paper mace

When I was at uni, I studied graphic design. I took many different classes as part of that degree, most of which were core subjects, and very few of which were electives. One of my core subjects was 3D model making. I loved this subject! It was right up my alley, and I came to be known by one of my lecturers as “tricky fingers” because of what I could do with a craft knife, glue and that sort of thing.

One of our projects was to make a multiple sided shape. This REALLY appealed to me, and I went all out, and devised a really weird one. It was based on elongated square and triangular pyramids. I cut a large square out of the base of each one, inverted the point, and pushed it through that hole. Of course, we’re working with paper here, so it wasn’t quite so easy as it sounds – it had to be constructed with the point emerging through that hole. That means gluing it in situ. It was fiddly but so worth it!
I made it completely out of white paper – I was a whiteworker back even then too! I just felt that with a lack of colour, you would be able to concentrate completely on the shape and form of it, whereas coloured paper would have just distracted you from that.

I can’t remember how I did for this assignment, but given that its now nearly 20 years since (really? how can it be?!) and I still have it, and am still proud of it, I suspect that I did very well! I’ve always thought it was one of the most original things I’ve ever come up with.

About a month or two ago, I was reading Ruth O’Leary’s blog, and saw her dodecahedrons. It reminded me very much of my own mace, which I’ve been meaning to show to you ever since.