Paper Mache Carrots Are Classified as a Sculpture...RIGHT?

Have I mentioned before that I absolutely LOVE being an artist.  I have to reminding myself that being in my studio painting is just like work and if I want to succeed in supplementing our retirement income I need to stay busy creating.

I of course prefer fine art and today much of my time was spent doing more of what I would consider crafts but it was still fun and it did involve my paintbrush and paper mache is a form of sculpture.  So there you have it.  

Several weeks ago I had purchased this very large rabbit from a Ross Dress for Less Store to use as part of my entryway spring display.  A can of Kono Brown  Glossy spray paint was all that was needed to him transformed him into the largest chocolate bunny I've ever seen.  He REALLY looks like he made of solid chocolate now.  This was so simple and yet so adorable, I decided to spray paint a couple of wooden eggs I had stowed away in the studio and give them a simple painted design.  

I then got the creative idea that I needed to add a few carrots to complete my decorations.  I looked around at Michaels and Walmart and not a fake vegetable on the shelf to be found.  I decided would take matters into my own hands and get MESSY with some paper mache!  

Here I am applying strips of flour paste soaked newspaper to my carrot base made of sticks and tin foil.  I did buy the foliage and attach it to the stick using floral tape.

When I managed to get all 4 carrots finished I then took them outside and hung them up in my tree to dry.  

The following day I decided that another coat of paper mache was necessary and so I repeated the process for each carrot.  I probably could have added several more coats to smooth out some of the more bumpy areas but I was getting pretty tired of all the mess I was making in my kitchen.  Two layers was going to have to be sufficient.

True to my opening paragraph, there was actually painting going on with a real paint brush in the studio today.  I think it is time to change my palette paper don't you?   

As usually you can see that I have been a rather busy artist this week.  I gathered up a number of items that all needed a coat of varnish applied.  This actually included 3 cowbells and 2 small cow paintings shown below that I didn't remember about until after I had taken this picture.  I guess when you look at them all together I've been kind of preoccupied with cows of late.

Those three cowbells in the picture happen to already be sold.  Next week I'm going to paint a cowbell a day so that I can get in front of the demand because as I am typing this blog right now I have someone asking to buy one on Facebook.  These little cows are very popular!

These little paintings are really cute too and are painted on 8 x 8 wooden panels.  I call them Nose Licker 1 and Nose Licker 2.  I plan on taking them to the Boulder City Art Gallery at the end of the month if I haven't sold them before hand.

Nose Licker 1

Nose Licker 2

Here you can see my carrots hanging out to dry for the last time.  The varnish really takes very little time to dry but because they were wet all over, hanging was really the best drying option.

All in all I like my end results and am happy that I decided to take the time to make my own decorations.  Even though the photo is just a little bit dark here you can see just how lovely all the pieces go together.