Another Paper Mache recipe (homemade)

Dear All

Thanks for bearing with me,my connectivity has been so erratic in this rainy season ..

few months ago I promised to write  about my new Paper Mache recipe that I have been using for my paper Mache projects..here is comes

I have found that Paper Mache clays are so much convenient in every way .Another post that I want  to do about a shop-bought paper clay ,which I have found in our local market in a cheapest price,and it looks really smooth and nice..wait till I try my hands on it --may be my fixation with smoothest paper clay has come to an end..yay!!

for the time being I am using this clay for my PM projects (believe me Jonni's projects are so tempting,hope to knail it soon) ,If I change in to anything new ,I will let you know!

to make this you will need:
1/2 cup of Napkin ,which has to be soaked overnight.before soaking tear it apart( I don't have paper shredder ,hence used my hands).Make sure you use cheap napkins for it.
 ,
then put it in a grinder, this is how I make my paper pulp.

2 table spoon of saw dust


2 table spoon of wall putty powder


4 table spoon of white flour


1 table spoon of linseed oil


1/2 cup of white glue,used by carpenters


process:
Mix it up with your hands -make a dough .its ready to use

here I must add ,after it dries it will shrink and it may have a grainy look.some time I use whitening powder or  chalk to make it look much smoother when it dries,but this time I have decided to go without it.


here I wish to tell why I have decided to use these ingredients,
paper pulp is needed  because it has a fiber which helps to bond the clay.its light weight.

Saw dust used ,I think it can work as a good filler,putty powder suck up extra water and its nothing but a combination of  ingredients which includes POP and  white cement.white flour brings flexibility.linseed oil never let it get dry.any oil work grate with flour.without a strong glue you cant make the clay stick..

so use this clay --see if it works for you,you can even use  knife to apply it in thin layers.feel free to communicate if you have any question.

enjoy!

my paper mache lampbase technique

Dear All
Due to health my projects got delayed but I could manage to finish one of my early projects of paper mache,
here it goes

you must be thinking that ,it has been blogged last month already..

actually this time I wish to show some of the pictures that I took while making it..

and share a quick tip  too

its a simple looking globe lamp-base that I made  with the help of a vase..

since the base of the electrical fittings,(which is a wood block)  requires a small hole to  fit, I used a cold-drink bottle.

afterwards it looked like this

now it was time to decorate it

egg shells were broken and glued
then whole thing was painted  black
blue oil paints applied,and excess was wiped off with a rag

ta-da!

paper mache lampbase

hi

Original paper mache clay : my findings : tutorial

hi
dear all



You can see that I have been posting paper mache ( now on I will use "pm")crafts,which is a new thing I am experimenting with.I am totally enjoying this versatile medium-and many ideas  are popping now and then in my head ,I hope to try my hands on those one by one...

As you know -the site ,ULTIMATE PAPER MACHE.COM have been a great help to the pm beginners-I have got all the necessary basic infos from this wonderful site ,Thank you JONNI, and another site that I want to mention about is ,actually its a forum ,called PAPER- MACHE UK. here other pm enthusiasts are very helpful,they help you out as soon as you post your questions -thank you all the people for you help..

Internet is a magical place  where you will get all sorts of inspiration-often artists share their techniques with all of us,thanks to them..but I have felt ,different people has different types of process/techniques --what i meant is ,what works for me ,it may not work for others-the type of finishing I like ,it may not be the liking of others -hence I tried to work on/find out different processes just to see which one works for me..right?

Kashmir(INDIA)has a great legacy of making PM crafts for centuries...they have excelled in it,personally I think nobody can beat their craftsmanship.the hard work and craftsmanship they put in it is ,just amazing..I started my journey of pm from here , by understanding the master-class..

you will get many sites which will tell you briefly about this process.I don't expect sites to spell it word by word,after all its their trade secret..what "PICTURE" I got from studying different texts is ,in a nut shell

paper,mostly waste paper is soaked in water for 3/4 days till the fibers are disintegrated,then its pounded in a stone vessel,sun dried,mixed with a glue ( made of rice and glue boiled in water=here "starch" is a point),
then these people use moulds ,first the mould is covered with ordinary paper ,then this pm clay paste is applied,after it dries up,moulds are cut with a saw along the center line ,the paper object (now cut in half ) are joined by a thick glue -SARESH,a kind of a laquare  (natural gum +sugar)


then ,its time to smooth out the surface ,they use a burnt brick or a pumice stone ,then a layer of SARESH is applied ,again  on which chuna (pumice) paste /glue+gypsum is applied .again the smoothing  occurs,finally tissu or butterpaper is used to protect the surface .

I bought a pm kashmiri chrishtmas ball,just to see my self what is used inside...

here you see ,I have cut the ball in half ,lets see whats inside..

now you can see , where the craftsman had cut .

now more closer look

here we can see the SARESH,the glue/laquare ( all purpose)

its a rubbery and brown in colour,very hard..here i want to mention that ,the thickness of this ball is around 1/4 inch( approximate)
quite hard, even if I squeeze it in my hand ,happens nothing, I think its the starch  of rice and glue makes its super-duper hard/stiff

now its time to see what types of paper or pm clay they use,
paper that was used in moulds initially is a normal news paper ,very cheap...
after that the actual pm clay is layered,I must say I could not understand/recognize a single particle of that mass,it is so well mutilated that its hard to believe that it has a paper in it.

during my research time at net ,I read some where wood particles(saw dust ) cloth-fibre and other mislenious stuffs are used to make the pm clay solid,u know what I mean....as write this blog, I feel that I should have seen it under the microscope...anyway, actully the stuff that has been used for making this clay is mixed with rice starch and glue in such a high temperature  ,that its totally lost its character....lets move on

just imagine the craftmanship..

you may ask ,why I did this elaborate study?it was done to get inspired by masters..I want to get this same effects in my papaer mache crafts -thats it...

hence my research continues...

on my next post ,I wish to share some of the home made paper clay recipe ,which may /may not help you get the porcelain smooth finish ..

stick with me to know about my next experiment...

lets explore..

enjoy

pepar mache ; tiki inspired

dear All

enjoying these last days of winter ..and experimenting with Paper Mache..

This was inspired by Tiki mask.this is my first attempt ,hence learning a lot form my own experience..

let me know what do you  think?

paper mache apple!!

hi
this is my first try  with paper mache..here i am allowing myself a beginner..

paper mache owl WIP

hi

wait for the final picture