Paper Bag Bowl by Kathy Stoffel

Select a glass bowl to use as a mold.  (Finished project was created using a vintage teardrop shaped bowl.) Cover the outside of the bowl with plastic wrap and secure with tape to the inside of the bowl.  The plastic wrap will keep the paper bag strips from sticking to the mold.

Place the mold upside-down on sheets of newspaper or a garbage bag to protect the work area.  Dilute white glue using a ratio of 2 parts glue to 1 part water and place in a shallow container.

Tear brown paper bags into narrow strips about 1/2 to 1 inch wide.  Dip each paper strip into the glue mixture and wipe the excess glue off the strip by running the paper between two fingers.  Start forming the bowl by laying the strips on the bowl.  Cover the entire mold with overlapping strips of paper.  Let this dry.

Glue another layer of paper strips on the mold.  Use your fingers to gently remove any air bubbles.  Let each layer dry completely before adding the next layer.  Continue gluing layers until you achieve the desired firmness.  This project was created with 3 layers of brown paper bags the weight of grocery sacks. 

After the final layer is dry, remove the tape securing the plastic wrap and gently lift along the outside edges of the mold to release suction and allow air into the crevice.  Carefully work the paper bowl from the mold.  Cover the inside and outside of the paper bag bowl with gesso and then paint with your choice of acrylic paint.  The project bowl was painted inside with Glaze Vernis in linen white and outside with Golden fluid acrylics in yellow ochre; after these dried, metallic acrylic paint (Glaze Vernis Olde World Bronze) was lightly brushed on using a dry brush.

After you finish painting and the paint is completely dry, ink an Art Phrase stamp (Art is like a border of flowers along the course of civilization) from Innovative Stamp Creations with black StazOn ink.  Stamp along the edge of the bowl.  This 3-line unmounted stamp was cut into single lines to create the border.

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