Making Paper Sculptures

Last week I taught my students how to make paper sculptures out of fiber and water. We used bisque molds, (once fired clay), 130g water, and about 10g of fiber to make each sculpture. I used a sensitive kitchen scale to measure the amounts of each material.

Toilet paper works great for the fiber: its easy for the kids to mash up into the water. I had them mash it together with a popsicle stick for about five minutes until it turned into goop.

Once the pulp was ready, they scooped it up with their hands and pressed it into the mold with their fingers. I  put towels underneath the bisque molds so that the excess water wouldn't make a mess. I reminded them to press really hard to make sure that the pulp got into the eye and ear crevices of the animal molds.











To help absorb more of the water, we put one side of the towel over the mold and pressed the water out of it.

They will dry over a period of the next few days, but putting them in a toaster oven for 20 minutes works too. The bisque molds work because bisque absorbs water. Plaster, we discovered, doesn't absorb water nearly as well. It can still work but more often than not, the paper sticks to the mold.



After the molds are done, we painted them with tempura paints and used them to make some great collages! I let the kids integrate their paste paper from last week, and some flat bottomed marbles into their artwork as well.

Paint Party Field Trips With New Bern Christian Academy

This year we have had the honor of serving New Bern Christian Academy, a private christian school on old cherry point road,  by hosting their students for some wonderful painting field trips!

Chris Mathiot, Painting instructor, explains why these events make such wonderful, educational field trips. "We teach them art projects while they are creating." He says. "They get to work with real, high-grade materials. We guide them through a process that they can repeat when they make other things."

Every grade at the school does two field trips at Bear Hands, "One is in ceramics, and one is on canvas," Chris explains. We go to the school for the kindergarten field trips, our operation is pretty mobile.

Students learn how to mix paints, clean brushes, make different kinds of brushstrokes, create definition in their paintings with contrast and outlines, and more.

Most of the field trips take place on Tuesdays during the school day. The kids take the bus to our location and we have a classroom area all set up for them. We provide all of the materials, set up, and clean up. Its not a difficult operation. I've taught a few of the younger grades, and the kids are very receptive to the process.

Today we painted sheep with the 9th graders!