A human figure stands, arms stretched out to the side. It has white skin, literally. The skin is made of white paper. I won't be adding any color to it. This may as well be a ghost. The outer cloak is made of plaid fabric in the following colors: dark grey, light grey, a soft light green, and a hint of blueish Grey. 4 matching buttons are visible. The cloak is long, hanging from shoulders to where the feet would be (I did not sculpt feet). The sleeves are long, dangling to about halfway down the figure. There is purple hair on the head, lovingly made out of some thin purple yarn that I had laying around. The figure is wearing a necklace: a metal nut hanging from a thin bit of pink yarn.

The same figure, but from the back.

Made significant progress on whatever this thing is. I'm debating whether I should give it a hood, and perhaps a pair of eyes. And what to do with the base sheet of cardboard? Hmmmmm.

#workinprogress #recycledmedia #art #gluethingstootherthings #recyclingforart #handmade #reuseyourmail #mixedmedia

This is the inner makeshift skeleton for a human figure. A thin cardboard tube serves as the spine/central support column. The head a the top is a round shape, though in this photo you can see a paper towel jutting off the top. It looks like a flimsy Mohawk. Also visible are the cardboard rub cage (with only 3 ribs) and the cardboard pelvis (very abstract). Oh, and the whole thing is pretty small, about half the length of my hand.

A silly thing that happened while I was working on this other silly thing. I've since glued the paper towel down so that working on the rest of the head will be easier.

#workinprogress #silly #art #cardboard #recyclingforart #gluethingstootherthings

The figures for Mary and Joseph stand behind a wood colored manger. I don't have access to hay, so I used some leftover pillow stuffing as bedding. The background behind all of this is paper that I've drawn some wood boards on in pencil. I've decided not to color it in for now.

A close up shot of the manger. The tiny pillow I made by hand is now more visible. The scriptures don't mention a pillow, but I felt bad about setting an infant on top of loose bits of bedding, even if it's just a miniature model of an infant. I'm a softie.

Nativity scene update: we have a manger! We also have a basic background that I may not end up doing much with. Making Baby Jesus could take some time, as that is a surprisingly tall order.
#nativity #workinprogress #recycledmedia #mixedmedia #recyclingforart #diorama #gluethingstootherthings

The manger from the front and part of the side. This was originally a box of bandaids. I have glued some dark brown paper to it. I have even darker brown cardboard tubes glued onto the bottom.

The manger from the side. The Mary and Joseph figurines stand behind it, as if watching for the arrival of bouncing Baby Jesus.

My hand holding up the manger at an angle so that you can see the inside. I have an unused yellow scrub pad in there as a placeholder until I figure out what to do about hay. Not sure how relevant this is, but I have a light skin tone with warm/gold undertones.

Nativity scene update: manger in progress. I'm having trouble deciding what to do about hay/bedding. This yellow scrub pad will do for now. #workinprogress #art #recycledmedia #mixedmedia #recyclingforart #nativity #decisions #cardboardart #staybusystaysober #feliznavidad

A model house with fake foliage (left), and a matching model well (right). I colored the cardboard tubes with alcohol-based markers, but almost everything else is recycled material. The house and the well sit on two separate cardboard bases. The bulk of the house walls is just small rocks I found outside. Little cardboard tubes make up the frames. The fake foliage was originally supposed to be homemade paper, but the sheets turned out too thick, so I've glued bits together and added some color to them for moss-covered rocks and what not.

A closer view of the model well. The inside is a metal bottlecap filled with dollar store resin to create some fake murky water. Small pebbles surround the bottlecap, tightly hugging the outside of it to form the well. A small brown ring surrounds it on a cardboard base to simulate wet ground.

The model well, but in as much sunlight would come through my window. The surface actually reflects the sunlight a lot like actual water would. I'm quite pleased by this.

Made a little well to go with my model house, finally remembered to get photos in good lighting. Mostly recycled material, except for added coloring and the dollar store resin. And glue.
#modelhouse #diorama #recycledmedia #mixedmedia #art
#ilikeglue #gluethingstootherthings #recyclingforart

Two figures that are mostly made of cardboard and paper. Mary Mother of Jesus on the left, and Joseph (stepdad of Jesus) on the right. They both have medium brown skin (made from paper) and dark brown yarn for hair. They are sitting on top of my fridge because lighting. Random things from my kitchen are in the background.

The same two figures, but a side view this time. They both have long hair. I'm thinking Joseph needs another haircut.

Update on the nativity scene--Joseph has hair now, though he could use a second haircut. His beard is only tied up temporarily while I make adjustments to his hair. Garments coming soon. #recycledart #art #recyclingforart #betterthanalandfill #workinprogress

The base of this is a piece of cardboard coated with Grey paint. The edge lining is made up of little cardboard tubes. The metal bits at the top and bottom are caps. The metal in the middle is a bottlecap surrounded by metal soda can Tabs and a thick twisted bit of metal.

Mostly made of recycled material--leftover packaging, as well as bits of metal I found on the sidewalk (cleaned the metal before using it).
#art #recyclingforart #reducereuserecycle #mixedmedia #recycledart #reclicismo #arte #betterthanalandfill #bottlecaps

The figure for Mary, the Mother of Jesus. The base is made of cardboard, and the body is a cardboard toilet paper tube with paper from an envelope glued to the front. The head is covered in paper from a brown paper bag, giving Mary a medium brown skin tone. She has dark brown yarn for hair.

Mary from the side. Her hair is more visible from this angle, as is the masking tape on the back of the figure. The tape won't be visible after I add the fabric for her exterior garment.

The figure for Joseph, husband of Mary. He doesn't have hair yet. He's just a head, a cylindrical body, and a cardboard base right now. I may or may not add hair later, haven't decided yet. He has the same medium brown skin tone as Mary.

Work in progress. Figures for a nativity scene, probably similar to paper mache. Idk y'all, I didnt look anything up. Just went for it. This is the beginnings of Mary and Joseph. #art #reducereuserecycle #madebyhand #workinprogress #watchinggluedry #recyclingforart #playingwithpaper