Recently I decided I wanted to get messy in the art studio. Nothing is much messier than paper mache or in French—if you want to be fancy messy— papier mâché. You start by ripping paper into shreds. It is important that the paper be ripped, not cut. Then you make a paste. I made mine the old fashioned way with flour and water. You then build an armature, some type of base for whatever you are making, and then you begin (here’s where it gets super messy) dipping the strips of paper into the paste, using your fingers as a squee-gee to get the excess paste off and then placing the gluey strips onto the armature. The literal translation of papier mâché in French is chewed paper. It doesn’t take long working in this medium to understand why.
I was inspired to delve into this messy task because my daughter had made these wonderful oversized pencils and crayon sculptures using paper mache and I thought, “I love these! I want to play with paper mache!”
I remember making paper mache puppets in 4th grade. Mine was Scheherazade from the Arabian Nights tales. I remember how much I loved this art activity and now I realize how brave our teacher was to have an entire class of children doing paper mâché
I remember making paper mache sculptures with my own children. We blew up balloons as our armature/base and paper mached around the balloons. I believe I made a jack-o-lantern, my daughter made a witch and my son made a monster. Alas, I have no photos of those creations but I do remember it was great fun. We had a large side porch to our house so were able to keep the mess (and fun) outside.
I also remember a little red paper mache bowl my sister made as a child. It sat on the window sill of our mother’s kitchen for as long as I can remember. It was so lovely. I loved how it felt when you held it in your hand.
We have some beautiful paper mache masks that Tom got when he was in Nepal. Not all of the masks survived as paper mache is fragile but we love this one of Ganesh and several little ones, too.
Paper mache has been around a long, long time. Despite the familiar French name, papier mache was not made in France until the mid-17th century. However, France was the first European country to use this medium.
Paper mache originates from China who also invented paper itself. One of the first uses of paper mache in China was to make helmets. They used many, many, many layers of lacquer on top to strengthen the paper mache. There are existing examples of Chinese paper mache that date back to the Han Dynasty (BC 202 – AD 220).
Interest in paper mache then spread to Japan and Persia, where it was used in mask making and other festival activities. After imports of paper mache articles begin spreading around the world, France, and soon England, began making their own paper mache objects in the late 1600’s.
Here is the really great thing about paper mache. You really don’t have to be an artist to do this. If you don’t mind having your hands covered with paste and just having fun, you can create quite charming creations.
I signed up for an on-line course through Domestika with artist/instructor Sarah Hand and, following her step by step instructions, began working on a friendly little girl created from—you got it—paper mache. I was also able to consult with my daughter when I needed advice.
Another reason I wanted to do this was to get some hands-on experience using acrylic paints which work great over paper mache. You need to first either gesso (a type of white glue that comes in a jar in art supply stores) your paper mache or start with a layer of white acrylic paint. Then use colorful acrylic paints on top of that first base layer.
Here is my recent creation: she’s about 18 inches tall. I think she needs a name. Any suggestions??
I made the armature out of foam core (two layers glued together), then once the papier mache was thoroughly dry, applied the white base coat, then used acrylic paint and Posca markers for the decoration. Once the paint was dry I coated her all over using Mod-Podge to seal the paint. She has no purpose other than to be just for fun. She now hangs in our World’s Tiniest Art Gallery (more about that in another blog) and makes me smile every time I see her.
If you want to chew up some paper of your own, I highly recommend Sarah Hand’s book Papier Mâché.
Papier mâché: It’s not just for kids anymore. Get messy. Have fun. Chew some paper.
And as always, I would love to hear from you about your own experiences with papier mache.
Maybe you have settled on a name already but I like Patty Papier! If my memory stretched a little I could probably remember doing papier-mâché but I certainly don't recall the lovely shiny paint. Your little girl is very sweet!
I love your recent creation of the girl saying “hi” at least that is what it appears to me. I especially love her big heart. She reminds me of a school teacher I had as a child. She was my history teacher and I learned to love history under her. She brought it to life. Have fun!