This is a site about paper mache.  Welcome!

My name is Dan (the monster-man) Reeder.  I am a paper mache artist living in Olympia (recently moved from Seattle), Washingmachine.

Yes, yes, yes.  I have always been remiss so far as keeping this website up to date.   Sometimes I just can’t keep up with this site, my blog, my Youtube channel, Facebook etc.    I’d rather do the art than post about it.   And I’m getting old.    In fact, like with my teaching career, I’ve kind of retired from doing anything I don’t want to do.   🙂         I still make art, just for myself, not to feed social media.    Truth is, I’m a better person when I’m making art.

Here is a photo taken in 2017.    I look a lot older now.     But  I’m not going to post a newer photo because I no longer take photos of myself.   From left to right… my dragon, Massie, me, and Abby.   Note that  If you want to see a time lapse video of the dragon in this photo being made, just click on the photo.  This is true of almost all of the photos on this page.

I know that most of you have had some experience with this medium.   When people ask me what I do for a living, and I tell them that I’m a paper mache artist, they get a certain look on their faces.   I can almost see them drifting back in time.  In their mind’s eye they see a piggybank made with toilet-paper-tube legs that they made in elementary school.     Because I know what these people are thinking, I always carry with me a photo or two of my projects.   I want them to know that this art form is under-rated, and under appreciated.    It can be one of the most versitile and useful methods of expressing creativity of all the arts.

The last few years finds me making mostly dragons.    Don’t ask me why.   I don’t know why.    As mentioned earlier, my wife and I recently moved.   Below is my latest dragon.   I had a dragon in our apple tree in Seattle that has lasted decades.    I wanted something here for our front porch.    I call it “Think & Blinkin.”     I bought the blinking eyes from Dimitri .

Actually, I should have said earlier that I’m stuck on making dragon-like projects.    Last year I was obsessed with creating projects that were dragons/something hybrids.    I made three like this.   You see them in order below.

First, because “dragon” rhymes with “wagon,”  I decided to make a “dragon-wagon.”  It was even better that the wagon was a “Radio Flyer.”    Actually, I titled it “Teddy’s Little Red Dwagon.”       That’s Teddy in the wagon and little Maisie on the left.      PS.  Some of you may notice that the music for this video is the same as I used for the “Dragon Fruit” video.  I actually sought music I liked, bought it, put it on the video, and then realized that I’d already purchased the music a while back and already used it.   That’s embarrassing.   Another sign of age I think.    Also, on a sadder note, Maisie is no longer with us.   She was taken by cancer.   She was my kitty.  Sweet and adorable.  RIP Maisie.

Next, it was the challenge of making a clown/dragon hybrid.    I think it turned out well.   I should mention that some people thought I was making a political statement with this project, I guess because he has stars and stripes on his clothes.  No.  No political meaning.   Just art.    A clown/dragon.  That’s all.  Note that the video I made for this project is not my usual time-lapse.    It was a crazy project.    It needed a crazy video.    So I made a flip book version of this project.   Of course that made some fans of my time-lapse style upset.   So I did make a short Tik Tok version of the project that is a time-lapse version.    You can find it lower on the page.

Next is a project suggested by my dear friend Micheal.   He mentioned the dragonfruit plant and it seemed like another interesting challenge to create a dragon-like, dragon-fruit plant.     I’m fairly pleased with how it turned out, although it could have been more on the dragon side than the plant side.   I titled the piece, “Year of the Dragon Fruit-like Dragon.”

This is my version of a Chinese dragon.  Appropriate for this year I think.    Photos never do these projects justice.  If you want to see the time-lapse video of this project being made, click on the photo.

Here are other projects.    Once again, click on any of the photos to watch time-lapse videos.

