At a shop in San Diego last year, I saw a collection of sun faces displayed over a bed. It looked great, and would have cost over $1000 to purchase them all. Of course I couldn’t do that; I already have a collection of sun faces in the living room. And I’ve lived in earthquake country, don’t want heavy stuff hanging over the bed. And I’m, um, frugal.
But I kept the idea in mind, and decided to make nine planets (I believe in you, Pluto!), inspired by the space fabric in the background.
I sculpted the three largest and one of the smallest, then got distracted, and they sat for a year.
Come quarantine and super hot weather, and I found time to finish them. I decided to make them all moons (all the other artwork in the bedroom features the moon), and all the same size. Three didn’t fill the space over our king bed, so I made two more.
They’re papier mache; a thin dome of newspaper strips formed over a plastic-covered bowl, features made of crumpled foil covered with more paper. The new ones have a slightly different feel, and I experimented with a final coat of toilet paper for a different texture.
Each one is about 9" wide.
These are really cool! I love how you used creative problem solving to get what you wanted, how you wanted it, and at a price that fit your budget/inclinations! I’d love to see them installed if you felt so inclined.
TP seems to be widely available again; I found my favorite brand online at walmart. Even so, I used just a single layer (maybe a dozen sheets total) of some really rough nasty TP that nobody wants to use.
I traced around the moon onto cardboard (cereal boxes), cut it out, punched a hang hole, glued it to the moon, then trimmed off any excess before painting. They hang on push pins.
@TheMistressT
They are installed; the space fabric is mounted on the wall. I could zoom out, but I’d have to make the bed…
These are fantastic. They have great expressions and I love that you found a wonderful way to achieve what you wanted without a hefty price tag. Whimsically wonderful.
Thanks for asking about installation. That inspired me to reconsider the planet fabric, which was a starting point for the project, but has been on the wall by itself for so long I didn’t even see it anymore.
I thought the faces looked too washed out, and brightened their color, but eventually realized that the planet fabric was too bold and overwhelmed the moons.
So I experimented, turning the planet fabric over for its softer tone back, then trying the plain white wall (I know, but haven’t found the right color)
Then this moon design fleece throw turned up when I was emptying my studio. Cut it in half to get a long skinny, and reinforced the top so it wouldn’t stretch and sag.
What a fabulous project! I love their expressions, and they definitely stand out more on the new fabric. I never would have thought to use toilet paper for paper maché, but it’s a great way to use up poor quality tissue And, they should be fairly lightweight, so no injuries should occur in case of an earthquake!
And, they should be fairly lightweight, so no injuries should occur in case of an earthquake!