Christmas Creche

During the holiday vacation, I began work on the Christmas Nativity for the front porch. While not exactly a sculpter in the true sense of the word, I decided to try my hand at molding the figures from wire and paper-mache.

The result was a chicken-wire form stuffed with paper ....

Layered over with newspaper strips and a flour-based glue ...

I sculpted facial features from paper pulp for Mary's face, trying to create as much detail as possible (my limited skill shows here, since Mary's features seem two-dimensional when you look at her from the side.

Joseph's face still leaves a little something to be desired....

Sabrina watches me work, pretending she's dropped by for some other reason ... she's such a camera ham.

Photos of the finished pieces will be coming as soon as I add a little paint (and that base coat of smoothing white). Cross your fingers that all goes well (and they're settled on the porch before Christmas, of course!)