About my paper technique

 By: Andy Ferrari    18:43  cartapesta, masks, modeling, paper, paper mache, papier mache, plaster, pulp, sculpture, strips, technique   No comments

What is cartapesta?

Well, basically, it's italian for papier-mâché. But the technique I use for the masks was adapted, to give a better finish. When people ask how I make the masks it's always a bit complicated to explain that cartapesta is not exactly the most commonly known form of papier-mâché, which uses  pulp (paper dissolved in water to make a paste). It is actually made with strips, but still not exactly as you'll see on papier-mâché tutorials.

Most of the pulp and strip techniques you'll find online are quite messy. You have to use a lot of water, and a lot of glue, and lose a bowl forever by filling it with adhesive and macerated or striped paper. And have glue all over your hands through the whole process. That's a no no for me.

The technique I use I learned from the amazing mask maker Agostino Dessì. You can see pictures of the courses he gives on his facebook page.

So how is it done?

• To start we need a negative of the form (a negative means it is a concave, you'll be seeing the inside of the form). It will look like this:

• The strips are molded one by one inside the plaster. I use a squirt bottle to moisten them as much as I need before putting them down, so no big bowls full of water. After a few were adjusted to the plaster, I put on some glue with a paintbrush. It will start looking like this:

I was using used coffee filters for this one

• After I completed the form I put on a coat of glue on all of it and let it dry

• And voilá. When it's really hot I can take it out in about 5 to 6 hours, but usually I'll leave it overnight. After that it will receive a coat of glue on the outside, which was facing the plaster, and after a good dry my fingers will die trimming the edges and opening the eyes (the paper becomes so hard, you have no idea)

That's about it! Takes a long time of practice and experimentation, but it's a very nice technique that makes smooth, strong, and durable pieces.

Hope you enjoyed the post, and see you next time ;)

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Não chore não, viu

 By: Andy Ferrari    09:42  brazilian, chita, Luiz Gonzaga, masks, northeast   No comments

On the name of all creation, it's been two months. I apologise. Things got piled up these last couple of months, one big project that was a handful, will post about it soon, another not so big, but very time consuming nevertheless, will post about it today, and some other pieces being balanced around.

The big one was sent for the Salão Paranaense, it's a contemporary art salon. The results come out in august, wish me luck!

The not so big one was for my contribution to an arts event called Cabaré Artístico, held by Pedras theatre school, where I take my circus classes. It was the Centenary of Luiz Gonzaga, and I made masks according to the theme, the brazilian northeastern culture.

This is Asa Branca, by Luiz Gonzaga (I sang this in a theatre presentation we did in school when I was...around 12 or 13)

And the masks were made with chita, e very colourful cotton fabric very much used in the northeast.

And these are some of the masks that came from it

I don't have proper shots of all of them, but I'll soon post some at my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/AndyFerrariStudio. Keep an eye on it for more.

And as masks are made to be worn, not just sit there, some of my lovely, beautiful friends put them to their purpose by the end of the event

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I've got an atlas in my hand

 By: Andy Ferrari    10:49  cartapesta, chita flowers, florence, handmade, hydrangeas, masks, moon, paper, sugar cane   2 comments

Ok! Now that I finally did that post about Sam, I can go on (I promissed I wouldn't post anything till I finished it, or I would be risking leaving it behind for too long...)

So in the last post about the masks, Saisons de L'esprit wasn't even finished yet, and I worked a few new things, that are already on flickr and facebook.

I experienced with some handmade, natural fibers paper, and it worked really well. I had a piece of paper stored since I was on my 3rd year of college (I don't even remember what it's made of) that I used for La Lune (the moon shaped one). The final result was weirdly similar to glass fiber. For the other base shown in the picture below, I used sugar cane paper, and it's the base I used for my first Florence, which are the ones with the hydrangeas applications.

La Lune already went to a new home, this is looking like now:

So, as could probably guess, the second news is that i started using the natural dried hydrangeas, and this is what I got:

The second one is not done yet, as I made her a bit too big for the amount of flowers I had. Waiting for them to come from Curitiba.

And, for a more vibrant ending, the chita flowers I found! I got them at the City Market, they came from Bahia:

Now, unfortunately I couldn't find out exactly where/from who they came from, so I'm trying to make some of my own, though I didn't quite achieve the beautiful form these ones have yet.

I already have a green base for some of them, also on sugar cane paper, and another one only in my head for now, still looking for a paper in the color I want(blue...but not just any blue, a very specific blue. I can be too picky sometimes, but well, she is going to London. And I actually already got her name, but that I'll explain when she's done ;]).

Oh, and there's a possibility of ceramic masks in a near future, let's see how it goes.

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Deixa cantar de novo o trovador

 By: AndyFerrari    14:51  alliance française, book page, cartapesta, literature, masks, wooden flowers   No comments

Ok, it's been a while... (yes, almost a month Andy) Sorry, end of the year, you know...

