I started making dragons immediately after I stumbled upon Daniel Reeder's website from Seattle by chance: https://gourmetpapermache.com/. Daniel is an expert in the paper mache technique and his work took my breath away! And when something like that happens to me, I have to try it right away. I watched probably all his videos on Youtube and got started.

 

I made two dragons. They can't even compare to Daniel's, but I'm still very proud of them. 

There are several ways to paper mache. I chose the one where you glue strips of newspaper covered with a mixture of flour and water together. I added cardboard from eggs, teeth from self-hardening modeling clay and - according to Daniel's instructions - covered everything with an old cloth soaked in glue. 

The result is a hard and solid dragon trophy that today adorns our staircase. The green one. The red dragon adorns our neighbors' room.

 

By the way, I sent Daniel a photo of my green dragon. He wrote me back:

"Hello Zuzana,

That's a great dragon! Lots of personality. Great job! So glad you enjoyed the process. There is nothing quite so satisfying as pulling a dragon out of thin air! Thank you for sharing it with me! I will post a photo or two on my site (I assume it's okay to take them from the link you sent) and I'll add the link with one of the photos.

Good luck on your next project!

Tax"

 

I'm also slowly developing an idea in my head that I'd like to somehow connect the paper mache technique with dancing cabinets. I have the basic idea, but I still need to let it mature for a while.

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