MuseMart shop and studio is currently and has been located for the past five years in a hundred plus year old and family-owned building in downtown Dallas, Texas on historical Main St. Our store housed the old Western Union Downtown in its hay-day, and the upper floors housed many private endeavors including what seems to be a Gentleman's Poolhall and speakeasy, all with a secret entrance, hallway, and rooms.
The 1922 building is built like a battleship and its old time moldings and fixtures are all still in place. Being in one of the last old shopfront buildings really adds to the charm of running a business in a modern city like Dallas.

Did you know almost everything in the MuseMart store is handmade or recycled? One of our mottos here is to use what we have or just make it out of anything or almost nothing, using skillful means and learning new skills. So much reuseable materal is tossed away to the rubbish pile and with a little thinking you can put together a lot. You can even fill an empty house, open a store or sell on the internet... Learning artistic skills and applying them to recycling can lead to a whole different life, where it seems the sky is the limit. There is a real scence of accomplishment when you turn things around from the trash, make a pile of discarded wood into unusual funiture, or find oil paints that no one has used and bring them to life! Making usable or artistic objects for the home, to wear, or for the shop and gallery is filled with learning and discovery; it can keep you intrigued, growing and happy for a lifetime!
Speaking about the internet, you can find out the "how to do" on almost anything artistic. The world wide web is there twenty-four seven for ideas and is a source for reference images of everything from nature to science and space. This is a great time to be creative!

One of my favorite discoveries has been an art sculpting medium that I call AMAZING PAPER-STONE SCULPTING CLAY. I learned how to make this stuff when I was a kid and I've been using it ever since. My basic recipe came out of one of those super art & craft books from the seventies, long since lost, so I don't know the title, but most of the information was how to make and use this paper clay. This concept was not new then and is not now, but how you use it will be! A similar form of paper maché has been used in many countries for decades. Using todays materials and new concepts with it can only make the outcome better! Paper is the main ingredient in this clay and in the world in which we live there is a seemingly never ending amount of that to recycle! The type of paper you use will affect the clay slightly, making it rougher or smoother, depending on the paper fiber.
The paper is shredded by hand or with any mechanical paper shredder, then soaked in water and agitated or blended until the paper falls apart and is reduced to its pulp form. With a lot of blending this process can speed up to take just one day of prep. Using regular course paper like newspaper or magazines, torn or shredded, soaking in a bucket can take up to a week, especially in cold weather. I most always shread up a bucket of paper and let it sit covered in water, and every so often take a large flat-edged shovel and churn away at it for a while, breaking up the paper and mixing on and off until it's all like a porridge or oatmeal type of consistancy. Then this is strained in a large piece of screen until it makes a ball in the center and then collected into a mixing bowl or bucket. Sometimes this should be rinsed or a small amount of bleach can be added to sanitize the mix and whiten it, especially for magazines and newsprint, then a sprinkle of baking soda before it is used. Some pine oil, peppermint, wintergreen or other essential oil can be added to keep the mix smelling fresh. This clay is now mixed with regular inexpensive flour, linseed oil, wood glue and last of all Plaster of Paris. Plaster of Paris mixed with these other elements sets up a great hardness and between the wood glue bonding and hardening and the linseed oil setting up the drying time and adding to the overall finish and making this mix more preserved and waterproof, these ingredients together make a clay that ends up hard as a rock.

A basic recipe to make approximately 2 quarts in a mixing bowl is:

Add the prepared and strained paper pulp to the bowl and then add 1/8 cup linseed oil and 1/8 cup wood glue and mix well. Add 1/2 to 1 cup regular flour and stir this in. Then add 1 cup Plaster of Paris and mix till the consistancy is even. With this recipe you will have about 2 hours before the clay starts to harden and the plaster starts to set.
If there is clay left you can mix this up and add a little more water and spoonfuls of flour to bring it back from setting. This clay can be worked over any kind of armature, it seems to stick to almost anything in the firt stage of the mix. The paper stone clay can be layered over time to make large or stronger objects.
The end result is much harder than wood but not really brittle; it is very shock resistant. There is a special gesso mix that is applied to this when it is dry. These coats of gesso further close up the pores and seal the object. Each coat adds to the hardness and durability. Fine detail must be coated with gesso lightly or an alternative gesso mix can be made with less plaster and flour. You can also sculpt a very fine clay over a more rough shape for intricate detail.