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Monday, February 24, 2014

Something REALLY Different ...


Froggy - armature only

Awesome Possum - some paper mache "muscle" on him, and a hole cut in the top

Owl - with removable head

The Gang - drying out by the bathroom heater.

About two months ago, I re-connected with an old university friend. It was quite funny how she found me. Her daughter-in-law was on facebook, saw my froggy Christmas card, loved it, and showed it to Lynn. The artist's name was very familiar, so Lynn sent me a message ... Are you the Kathryn Ragan who ... I was! She [generously and kindly] wanted so support my artistic endeavors, so she asked if I could make some "awesome boxes". I had never heard of those; I thought she said "possum boxes", and thought it was a cute idea. Now I know what an awesome box is, and am creating some animal-shaped containers in paper mache.
I am having a blast with the paper mache!!! It is gloriously messy, gooey fun! So far, I have constructed armatures [basic support structure] for an owl, a possum and a frog. I have built up their shapes with layers of paper mache [using newspaper, old telephone books and flour/water paste]. Once I have a reasonable shape, I will slather them with gesso to smooth and give detail. Then I will paint them, with acrylic I think, and finally varnish the critters. I may get together armatures for a horse and a dog today, as well as working on the tugboat painting. It has been snowing for three days here, and we have almost a foot of snow - very un-Vancouver-like weather! I am getting a little twitchy being inside, not being able to play with Bruno, so I have to keep busy ...

Thank you all for dropping by! Your comments are always welcome.

7 comments:

  1. We knew you were magical!! Here we go on more adventures, and fun and creativity!!! This is fun watching you play!
    love
    tweedles

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  2. Neat!! I put my head down and create too when the weather is bad, it is lots of fun!! I was hoping to get some snow pictures but so far the skies are too grey even for that! Looking forward to seeing the finished gang. Have fun.

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  3. Love your thinking outside the box, Kathryn! Very unique project. :-)

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  4. Awesome!! Takes me right back to school days when we used to make paper mache balloons! Nothing like as intricate as these guys... Will look forward to seeing them :0)

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  5. LOVE IT! A fabulous way to sct without the expense of firing or bronzing. I haven't done papier mâché sines my eldest's volcano for the science fair. I'd like to see your armature building process. chicken wire?

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  6. froggy is great ! ...lots of fun !

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  7. I have to admit Kathryn, this is very different and it looks like a lot of fun!
    Especially when the weather is cold and snowy!! I hope to see more of these little critters!

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