To highlight the problem of marine debris, we made sea creatures from materials destined for the bin.
Step one: Sculpt a humpback whale, octopus and jellyfish
Papier-mâché is a demanding mistress. As Michelangelo once said “it’s the biggest time-sink since social media”. He preferred the speedier process of wrenching 3D form from a block of stone.
We all have fond memories of shredding newspaper and slopping it about in buckets of paste in pre-school, but papier-mâché is probably the reason teachers were so often carted off, weeping on stretchers, long before term-end.
That’s because it takes at least three years to dry.
Luckily, this project coincided with the hottest summer on record which sped up the process to a mere six months – a first in papier-mâché history!
I’ve glossed over the tortuous weeks spent engineering the whale’s armature. For an accelerated video of the process please click here: page .
Step two: Decorate the sculptures
We wanted half of each sculpture to be painted, the other half to be collaged with old (clean) packaging. We’re a long way from the sea but there were easy pickings in the lay-bys around Maidenhead. For added authenticity, I collected it with my Waterhaul®️ litter grabbers from my local zero-waste shop.
www.fillinggood.co.uk
The sculptures are now suspended from the domed ceiling in Upton Court’s library. Art enthusiasts travel from far and wide to goggle at our imaginative use of ketchup labels and Quaver multipacks.
If you’d like your students to create an eye-popping legacy piece like this just get in touch using this link sweetingsgreetings@gmail.com or call me on 07957543346
