Kachina Masks in the garden

As the annual flowers fade in my gardens, colorful replacements have been placed among the group of browning Hostas.

In the studio the Kachina masks have been painted and ready for my outdoor display. They have been balanced on Shepard hooks, garden spikes and dressed with wispy toile.

For the painting of the planal patterns of cardboard, I decided to mimic Piet Mondrian's style by selecting only primary colors and lots of white as in Mondrian's "Boogie Woogie" painting.

I did have concerns about placing these creations outside since paper mache will deteriorate in wet weather. I know of no way to waterproof them completely. The acrylic paint I used with offer some protection from dew and fog but in an emergency like an impending New England Nor'easter, I will cover them with black contractor bags. 

Perhaps they will look even more menacing in their black shrouds for ghoulish Halloween.

Sticky Business

 Every year about this time I begin to get crafty and design an outdoor Halloween project. This year I am repurposing cardboard shipping boxes into paper mâché monster masks. Origami folding techniques can transform cardboard into 3-D forms. Instead of folding paper, scoring with a sharp mat knife along pre-determined pencil lines helps to bend the cardboard into a creative form.

An old method of making paper mâché was a goopy mixture of flour and water and shredded newspapers. Getting your hands on old newspapers today is problematic. At the hardware store I was hoping to purchase a box of methyl cellulose which I have used in the past. This is no longer available but I was shown a new product, a pre mixed sticky solution of water and glycerol. Great.

To replace the newspapers, I purchased a roll of craft masking paper which I sliced vertically to make strips of paper. This item can be bought at the hardware store as well. Other supplies needed were masking tape, hot glue gun and a four inch brush. I had in storage Styrofoam balls and a 12" ring for creating interesting details

So here are my cardboard designs. All scored lines in cardboard have been re-enforced with masking tape and a few areas were held together with hot glue.

For the next few days, I worked covering the cardboard forms with adhesive and paper strips.  Work in sections brushing the glue in a small area, then place the paper strip onto the glued surface reworking with the brush. Continue working in other small areas until the form is completely covered. Leave to dry for a couple of days before painting them with a white base.

In a few days, I will begin designing the patterns and choosing colors to finish the creatures. Stay tuned.

printmaking Pumpkin Halloween project

 

Now was a good time to try my hand at printmaking to reclaim some strength in my dominate hand since three rupture hand tendons were surgically repaired in April. I have replaced my old wooden spoon with a new wooden spatula. On the handle, I  slipped on a foam tube and wrapped it with self grip athletic bandage to increase the diameter of handle since I am unable to squeeze and make a tight fist. 

Cutting out the sugar skull design into the soft rubber block plate was easy: like cutting butter. I zipped along using a v-gouge and in no time it was ready for printing. 

To prepare the pumpkin surface, I painted an oval with black acrylic paint and let it dry. This step will provide a high contrast to the white printing ink.

Since the block was bendable, my thought was it could wrap around the curved pumpkin to print the design on the painted surface. Yes and no. Pumpkins have ridges and the printed design was missing in its deep recesses. So I printed the inked design onto tracing paper.  Then I pressed the tracing paper onto the pumpkin surface, being sure to gently rub all areas. Remove the tracing paper. Voila!

This next step is optional. Sprinkle embossing powder over the wet inked areas. With a gentle tap to the pumpkin, the excess powder will fall away. A heat source especially made for melting the embossing powders was used. Hair dryers are not hot enough and a commercial heat gun might be too hot for melting. Use caution.

Trick or Treat.