Starting to Make My Paper Clay - Part 50

The painting and sealing of the carousel's column and platforms are complete.  I estimate that it took about nineteen hours of direct working time to complete that section of the project.  Each piece of the carousel has two, and sometimes three layers of paint and two layers of acrylic sealer.    I don't have a lot of patience when it comes to watching paint dry.  It was also a case of having to have a section of time large enough to get in the studio, get set up, paint a section, and clean up. It was frustrating to have that part of the project drag on for so long.  But at least that section of the project is complete.  In a long-term project, you have to celebrate the milestones.  It is what keeps you going instead of giving up,

So now I am moving on to the next big section of the project.  This part of the project is about using paper clay to make the saddles, saddle blankets, bridles, and the ribbon and floral decorations that will go onto the animals.  Hopefully much of this section will go fairly quickly.  Or at least more quickly than the section of painting the platforms.  

I am adding this old photo of the animals just so people

could remember what they look like currently.

I am ready to start making my paper clay.  Yes, I make my own.  Many people wonder why I start from scratch rather than buy some ready-made and usable right out of the package.  Part of that is because if I made it myself, it feels more like my creation.  The other reason is cost.  An eight-ounce package of paper clay costs about ten dollars (US).  A one-pound package of bulk mix that just calls for adding water costs about twenty-five to thirty dollars.  If I make it myself, from products that I already have at home will only cost about three dollars.  As the old saying goes, "A penny saved is a penny earned."

So, I spent a morning unearthing my book on craft materials that I have had for many years.  It is called Recipes for Art and Craft Materials by Helen Roney Sattler, published in 1973.  It is a fairly comprehensive book that covers making your own glues and pastes, paints, clays, casting compounds and other things as well.  I am sure that I could find these same recipes on the internet, but for some of the recipes, people would have to be aware that they existed before they knew to look them up.  We have become so habituated to just walking into a store and picking up a product that we no longer even think about making it or how much it costs just to buy it ready mixed.

I plan to be using a recipe for making an extra soft paper mâché pulp using tissues (or toilet paper) and glue for the blankets and saddles which will be the first step.   I will let you know how well this clay rolls out.  If that should prove too soft, then I will go on to another recipe that is a firmer clay. 

Anyway, the materials are gathered and this week I hope to have at least the saddles and blankets added to each animal.  Each piece must be cut to fit for its particular animal.  Differences in size will require a custom fit around the pole.  I will have new photos next week.  If all goes well, I may even start on the bridles, which will have a different type of process.  

Check back next week on Monday or Tuesday for the next blog post.