I looooove your bears! Wish I had just an iota of artistic ability. Then I could make something other than rocks. :)

Saving this to my favorites. I really should start using my Clippings.

Thanks . . . and BTW - I luv your rocks too!

Today I tried an experiment in the hopes of making this new project lighter. First let me explain what I am up to . . . The final piece will be 2 statues that go together . . . a momma black bear (the first two were brown bears) and a baby. They will be separate pieces but they will fit together at the base (hopefully). Since I won't be able to move them off the work bench if they get too heavy . . .I decided to try the following to make them lighter: I made the bases on top of styrofoam and applied the papercrete to the bottom first. Once dry, (or in the case of impatience like mine. . .once almost dry!) the base can be flipped over and the armature attached to it. Next I decided to try paper mache' to wrap the chicken wire. (I thought this would block the holes, allow me to use less papercrete, and get a lighter final product.) At the last minute, I decided to try using Portland cement and water to dip the newspaper in . . . instead of glue and water or flour and water. The newspaper strips fell apart with the weight of the cement so I switched to strips of torn bedsheets (old one of course). This seems to have worked, but it was a VERY messy process! If you decide to try this, make sure to work in an area where you won't worry about the mess you make, and wear old clothes! The bear now looks like a mummy! I will let you know tomorrow how this worked. If it gets hard as I am hoping, I will begin to apply papercrete to the momma bear tomorrow, and the baby will get mummified!

Here is a link that might be useful: The mummy . . .HA HA

Your bears are absolutely stunning! You are very talented.
I think that your new mehod should work very well. I used a similar process last year to cover a large exercise ball to make a garden sphere. It worked wonderfully, allowing the walls of the sphere to be thin but very strong and lightweight. I don't remember if my fabric strips were old sheets or just what the source was but it was a light weight cotton type fabric torn into strips about 2" wide, dipped into the slurry of portland and water. You are right about it being messy. I am a messy worker anyway and a project like this one was an incredible mess for me.
Good luck with it and thank you so very much for sharing your work and process with us. You are very encouraging and give lots of inspiration.
Regards,
spiderwoman

Thank you Spiderwoman :) So far it does seem to be working! The styrofoam base makes makes it easier (if not lighter) and so far the mummy wrap (ha ha) is woking like a charm! I did notice a tendency for the papercrete to fall out on the underside but it did this when I used just the wire too and the rest of it is going along well so far. I will just have to work more slowly on the underside and do only a little every day. Here are the latest pictures ---->

Here is a link that might be useful: 2 Mummys

Wow Terry you are certainly productive! I get excited just seeing you go! BTW if the cloth and cement doesn't have enough strength you could try using joint compound and cloth or a thing halloween devotees use to make monsters called monster mud which is just joint compound and latex paint mixed together. I did this just once and it turned the cloth into almost a stone like texture.

Wow! Great idea about the joint compound and cloth! I have alot of old paint I could mix in too!!!! I'm gonna try this the next one for sure! Thank you!!!
Here are the latest photos ------------------------>>>

Here is a link that might be useful: Work in progress

Thanks for the picts Terry! Great progress! The bungee holding up the bear made me smile. I am guessing you needed that till it dried?

Here is a link where a guy made a prop tree out of monster mud http://www.howloweenqueen.com/monstermudtree.htm There are tons of sites out there about it but really it does just come down to paint and joint compound then dipping the cloth in it.

I may be motivated enough by your work to get out there on my patio tomorrow and work on my sculpture. She has been handless and footless for some time now.

Anyway, keep the pictures coming I really enjoy your sharing.

May I ask what you are doing with all these bears?

Hi Jonathon! Thanks for the link . . . cool tree but must be very heavy. That is the down side I guess . . . the joint compound may be heavier than the cement. I am still going to try this on my next project and see how it works.

Please do go back to work! I can't wait to see how your lovely lady looks once you have finished and painted her!

I don't know what I am going to do with the bears . . heh heh I am going to continue with them for awhile anyway. I do love making them and who knows . . .I may get good at it!(we are always our own worst critics) Maybe I will try to sell some of em.

Now I have to go to Home Depot . . . ran out of cement . . may try that stucco stuff this trip . . . will let you know how it works if I do. Seeya . .

Yup, it could be heavy I suppose; though perhaps with light fabric and a lighter "soaking" it might not be bad. I think that most of the figures are fairly light once dry, it's the wet stage that can be a bugger.

From what i have seen you could easily sell those bears! Are you kidding people buy hunks of wood that are carved with a chain saw; they don't approach the skill you show in your bears!

I did get out today (only in early a.m. and then late afternoon because it is TOO hot). I covered her base, worked some on her back, and TRIED to do her feet. It was very frustrating, either they are too big, or too short, or too masculine, or not realistic enough. It got dark so I took one off of her and just went in; the other one looks ok, maybe. But I just figure if I can't stand it I'll just lengthen her dress blowing in the wind.

Oh and I chisled the top of her head down because it was too high, but this cracked the neck. Oy vey!

Still, I love it!

Back from Home Depot and made a discovery. Those bags of powdered joint compound . . . they all have numbers on them . . the number is the dry time! I thought it was the wieght so I bought the lowest number last time. Big mistake it kept drying out on me! Now that I know what's up . . . I got the 90 minute one to give me time to work. I will use the last of the other to try the monster mud thing next project. Oh and I couldn't find the kind that was mentioned for stucco . . . ended up with the usual portland cement . . . but this time a 90 lb. bag!

Sorry to hear about your bad day with you lady. I always work with a photo. Maybe you could look for a photo of some feet that you like. Make sure they are in a similar position to your lady's (would be)feet. If you find a good one, print it out, and pin it up near where you work. It could make the difference! As to the crack . . . DANG! You probably know better than me how to fix that! I did a little today before I ran out of cement but never took any pics cause I thought I was gonna do some more this afternoon, but never did. Will post some tomorrow . . . can't wait to get back at it! :P

Here are the latest photos of the bears in progress
-------------------->

Here is a link that might be useful: Mom & Baby Bears in progress

Great job your bears are fabulous-you must have lots and lots of patience as well as much talent you show here!
As regards the feet-as well as looking at photos how about flipping though some kids coloring books for a bear the objects usually are printing large as regards the proportions of each item, just a thought! Wendy

Hi Wendy and thanks for the input on the bears. I didn't understand what you were trying to say about the coloring books but as far as proportions are concerned, it's the most difficult thing about making this type of sculpture because the shapes keep changing as you build out and you have to try and see it the way it will be, rather than how it is, while in progress. This is often difficult to do. I did some more work today so the proportions are looking a bit better. Hopefully, they will continue to look better until its finished. Here are the latest photos----------->

Here is a link that might be useful: The lastest pictures

The bears are all finished now except for paint and the mom needs eyes. I am going on vacation for a month or two and I will let them dry while I am gone. I suspect that I painted my first two bears too early . . . before they had fully cured so I want to let these dry a long time to see if there is any difference. Here are the last photos till I get back and paint them -------------------------->

Here is a link that might be useful: Finished! (almost)

Was wondering how to post photos in the message . . . wooo hooo figured it out! {{gwi:71324}}
{{gwi:71325}}

The bears are great Terry! I have really enjoyed watching their progress!

Wow, those are very cute. I think you can sure start a business doing those. I know this post was old, but I thought I would bring it forward.

Great Job.
Trish