New Cat Mask

Finally, a new cat mask in my Etsy store! I am extremely pleased with this mask. I used Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue, a kind of waterproof wood glue, for the first time when I cast this mask. I had bought cases of Weldbond Outdoor Wood Glue which much to my displeasure went bad in storage, so I had to run out to the hardware store to try whatever outdoor wood glue they might have on hand- and it might have turned out to be a very fortunate thing! The Titebond is very, very thin and watery, which might seem like a disadvantage but... it was not necessary to mix it with any water to cast with it, so I got next to no warping. The three pieces of the mask dried fairly true to shape, all the seams went together well, and there was much less refinishing work than usual- hurrah!

So I believe my store is relatively well stocked for Halloween. Now I just need to decide what I'm going to be when I go out trick or treating!

Sans Souci Studios in Japan!

I was thrilled to recieve these pictures of my masks from a customer at the Design Festa in Tokyo this past May!









It was a particular thrill for me to have masks in Japan, as I am learning to speak Japanese (as of today, on Unit 20 of Pimsleur Japanese II!) and a huge anime fan (just finished Death Note, great show!) According to my customer, the Design Festa is held twice a year and is one of the largest arts and crafts shows in Asia. To learn more about it, check out this website: http://www.designfesta.com/index_en.html

What I Did Over Summer Vacation

My focus this summer, whenever I could get into my studio, was to try build the stock back up in my Etsy store and replace the five masks I sold recently: one for use in the dance festival in HI(see previous post); one for use in a music video in NY, and three for use in a culture festival in Tokyo. Here are my efforts so far.



This cat mask will be my last mask made of Celluclay. I had to try Celluclay just one more time, and I found that not only are Celluclay masks heavier- this mask weighs in at two pounds, over four times as heavy as the same mask made of paper strips and glue- but they don't really take all that much less time to make. Because it's so heavy I offered it for sale at a significant discount in my Etsy store. Maybe I should have offered it at less of a discount, as it's on its way to a new home already.



I love this unicorn mask. I confess when I first got this white Kanekalon hair I thought it was so ugly I stuck it in a cabinet and left it there for years, but I love the way it looks here, that stark flossy white contrasting with the pearly white of the head. I'm tempted to keep this mask.



And here we have Sneer, my grinning wolf mask, with a cool punked out new 'do. The long mixed black and red hair is commerical hair used for extensions; the short black hair represents my efforts to make peace with my new sewing machine and learn to weft hair myself. For those of you who are dying to learn to weft your own hair (or just figure out what the heck that means) check out this very informative article: http://www.nonidolls.com/weft.html

To tell the truth, it was amazing I got anything at all done this summer, considering this was going on outside my studio window through much of it:





It was almost impossible to concentrate with the backhoe working mere feet away and the entire house shaking. But,contractors who previously wouldn't even return our calls were lining up to give us quotes and schedule dates to start work on our long neglected front stairs and retaining walls, so we finally got that work done. I guess the McMansion market has dried up a little.

Before pic:



During pics:





After pic:



I am very happy with how the work came out.

It was also amazing I got any work done given the number of wonderful, refreshing trips we got to make this summer, not that I'm complaining! We went to the Sterling Renaissance Festival in NY:



And to the Cape:



Doesn't my hair look positively carnivorous in this pic??

And also on a camping trip in Groton State Forest here in VT.



So now that I'm all relaxed and refreshed and have a newly renovated house to work in, it's time to get back in my studio! Next on the to-to list is another cat mask to replace that one that just sold. Until next time!

Vote for Me in the Etsy Mardi Gras Poll!!!

I just got an email from Etsy this morning saying that one of my masks has been included in their "Carnivalesque How Do You Party?" poll. Please register or log in to Etsy and vote for the "Calico Cat Mask" (pictured above) by Sans Souci Studios! Voting ends 10:00 AM February 23, and winners will be featured in the Etsy blog and gift guides. If I had to look into my crystal ball and guess, I'd bet the rainbow colored beaded brassiere is going to be the winner, but I can always hope otherwise!

Vote here! Thanks!

Ear Hair

OK.... just for the record......I am so incredibly sick of.....EAR HAIR.





Maybe I should back up a little here. I have decided to try to sculpt and cast some mini-masks. I had been resistant to the idea when I was simply thinking of it as a way to add lower priced pieces to my body of work. Now it has much more appeal since I've been thinking of it as a way to try out ideas on which I may not have wanted to spend the hours and hours necessary to create a larger piece. So I started with these cat character sketches I've had knocking around ever since before I sculpted the large cat mask, "Sophia".

Above is "Nemo" in a early, rough form. The idea was for a stocky, staid British Shorthair sort of cat, one that looks a little like my brother's cat Nemo. When I first thought of this piece five years ago my brother's cat was a thoroughly middle aged sort, but now I'm afraid he's rather elderly! So this sketch began to take on a more grizzled, grandfatherly look, with the mustache, bushy eyebrows, and..... EAR HAIR.

So... I have been doing nothing but sculpting and resculpting ear hair for the past two weeks! It just refuses to cooperate! It's probably not too clear in the pics above, but they illustrate no less than FOUR different takes on ear hair. I've been driving my cats crazy following them around and looking in their ears!!

HELP I THINK I'M LOSING IT!!!!!

New Calico Cat Mask to eBay

Here's a link to the listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350018894234 Check it out!

Cat Masks

Here are pics of three finished "Sophia" cat masks, named partly for "Wisdom" and partly for my mother's much loved mini-van sized feline, aka Sof the Loaf.

I had way too much fun painting these. Again I got to use some Golden Acrylic iridescent and interference paint, particularly on the main part of the white cat and in the eyes of the black and white cats. I'm in love with that pearly white color!