I have completed my latest project, a paper mậché Halloween cat. Regular readers know that one of my challenges for the year was to create a Halloween item once a month. I am finding that I am already running a few weeks behind. This is my second project. Although, to be fair, I did not post the resolution until almost the middle of January, so I was late getting started. I am also still working on my long term project, a large doll. Between the the two projects, I am putting in a lot of hours in the studio. I will be blogging about the doll project in next weeks blog post.
Last blog post, I showed the armature for creating the doll. After that it was pretty much a matter of adding layers of paper mậché. This doll has a total of four layers. Two of the layers were added, then additional pieces of material were added to create the cat's pants and the big smile.
After the second layer, I had to add some additional support to the tail area. The tail kept shifting as I moved the doll about while adding the paper strips. The movement caused the tail area to crack. I needed to strengthen the area by adding some additional support. I soaked small pieces of a manila file folder in multi-purpose glue and applied them over the crack. The glue soaked into the bits of folder, and that made them flexible enough to follow the curve of the area. Once they dried, they were very firm and stiff. With two additional layers of the paper mậché, the area is now strong enough to support the piece without cracking.
Other than that, it was just a matter of painting the piece and adding some embellishments. I wanted this to be a black cat as that is a Halloween tradition. However, I found that painting it black was a bit problematic. The black was very black, and it seemed to soak up every bit of light. I really had to use very bright colors for the rest of the paints just to keep the piece from fading into the background. If I had not already painted on the face by the time I decided that the black was too dark, I might have painted it over and used a very dark gray. However, done is done, so I decided to press forward with the project. Besides using the traditional red-orange Halloween color I brightened the piece by adding metallic paints. I made a small start stencil and traced stars all over the shirt. I painted the stars with a bright gold metallic paint. The stars seemed to fade away against the orange, so I outlined them with black paint to make them stand out. I also painted the suspenders with a medium cadmium yellow and added orange dots.
I originally painted the pants a navy blue, but once again the piece started fading into the background from lack of reflected light. I over-painted the blue with an antique metallic gold. The pants tend to read as an olive kacki . Because the paint is metallic it adds enough reflected light that the piece moved forward again. I echoed the color on the shoes. For me, the colors of Halloween will always be orange and black. Although I used other colors in the piece, I wanted to give a nod to the traditional colors, so I just used orange and black in the bag. I only used two black stars because I still needed to keep the black to a minimum to keep the piece bright.
When I make a doll, I don't want the doll to just be standing there. I add embellishments that help tell a story about the piece. I want the viewer to engage with the piece and figure out the story. If I had just painted the doll and not added embellishments, the viewer might have guessed that this was a Halloween piece. By adding the trick or treat bag and candy, it adds to the narrative because they bring back some memories to the viewer.
The giant lolly-pop is a great example of this. Practically every kid that has seen one of these giant lolly-pops at a candy store, amusement park, circus or sea-side resort has longed for one. If the viewer was ever the recipient of such a confection, perhaps he or she remembers that moment that the candy was received. It seemed like the greatest treat in the world. The cat's big grin can reflect the emotion of that moment. If the viewer never received one, perhaps it brings up a memory of an opportunity missed. Or perhaps the viewer will remember the moment as one which as a parent, they had to say no to a child because a parent knows it is over-priced, too much sugar, and doesn't taste all that great anyway. (And perhaps the parent knows this because the parent has had one at some point.) So the story can be interpreted in many ways depending on the point of view of the observer.At one point, I considered making a noisemaker rather than a lolly-pop. When I was growing up, Halloween was also a time to make a lot of noise. I remember having an noise-maker that was on some type of ratchet. As you spun it around it made a grinding sound. Another noise-maker was some type of tin (or more likely aluminum) paddle with a bead on a wire. When you shook it, the bead banged against the paddle making a loud noise. I guess I haven't seen too many of those recently. Everyone is so busy and/or stressed these days that excess noise is even more of an irritation than usual. Anyway, I decided that the lolly-pop was a better option not only for the candy connection but because the noisemaker would have taken longer to make.
Overall, what I want to convey about the piece is the hopeful attitude of a Halloween creature showing up at the door with expectations of candy. When I was growing up, Halloween was such a special holiday. I can still remember the excitement of running around in a costume and yelling trick or treat at each doorway. I think today's kids are missing out on that part of the excitement. Halloween today is not the same. But then, I guess people can not miss something that they never had, so perhaps children today will still have fond memories of Halloween, even if they are not the same memories.
Next Sunday I will be blogging about my large doll project. Check back on Sunday afternoon for the latest on that project.
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