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• 1/25/2011 4:41 PM Ande wrote:
  Hi Dan, The nest is beautiful. Lovely drift wood. Looking forward to see the next step!
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  1. 1/25/2011 6:11 PM Dan the Monster-man wrote:
     Thank you Ande,
     It's funny how just having part of the thing turn out well, even something not related to the sculpture itself, gets me excited about the project.  Thanks for the nice comment.
     Dan
     
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• 1/25/2011 6:09 PM Suz wrote:
  Great idea to plug the screw holes with more driftwood! lookin good!
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  1. 1/25/2011 6:13 PM Dan the Monster-man wrote:
     Thanks Suz!   It seemed like a good idea.   
     Dan
     
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• 1/27/2011 5:39 AM Summer wrote:
  Thanks for stopping my my blog. I must say that I'm slightly embarrassed now to finish our project. . . your work is incredible! Wow!
  
  (We will finish it, though1)
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  1. 1/27/2011 7:39 AM Dan the Monster-man wrote:
     Hello Summer,
     Thank you for stopping by my blog too!  Well, I've been doing this for more than three decades.  So I hope your projects don't look as polished, since the artists are ...3 and 5 (sorry, just guessing here).   Like I said, it's wonderful that you are doing paper mache with them.
     
     
     Dan
     PS. Just read your last post.  Congratulations.  What a relief!
     
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• 1/27/2011 8:56 AM Phyl wrote:
  Dan, I can't tell you how excited I am that you stopped by my blog (There's a Dragon in my Art Room). When I saw your name on a blog comment my heart flip-flopped! I have a copy of The Simple Screamer that I bought probably in 1986 or so, and I have never seen anything that compares to your stuff. I'm a huge fan and always wondered what ever happened to you. So glad you are still building your amazing creatures. Some students of mine built a screamer the year I got the book, and I still have photos of it somewhere. Your work makes my art room dragon Lucy look so amateurish in comparison! Oh my gosh - I'm about to have students walk in to my room but I had to take a moment and release some enthusiasm!
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  1. 1/27/2011 9:07 AM Dan the Monster-man wrote:
     Hi Phyl,
     Well what a  pleasant surprise!    I'm always amazed when I hear that someone has my old screamer book.   I love seeing paper mache going on in classrooms.    As I said on your blog, it is a rare teacher (even among art teachers) willing to have the kids make a mess.  So they stick with 2D, which is nice, but they don't get to taste sculpture.   So thanks for what you do.   I'll definitely be checking into your blog again.   
     Take care.
     Dan
     PS.  Thank you for the nice words about my art.  I really appreciate it.  It inspires me to keep making art.
     
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     1. 1/28/2011 6:17 PM Phyl wrote:
        Dan, I have two questions (that maybe I would find the answers to if I looked hard enough, but anyhow..).
        
        First of all, how does a teacher find the time to build such comlex creations? I don't understand how you do it!
        
        And what do you do with them all? I know you sell some, and do some on commission, but what happens to most of your creatures? All those political pigs, fabulous dragons (obviously my faves), and even the elephant and donkey when the elections were done. Where do they go? I can't figure out where to put my one dragon, so I can't imagine what I'd do with a whole collection.
        
        Thanks - Phyl
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        1. 1/28/2011 9:41 PM Dan the Monster-man wrote:
           Hi Phyl,
           You hit on a couple of my banes that's for sure.  I love my teaching job, but it certainly does get in the way of my art.   This week I had meetings or commitments after school four out the five days.   It's hard to be creative when I'm exhausted.     So I only updated my blog once.   I've got a couple more photos I'll post tomorrow.   So lack of time is one bane.     And the other is, as you suggested, space.    I have art work all over my house, in my classroom, wherever I can find it.  I have a pretty big house and one daughter who is off at college (so I've grabbed her room temporarily).  The big elephant and donkey were commissions.  So they now live in the restaurant owner's warehouse till the next political season.   And I sold a few pieces after my recent storefront display.    I admit, sometimes I sell things just to get the space.   I can't keep everything (as my wife is fond of telling me!).
           
           
           I would love to post a photo of your dragon on my site if you are ever interested.    Just let me know if you ever want to do that.  Some people like the idea, others would rather keep it to themselves.  Either way, I thought I'd mention it.
           
           
           Nice talking to you.  Pop by any time.
           Dan
           
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           1. 1/30/2011 8:29 PM phyl wrote:
              I'd be honored to have you post a photo of Lucy, upside down wings and all. I need to shoot some new photos anyhow. How do I send the photo to you?
              
              About her upside down wings - ugh. I did OK with the crazy construction of her, working on her in my backyard in the summer, but then when it came to the wings I was stumped, and she was already a couple of years in the making. Lucy has a baby, and the original plan was to have Lucy's wings curving forward downward to envelop and protect the baby. But I needed her to fit in the back of the station wagon. I finally came up with a way to build the wings, after everything was done, and wanted to find a way to make them removeable. In hindsight I guess planning ahead would have been a good idea. The very creative technology ("shop") teacher where I teach offered his help, as I had just a day to get her ready to attend an art show and the wings needed to be on. He scooped her and her wings away to figure it out. When he returned her, well... the wings WERE removeable, but they had been put on BACKWARDS. They unfortunately cannot be reversed, and actually every time I take them off or put them on they do some damage to her body. So Lucy is flawed. Hopefully some day I'll get to try again, and make a new dragon, but pay more attention to your instructions instead of striking out on my own. Maybe then it will have proper dragon wings. By the way, the one similarity between Lucy and your work is that she was created, over an armature, with cloth mache.
              
              Thanks for listening, and let me know how to send a photo.
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              1. 1/30/2011 9:50 PM Dan the Monster-man wrote:
                 Hi again Phyl,
                 I am very familiar with those kinds of trials and tribulations.      I've made things too big to get out of my door and had to hack them up.   I've cannibalized many pieces over the years because I needed a quick set of legs or wings.  It's all part of the game.   The nice thing about this medium I think is that you can fix things.    I've had projects sit for years in state of disrepair and then I've simply patched them up with the cloth mache and added some details, some fresh paint, and they've turned out great.   That is partly what I mean when I call the medium "forgiving."
                 
                 
                 Anyway, just send photos to dan@gourmetpapermache.com.   I usually edit them a bit to make the size of the file smaller.   I'll add any caption you like.
                 
                 
                 Lucy sounds wonderful.   I'd love to see her.
                 Take care
                 Dan 
                 
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• 3/28/2011 11:42 AM debbie wrote:
  My sister and I love your work and was wondering if you had any directions our advice on how to do the snake that ate the bird in your book "The Simple Screamer" on page77 entitled Polygon? Thanks Deb
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  1. 3/28/2011 12:30 PM Dan the Monster-man wrote:
     Hi Debbie,
     Thanks for the kind words about my art.  I don't have any directions per se for that project.   I can tell you that I built the snake onto the stand up to the cage.   I made the middle part (the bulge in the belly) separately, and the neck and head separate as well.   Then I worked from inside the cage (with no bottom in it) to connect the middle to the two other parts.    That's basically how I did it.  Good luck.
     Dan
     
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