papier mâché Turtles

The first few dozen or so turtle figurines I created were of land lubber tortoises.  

I got into creating sea turtle figurines for a teaching class here in the Art Center in Crescent City.

The class was a success. Many a baby turtle were created and painted by all.

Creating and painting these tiny creatures was a real challenge to see how small I could make my molds.   Actually molding itself proved a real challenge as my skills improved I realized that while Cell-U-Clay is a pretty good substitute for clay and quite forgiving when it comes to sloppy mold creating, if I want to apply these designs to plaster or actual clay for baking in a kiln, I must work harder at perfectionism.    Boo hiss.

I came into this papier mâché Celluclay product molding activity after a lifetime of drawing and painting on paper and canvas.  Needless to say there was a considerable learning curve but perseverance and stubbornness prevailed.  

The images displayed here are of turtles either available for sale downtown or provided as examples.  Currently I am applying many of these baby turtle designs (and more) to wood slices, or wood cookies.