A few weeks ago I attended a local church's giant garage sale. There was used merchandise from all its parishioners strewn all over the lot, but inside, was a room full of used books. I was in heaven! One book that caught my eye was this giant Audobon's Encyclopedia of North American Birds. $5! It had photos, drawings and descriptions of every bird imaginable in it and it begged to come home with me.
A few days ago, one of my art students says, "Ms. P, can we do some paper mache?" and an idea was born. I haven't done paper mache for pleasure for ages, and this bird book was the perfect inspiration for the project. I made a batch of flour & water paste and ripped up some newspaper, then put together this flamingo I shall call "Percy."
Pink Flamingos aren't something I normally think about, but when I saw it in the book, I couldn't turn the page. It seemed to want to come alive, and so I did my best. Painting it was an adventure as well. I went into painting thinking I was going to go as life-like as I could, and then my brush took over and next thing you know, we've got swirls, stripes and dots going on. It happens.
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