# A Turtle Shell 27SEP2021 A couple weeks ago now I was approached by someone who explained to me that they had a friend that recently was made to wear a back brace by her doctor and that she wanted to spruce it up by having it made to look like a turtle's shell.  After giving me her contact info I got ahold of Peg, a lovely individual who was more than ready to put her trust in me and simply told me that she trusted my artistic ability and was willing to pay whatever is was worth. Now when taking a commission you want as much information from your client as possible because this is a collaboration. So I set she invited me to her home to talk about what she wanted, but regrettably I initially could not give what she wanted. She wanted me to paint it but I could tell that the fabric wouldn't take paint well and that it might ruin it. My next idea was to make it as a separate piece and to attach it in a non-permanent way, as to not damage the vest. She trusted my vision, so I stared the project that next week as I was visiting my in-laws that weekend. This was my first official project in my new studio space, so you could imagine my excitement as I was working. I stopped by my local hardware store and got some chicken wire as a base, the biggest bottle of Elmer's glue I could find, and collected every old newspaper in my apartment. Using the measurements from my visit to Peg's, I quickly cut out a piece of the chicken wire and shaped it into as close to a turtle shell as I could. Then the long and tedious process of papier-mâché. With a bucket of watered down Elmer's and several strips of newspaper, I wetted each piece one by one and layed down the first of several layers, letting each dry over night. ![[Pasted image 20240523003306.png]] While I didn't get any of the footage of that (forgive me I'm still new to the documentation process) I did get this video at the end of that stage. With that out of the way, the process of painting began. First a base coat of greens and brown spray paints to give a base and off I went with a pair of paint markers to put in the detail. ![[turtleshell.mp4]] And here it is: The finished project. I had to borrow her vest for the night to get the velcro straps glued in the correct places and I delivered it to here that morning. ![[Pasted image 20240523004806.png]] ![[Pasted image 20240523004813.png]] ![[Pasted image 20240523004819.png]] ![[Pasted image 20240523004824.png]] ![[Pasted image 20240523004830.png]] ![[Pasted image 20240523004835.png]] ![[Pasted image 20240523004842.png]] ![[Pasted image 20240523004847.png]] I am very proud of the outcome and Peg has informed me that she loves it and it has become something of a conversation piece for her. I just wanna put it out there that if you want me to make you a thing hit me up on my instagram, the link is on my "about me" page.