What I've Discovered About Paper Mache Art

by: Shannon Lovely

Growing up, arts and crafts were a big part of my family, but we never tried paper mache art. It's probably better known by the French name - Papier Mache (meaning chewed up paper).

It's a craft that's been around for hundreds of years and many artists have made beautiful objects using this media. My parents never really embraced these kinds of projects, for one reason or another.

Right now, I'm trying innovative new approaches to artwork. So recently, I decided to research more about paper mache art in general.

And I made some great discoveries that really have me interested in picking up this craft as a hobby when I have some spare time. I must admit that a good bit of the paper Mache art on the market today is really impressive and I don’t think that I will make anything so grand any time soon.

My lack of self-confidence is not about modesty - I’m trying to be realistic. The paper mache art form is a big challenge and many people take the approach for granted.

It takes a lot of patience and skill to make a quality piece that is worth displaying. There are, however, ways that I can practice papier mache art to get familiar with it and hopefully master it.

A lot of people picture vivid colors when paper Mache art is mentioned, and there is good reason for this. Piñatas are usually made of paper mache and most of us are familiar with the overall look and feel of this kind of creation.

More sophisticated pieces include parade floats designed for Mardi Gras. These massive pieces are truly magnificent and I can only imagine how many hours of work went into them.

I mentioned my desire of getting into paper Mache art to a friend of mine, and she told me that it's a really easy form of art.

I imagine that she believes this simply because the craft requires two or three basic ingredients. However, the simplicity of the ingredients is what makes the paper mache art projects so complex and challenging. You pretty much have to create something out of nothing.

Probably the best place for me to start is to purchase professional made paper Mache art. That way, I can study the objects and possibly use them for inspiration.

While many of them may be out of my league they can still inspire me to get started on a project of my own. There will be a lot of mess involved in creating pieces of my own but as far as I can tell from the beautiful paper mache art I have seen, it will be well worth it.

Papier Mache (paper mache) is a great project for kids too. Because we all know kids love messy forms of creating artwork.

Shannon Lovely is a self-employed businesswoman. She enjoys all types of arts and crafts and freelance writing in her spare time.