Paper in Three Dimensions

apple 108 in paper vessels class at ocac

I took a great class this weekend at OCAC called Paper Balloons, Tubes, and Vessels. We made all sorts of sculptural things out of paper. The teacher, Helen Hiebert is an artist who works almost entirely in paper. She teaches other paper making and sculpting classes.

paper vessels class at ocac

The class was great fun. We first make a simple paper balloon. They are great fun and are really quick to make. I’d talked about having craft day with Summer and other friends so maybe this can be our first project. She showed us how to make a traditional Japanese round collapsible lantern and I hope to make one at home in the shape of a beehive. They are made using a 3D puzzle in wood or foam core. I have some foam core so I’m going to make a prototype. If it works well, I’ll cut one out of birch ply so I can make a bunch. Once I have the frame/puzzle done, I make rings from reed, place them around the frame, then glue on paper panels. The lamp parts are easy enough to find online and i could make both table and standing lamps. I hope I can get this done and try to sell some on Etsy soon. We also made shadow screens using a very cool Japanese hinge and made collapsible tube shapes with reed. I had such a great time being out of the house, with strangers, making art. I signed up for another class, a drawing intensive in July. My art making has slowed to an itsy bitsy crawl. This was a good shot in the arm.

I thought I had made a new BFF in the class. She has a vegetable garden, and wants to keep bees, she has purdy braids and two kids. She just moved to Portland 2 years ago. We hit it off really well. We talked about community gardens and chickens and art. She was super duper nice but then over the lunch break she had to leave suddenly because her kids were sick. Wish I could have gotten her contact info. I would have loved to help her set up bee hives, or even helped her set up some native bee hives. Holly, if you’re out there, let’s be BFFs.


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