You may have seen my FAQ post from last week, where I answered some of the most common questions I get about my large-scale paper sculpture installation, “Charming Victorian Country Garden Retreat,” currently at the Paper Works show at the Mansion at Strathmore. This week, I thought I might share some fun facts about the installation, including how much paper it took, how many roses are in the installation and more. Let me know what you think!
1.) It took me 1.5 years of working on the installation full-time to complete “Charming Victorian Country Garden Retreat.” I worked 40–60 hours a week in the first months, but the last six months, I was working on the project 60–80 hours a week, sometimes more.
2.) It took approximately six weeks to sketch, come up with a tentative schedule, develop a plan in detail of the display, and research art papers I was going to use in the installation.
3.) Approximately 29 square feet of paper was used to make this squirrel.
4.) It took five weeks to construct, build, assemble, and weave this table and chair — this does not include the time it took to do the research, sketches, design, and planning out how I was going to make the furniture or the amount of time it took to prepare the paper to begin the weaving process. That took about an additional two weeks.
5.) I made three miniature cardboard models of different chair deigns to help me figure out the construction of the chair and a basic design shape.
6.) Every piece of paper that was used to weave the chair and table had to first be hand-cut to the correct width.
7.) To make the “brick” walls, I spray-painted paper. I added sponge painting overtop to give the bricks added texture.
8.) The first harp silhouette I cut out tore when I was hanging it in the window. I had to remove it and cut a new harp silhouette. The second harp turned out even better than the first one, so it was a happy accident!
9.) Did you see the soccer ball in the flower garden? The soccer ball is also three-dimensional and comes out of the flat paper background. I added it to the flower garden because I wanted to add some hints that children “live” here too, not just grown-ups.
10.) In many of my illustrations and art projects, when possible, I will include things that relate to members of my family. One of several in this installation is Cricket the cat, which is named after my daughter’s cat. He was also used as a reference point for this furry critter.
11.) It takes 2.5 hours to create one wisteria flower because each petal is individually attached to the stem.
12.) Over 80 wisteria flowers were paper sculpted for this installation.
13.) Over 75 roses were used in the climbing roses.
14.) Over 80 white and ivory roses make up the trellis.
15.) It took four days to install the full paper sculpture piece at the Mansion at Strathmore.
16.) Over 15 ladybugs inhabit the scene. (Can you find all of them?)
17.) There are also four bumble bees in this garden retreat.
18.) At least 17 butterflies can be seen at the exhibit.
19.) Four cats, two dogs, two squirrels, one chipmunk and two adorable bunny rabbits live at the “Charming Victorian Country Garden Retreat.”
20.) My favorite thing to make for the “Charming Victorian Country Garden Retreat”? Honestly, I loved making all of it. Yes, there were some aspects of the final paper sculpture piece that were more challenging than others, but truly, I loved every minute of this project. I am so thrilled to be a part of Paper Works: The Art of Paper. Thank you Strathmore!
