This week I completed adding the second coat of cotton "fur" to the rabbit. It may not sound like a lot, but every little set moves the project forward. This part of the project is rather time consuming. I think all total it took about four hours of work to completely cover the rabbit twice.
Just to recap for new readers: The animals were created from cardstock and cardboard then covered with paper mâché. Some of the animals are covered in fur or shaggy hair. You can scroll back to see that process or look at it at the blog URL: folkartbycaroljones.blogspot.com
The rabbit was covered with cotton adhered to the form by using a stiff artist oil paint brush and a fifth-fifty mix of all-purpose glue and water. Cotton has a grain to it. Apply the glue in the direction of the grain and the cotton will go on smoothly. If you try brushing the glue on against the grain the cotton will bunch and lump.
Anyway, I have reached a major milestone. The first phase of this project has been completed. Each animal was constructed starting from a flat sheet of cardstock and have been turned into a three-dimensional animal. I have been working on making the animals since March 2025.
Since this is only a hobby, I can have time to work on it for a couple of hours a week; and only at times when I have a full hour or more to work on it at a time. Paper mâché has a fair amount of setup and cleanup time as well as direct work time. I am thinking it has to have a minimum of a hundred hours on this project already. That estimate is probably low. I don't keep a log of actual time because there is little point in it. If I were to charge minimum wage for the hours spent, most people would consider the piece out of their price range. I just make things because I enjoy doing it. The projects are for relaxation. I need some downtime away from the usual chores and responsibilities that take up most of my time.
The next stage of the project requires a trip to craft and hardware stores to get the parts that will be used to make the horses go up and down as well as around the track. The reason I need to have those parts now is because I will have to drill through the animals I have created to put the posts through them. I did not want to leave a hole in the animals while making them because it would have made the construction more difficult. The early stages of the project were not very stable, and I needed to make sure that the pole would stay upright. If the pole slanted it would have prevented it from moving up and down or could damage the animal from the stress. Once I get the rods, tubes, and other parts needed, then I can drill the holes for them all at once. The areas will need to be sealed with more paper mâché before I go any further. I need to do this now so that the hole for the rods will not be in the way of the decorations for the animals.
Hopefully I will be able to get out to the stores sometime this week. Check back next Monday or Tuesday for the next post.
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