So, in the end of november and beggining of december there was the Literature party at Alliance Française here in Maringá, Arapongas and Londrina. We were in charge of the fantastic literature, so we had a room with a game in which people had to guess the fantastic creatures inside boxes based on extracts from books and the masks inside, and we all wore black capes and white masks, it was fun :) 

The second pic is the entrance to our room! I was afraid people wouldn't want to pass, but I guess curiosity over weird peeps with masks overcomes the trouble of going through a web/labirinth ^ ^

And this is outside the Alliance Française in Arapongas, isn't it beautiful?

And now back to my regular masks....

This is Aquarela do Brasil (from this song) and she's made with textured paper, paprika, saffron, and natural decorations, such as wooden flowers, burlap, straw, and seeds.

This is Saisons de L'esprit, I just started to attach the flower decorations (and realized I'll still have to make many many flowers)

And here is the first sketch for Hanabi the 2nd (Hanabi is a series, so there will be more)

And here is the first one with the wooden flowers I got with AccentsandPetals. Not 100% yet

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Like when were children

 By: AndyFerrari    19:16  alliance française, ancient, french books, literature, masks, mubbins, paper, swallow   No comments

I have mask neeeews! But first look at this cutie! It's a swallow, and it was standing on the edge of my balcony. I can never get pics of birds cause they fly away before I can get my camera, but this one stayed put  as I came closer and closer, completely posing for the camera haha I even reached for it as it let me get so close, to check if it was ok, but yes, it was just fine :)

Now about the masks, we were talking at Alliance Française about the end of the year party, which will be with an expo about french literature and our class will be in charge of Science-fiction and all. So I thought, what if I try to make masks with ancient book pages? So as I've been to Curitiba, I went to the second-hand bookstore and got some books that looked a bit worn out. 

The book pages worked beautifully, and molded with no problems. I was afraid it would not work, since I tried using newspaper once and it wouldn't attach properly to the mold, causing bubbles. I already demolded them, but they stayed in the workshop to dry, so no pics yet.

I'm also making paper rosettes to apply to some of them. 

(I've been all about yellow lately....before it was blue for about a whole semester.

 Wonder if those color changes make any sense)

And, oh, the cuteness. My mom brought Mubbins from Mubbinland (aka, a store in Paris)

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Chante au Bistrot 82!

 By: AndyFerrari    11:30  Curitiba, dryed hydrangeas, engraving, etching, fine arts college, masks, street market   No comments

A wednesday filled with New! Last night was my first in the house, which was great, I love the light well I have in my bedroom. Mika sang a new song in his gig in Seoul yesterday (maybe you don't know, but he had been quite out of the picture till a couple of months ago, and to me it's nice to hear something new :}), my dear friend Fran made me realize I don't need my camera cable 'cause the new computer can read the memory card (yes, I'm that slow, lol), and I went to Curitiba and stayed a week to go to the opening of the Bienal Vento-Sul.

The weather was surprisingly good! Good weather in Curitiba makes me happy. I went to the municipal market, which is a dream if you like to cook with fresh things, and got artichokes....

       

Which I made in the oven with a bit of balsamic vinager and tiny potatos, after having them slightly sauteed in a pan while olive oil and fresh chopped garlic. They ended up very good.

Sunday I went to the street market at the Largo da Ordem, and the weather was still good! 

And there I found new material for the masks! They are beautiful dryed hydrangeas, dyed in all sorts of colors. They are gorgeaous and very soft. You can find them right in front of the Garibaldi Palace(last pic).

And this, well is a painting on a parking lot wall that I found quite interesting...

And then, coming back from taking these pics, I stoped by the Contemporary Art Museum, and found out the entire second floor were exhibitions of some of my college teachers! I took some pics too ♥

Rossana Guimarães (was my engraving teacher on the 1st year)

Juliane Fuganti (etching teacher, 4th year)

Roberto Pittela (photography teacher)

Pedro Gória (etching teacher, 3rd and 4th years)

Beatriz Nocera (Composition and plastic, painting ,and semiotics teacher)

Ok, I think that's enough for one post right? Right. So see you soon...I'll bring news on the hydrangea masks :)

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I was perched outside in the pouring rain

 By: AndyFerrari    12:43  application, lace, masks, texture, wooden flowers   No comments

I haven't been showing much, but it doesn't mean I haven't been doing much! Some previews on some of the masks I started these last couple of weeks (although I didn't really give names yet...Just to the one in the middle, but I'll keep it a secret for a while)

This one is quite different, I used paper applications for the texture on the face, paprika and saffron for the eyes and forehead, and wooden flowers, coloured burlap, and seeds for the head applications. She's still missing flowers, which I'll go get in Curitiba.

 Well, this one has an oil paint base, and the applications are of a textured paper usually used for covering boxes and such. I know the light isn't helping here, but she's in black with the applications in black, dark blue and an other lighter, slightly metallized blue.

 Last one, she has a dark blue acrylic base, with a light cream coloured lace on top, and embroidered lace applications. Although she's a mezzo viso, I decided to give her a low gaze, so she's not really for wearing (unless you don't mind not seeing anything of course)

More to come! Hopefully three more till next week.

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