video to show how she builds hollow armatures for her cement sculptures. As she says in the video, these techniques will work just as well for traditional paper mache strips and paste, and, even better, the paper mache clay. Thank you, Nikki!

16 comments Read the full article →

Make a Joker Mask with Paper Mache Clay

I confess. I haven’t seen the movie. I specifically chose not to see it because of all the photos of Heath in his Joker makeup, and it just looked too creepy. I don’t watch creepy movies. But this morning I saw an ad for a Joker mask, and something just came over me – I [...]

15 comments Read the full article →

Pepakura + Paper Mache Clay

In my last post I included several photos that showed sculptures made with a paper mache clay skin over an armature created by a computer design program called Pepakura. I mentioned in the post that I would love to know more. Simon, the creator of the sculptures, was kind enough to write a very detailed [...]

6 comments Read the full article →

Baby Chick Made With Paper Mache Clay

I started this project to test a modification to the paper mache clay recipe that was suggested by Ginny in a comment on our paper mache clay page. Her idea of substituting glycerin for the linseed oil in the recipe started a lot of activity in the comments section, so I just had to do [...]

19 comments Read the full article →

Progress Report – Molds and Paper Mache Clay

I’ve been working like crazy all week, but I don’t have much progress to show for it. I’m still trying to find a formula for the paper mache clay that will work well in a rubber mold. So far I’ve completed one black-footed ferret, with a plaque based on an ancient petroglyph at Wyoming’s historic [...]

11 comments Read the full article →

Painting the Tortoise

The tortoise is finally done – almost. This photo is really false advertising, since his paint is still drying. I’ll walk to the hardware store in a few minutes to buy the marine varnish I hope will protect him out in the wilderness near my pond. He’ll stay in the house until several coats of [...]

7 comments Read the full article →

Ploughshare Tortoise Sculpture, Stage Two

The ploughshare tortoise that I started a week ago has been progressing slowly. I blame the rain. Everything seems to slow down at my house when we have unending clouds and rain – it just seems like the best time to curl up with a mystery novel and hibernate for a while. However, I have [...]

5 comments Read the full article →

Endangered Tortoise Sculpture, Stage One

Today I started a small sculpture of an endangered Ploughshare Tortoise, (Geochelone yniphora) — also known as the Angonoka, Madagascar Angulated Tortoise, or Madagascar Tortoise. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about endangered animals lately, and I found the story of this tortoise in Jane Goodall’s book Hope for Animals and Their World: How [...]

12 comments Read the full article →

Painting the Chimp

Recently Carmen asked me why I like using Golden Acrylic Glazing Liquid for painting my sculptures, so I thought it would be fun to show you how I use it. I confess – I don’t feel very comfortable using a brush, so my painting technique feels more sculptural than painterly. I put on color, rub [...]