Here is one of my favorite pieces, my Red Dragon.   I worked very hard on this piece.    Speaking of which, I have lost track of it.   It was commissioned for a restaurant which went bankrupt before I was ever paid.   I suspect it was sold as part of the bankruptcy.    If you happen to bump into it I would love to know where it is.    An email (dan@gourmetpapermache.com) with any information would be greatly appreciated.   Again, click on the photo to see the time-lapse video of the making of this.

Here is a rendition of Smaug from the Hobbit.  It was a commission made for a someone’s grandkids.   I never heard back from the grandmother.   I hope the kids liked the project.

And below is my rendition of Drogon (as a young adult) from Game of Thrones.

Speaking of Game of Thrones.   In anticipation of the final season I decided to make a rendition of dead Viserion.   It’s not like the version shown in the series.   (Of course not, their digital version is unbelievable!)  But here is mine.  You can see this made step by step on my blog (PaperMacheBlog.com).   As always if you want to see the time-lapse video of this, just click on the photo.

Here is my commission, the five-headed Tiamat Dragon from Dungeons and Dragons.  Here it is before paint.

And here it is after painting.   Yes, click on the photo to see the video.

This project was commissioned for The Chromatic Dragon restaurant in Savannah, Georgia.  It disappeared after the restaurant went out of business.

I’ve made a few more trophies.   Look below.

And my latest dragon, a rendition of Alduin from the Skyrim game.   (Well, it started as Alduin but ended up more like a cousin.  Alduin is supposed to be just black and grey.  Oh well.)

If you want to see the time-lapse video of this being made, click on the photos.

If you’d like to see a time-lapse video of three more trophies click on the photo below.

This isn’t your third grade paper mache.

Did you know that the paper mache piggy is still a staple in many elementary school classrooms?  That or some other variation of the exercise involving a balloon, insuring that every kid ends up with an uninspired project that looks exactly like everyone else’s uninspired project in the class.   This has to stop!   I’ve spent 40+ years trying to change the face of paper mache.   It is a wonderful medium for self expression.  It deserves more attention.  I’m proud to say that I’ve helped bring about a small renaissance of sorts with my books and videos.

Go to the “About Me” page if you are interested in how I got started.    But if you want to know more about paper mache recipes or instructions, I have how-to books.   More about them on the “My Books” page.

Or you can visit my Gourmet Paper Mache Blog.    I show many projects made step-by-step with commentary.  And you can see what I’m working on at the moment.   You can also leave a comment or two.

If you want to see more of my work, go to the  “My Paper Mache” page.

Your Paper Mache.

But much of my site is devoted to the art of other people.   Ever since my first book came out in 1984, people have been sending me photos of the projects they have made.   This has been the one of the most satisfying parts of doing this work.   Note that not everyone who sends me a photo uses my specific methods.  “Paper Mache” encompasses a broad range of styles and techniques.  But many do.  But what is common to all of these photos is that they reflect the supreme joy and satisfaction that comes along with creating art.    It is thrilling to seemingly pull something amazing out of thin air.     If you need convincing, just look at this photo of  Kiran with his monster.  Q.E.D.

Finally, I want to mention that over the years I’ve had many requests to purchase my art.   And I have sold some.   But even when I did sell pieces invariably the price was more than people would like to pay.   I wouldn’t pay that much if I had to buy them!  It is VERY labor intensive to make these projects and my  prices reflected that.    So I would always encourage those people to make their own art, to make a dragon for themselves.   I show how to make them on my blog, https://www. PaperMacheBlog.com , and I have a how-to book for sale on this website and on Amazon.   The ones who followed that advice ALWAYS made projects that they loved much more than ones they could have purchased from me.    Over the years these people have sent me photos of the art they have made.   They are wonderful.  Many are indeed much better than mine by any standard.     Don’t believe me?  Take a look around the Your Paper Mache  pages.   The best part of this website are the pages of art sent to me by you.

Paper Mache Baby

Oh yes…. because I get asked the same questions over and over and over I decided to add a paper mache “FAQ” page.   Thank you for stopping by!