It started with an Alice in Wonderland costume that had Alice meeting the caterpillar. Costumer Lisa Ashton's then six-year-old son was the caterpillar with his legs in the foam mushroom. Since 1992, Ashton has been creating award-winning costumes with foam that she has cut, carved, glued, airbrush painted, and decorated.
Ashton loves working with foam. "Some of the beauty of using foam is how light it is -- you can pile it onto a headpiece, and it's still light and easily wearable," Ashton says. Foam appeals to Ashton because you can glue it onto foamcore or canvas using spray adhesive, and it gives you a wonderfully textured surface, which can be further carved and then painted. "I can paint foam to look like almost any sort of surface."
Most every costumer appreciates the ability to save money, and Ashton finds that one of the advantages of foam is how cheap it can be. Foam can be found:
Another costumer who works with foam has suggested checking the local phone book under Foam with sub-categories such as industrial and retail. Costumers Ricky and Karen Dick recommend Burman Industries in California:
Other topics that we'll be covering include:
Foams Different types have different best uses.
Tools How to shape foam with what cutting blade.
Adhesives What makes what stick best.
Book Recommendations
Carving How to get the shape that you want.
Decoration Once you've got the shape, how do you make it look good?
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