Papier Mache Creatures on Display at Tails on High

by Ron Rittenhouse

From The Dominion Post , Oct. 2, 2002

Jana Cartensen, owner of Tails on High pet store at 442 High St., holds a bat made from papier mache. Gene Fenton of Indiana, Pa., sculpted the 3-foot-wide creature and the smaller "octaturtle" -- a turtle with tentacles -- primarily from newspaper, flour and water. The sculptures will be on display in the store window through Nov. 1.

Gene Fenton

by Cynthia McCloud

From The Dominion Post , Oct. 2, 2002

He's not exactly Dr. Frankenstein, but papier mache sculptor Gene Fenton creates fantastic monsters.

A bat and an "octaturtle" -- a turtle with tentacles -- will be on display at Tails on High, 442 High St., through Nov. 1. The shop is open from 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday and from 10:30-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

Both pieces are for sale, priced at $200 each.

"There's a lot of kids usually" who buy his smaller pieces, Fenton said. "I've had girls say they're cute. I don't get it myself."

The artist from Indiana, Pa., began creating with papier mache five years ago. He said he was out of graduate school and living in New York in one small room.

"I didn't have anything else to work with," Fenton said. "It was easy and I could throw it out if I didn't like it."

Inexpensive materials helped form his decision.

"I just use water and flour, newsprint, balloons and paper towels for texture of skins," he said.

He has taught himself the craft -- often through trial and error -- because there are no classes in it.

"When I work in papier mache I treat it like clay," Fenton says in the artist statement on his Web site, www.microserve.net/~gfenton/. "The armatures for the sculpture begin with paper and tape. The 'rule' for papier mache is that only one layer at a time should be applied, but I like to use several layers of thick papier mache that make the material easier to mold with my hands. Sometimes certain parts of the piece have to be reworked either by sanding or trimming the papier mache with a knife."

Books of dinosaur models first inspired Fenton, but he can do other things.

"I've done a fox and bugs," he said.

Recently he has combined the bodies of animals and bugs, such as in the octaturtle.

"The dinosaurs with protruding horns and body armor intrigue me the most because they give me the greatest opportunity to experiment with texture and color. My influences often come from black and white films of monsters and dinosaurs. These old cinematic images are less than 'accurate,' but they are dramatic and expressive. The details are left to be filled in by my imagination, combined with the imagination of the viewer."

Next, Fenton said, he wants to do a series of sea monsters from old maps.

"I don't know if there's a big calling for papier mache," Fenton said, but he has shown his work in lots of places.

He will be a stop on Art Tour 2002. In fact, he'll be at a reception from 5-9 p.m. Nov. 8 at Tails on High.

And while he's there he will practice some of his performance art. Fenton is looking for people to pose for photographs with his creatures. Visit his Web site for an example of what he'll do with the photos.

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