Each October, Ellen and I make the rounds to the studios of several local artists as part of the annual Open Studios event, a self-guided tour that takes place over the course of three weekends, put on the by the Arts Counsel of Santa Cruz County. Three hundred artists throughout the county display, demonstrate, and sell their works while their studios are open to the public.

Our first stop is frequently the studio of renowned woodcut printmaker and sculptor, Andrea Rich. We swooned over several of her woodcuts for a couple of years before we finally landed on one that depicts a Wilson’s Warbler perched in a wood of birches or alders. The print hangs in my office.

Last year, in addition to her richly colored woodcut prints and her devastatingly beautiful bronze sculptures of wildlife, she had sitting on her studio worktable a menagerie of papier-mâché animals, including a quetzalcoatlus (the largest flying animal ever to grace the earth), a brightly colored lizard, and several other fantastical creatures (I think I remember an elephant…) Andrea told me that she made them with her four-year-old grandson who sometimes sits with the whole lot of them facing the TV with him as they watch a movie together.

I had recently learned that I was going to have a grandchild and determined on the spot that she would need a zoo of her own.

Andrea told me the animals were made of wadded newspaper and masking tape. Ellen understood when I told her we needed to make an urgent trip to our neighborhood ACE hardware store, That night, I fashioned a banana slug. I am a huge fan and I have a ridiculous number of photographs of them, but more importantly, I thought their simple shape would be a conducive starting place for a first time maker of paper animals. From there, I focused on many of the other animals I’ve seen during my walks, including my personal favorite, the newt.

Watching creatures take shape in my hands was nothing short of magical. Nerdy, I know! But it’s just true.

In the same way that some people knit or crochet while watching TV or hanging out with family, I tore up newspapers and shaped them into animal parts. As soon as one was done, I started another. My now five-month-old grand baby has a fun gift in store for her four birthday!

Papier-Mâche Critters

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