Featured Artist Tuesday Winslow

Artist Tuesday Winslow handcrafts striking one-of-a-kind papier-mâché mirrors influenced by Mayan and Japanese cultures. Visit her website to see more of her work.

 

 

Because paper is made from a natural resource that is renewable, recyclable and compostable, it is one of the few truly sustainable products. Many visual artists have a heritage of sustainable practices—from dumpster diving, using found objects from the side of the road, to finds in secondhand stores and from the forest itself.

 

 

Whether such techniques are used for economic reasons or because of the artists’ godly nature to make something beautiful from what others have used and rejected, the results can be amazingly innovative.

 

 

My name is Tuesday Winslow, a Washington, DC papier-mâché artist. I am pleased to be a participant of this sustainable heritage. After my service to United States Marine Corps, I decided to become an artist.

 

 

Cash poor but creatively rich, I discovered papier-mâché and developed my own unique technique of turning trash to treasure.

 

 

I do believe my passion for using recycled paper began before I was in my mother’s womb. I began by using the cardboard sheets from my father’s dry-cleaned shirts (back when men’s dress shirts were folded and boxed.) Ironically, this cardboard, my first artistic medium, was received from a father who told me I would never make it as an artist.

 

 

My mirror designs are original but are inspired by the Mayan and Japanese cultures. I make my papier-mâché from 100% discarded paper and a water-based glue. The work is creatively decoupaged with new and recycled materials. The recycled design elements include, but are not limited to, stamps from the around the world, maps and colored paper.

 

 

The papier-mâché is also used to secure the mirror, signature label and the hanging apparatus to the decorative frame. For me, this is probably the most innovative and interesting process involved in creating my pieces.

 

 

For me, the papier-mâché becomes a 3D canvas. It is up to me to explore its potential for beauty and utilitarianism.

 

 

The most thrilling thing about being a papier-mâché artist is I’m sure I have just scratched the surface of all the possibilities. I hope there will never be a “paperless” society.

 

Artist Tuesday Winslow invites you to follow her on Instagram.

 

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