Art School #8: Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater

Find out how you can create papier mache sculpture on your own.

This is similar to what the "Peter, Peter" sculpture looked like~ for real! Imagine the newspaper wife of Peter sitting despondantly inside with mushy pumpkin everywhere.

Freshman college art was fun. I dove in and neglected the fundamentals that are required for graduation. Who cared about graduating? That was at least 4 years away.

I took every art class I could fit into my schedule and slept, drank and ate art.

One project for design 101 was "Create an environment." It was called environmental art back then. That was before ‘green speak’ so it had nothing to do with environmental science.  Always loving sculpture and the human figure, I decided to make a paper mache doll, carve a pumpkin, and place the doll inside. After carving the pumpkin I placed it on a radiator in the back of the studio room, hoping to dry it out.  It sat there over the weekend and when I returned the pumpkin, paper mache and all, was covered in mold. The project was due that day! what could I do?

I was last to arrive in class, large cardboard box in tow. 

“Ok. Who’s first?”

Everyone took turns exhibiting their environments. There were boxes that housed rooms similar to miniature doll houses but with different settings.  Their concepts displayed everything within a small and confined space. Finally my box was opened. I lifted the pumpkin out of the box carefully. Slowly the classroom became the environment as the aroma of the moldy mass was exposed. 

 Peter’s wife sat dejectedly inside the pumpkin, her feet resting on the crumbled open side that poured out onto the table.  

No one seemed impressed at least not in a positive way but I did get an A.

If you are looking for info on paper mache this is a great link. You need to register to get into their network but it will be worth it. You will get everything you need to know about Papier Machè and if you are an artist you can create a portfolio to display and sell your work.
Paper mache info