SPA Member's Show 2009

Once again it's time for the Studio Place Arts' annual Member Show, and once again my masks will be there for your viewing pleasure. The show is from November 17 through December 31, and the reception is on Saturday, November 21, from 4 to 6 PM.

Studio Place Arts (or SPA, as it's known to its friends) — is a community center for the visual arts that has operated in Central Vermont for more than eight years. Located in a building that was once considered a "blight spot" in downtown Barre and nearly torn down, SPA now houses numerous artists' studios, holds eclectic art exhibitions and offers a wide range of arts and crafts classes to the community. For more information about SPA, please visit http://www.studioplacearts.com./

On a side note, I scared my poor cat Teaze half to death getting ready for the show. She came tearing in from outside, already terrified of the vactor cleaning the storm sewers outside, and encountered the wolf mask on the floor in the foyer, on its way out the door to the show. She screeched to a dead halt, froze in place with all her hair standing on end, and then turned and went shooting upstairs. She was anxious about coming in the door for the rest of the day. While I feel bad for her, I think it was quite an endorsement for my mask!

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!

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!

Sans Souci Studios Open During the Vermont Crafts Council Open Studio Weekend

I will again be participating in the Vermont Crafts Council Open Studio Weekend on May 23 and 24, 2009, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. All are welcome to visit. Come learn about maskmaking methods and see finished masks available for sale!

The Vermont Crafts Council Open Studio Weekend was named one of Vermont's Top Ten Summer Events in a competition held by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce in 1997. Over 285 artists and craftspeople in all imaginable media from across the state participate. The Vermont Crafts Council publishes The Vermont Studio Tour Guide, a free map booklet with directions to over 260 participating sites, which is available at Vermont Information Centers, from individual studios and galleries, and by request. Additional information about Open Studio Weekend can be found online at www.vermontcrafts.com or by calling the Vermont Crafts Council at 802-223-3380.

Hope to see you there!

Sans Souci Studios At Studio Place Arts

It's beginning to feel (a little bit, anyway) like Christmas, which means it's time for the annual Celebrate Studio Place Arts Member Show! The show will run from November 18 through December 31, with the opening reception on Saturday, November 22, from 4PM to 6PM. Several of my masks will be included.

Studio Place Arts (or SPA, as it's known to its friends) — is a community center for the visual arts that has operated in Central Vermont for more than seven years. Located in a building that was once considered a "blight spot" in downtown Barre and nearly torn down, SPA now houses numerous artists' studios, holds eclectic art exhibitions and offers a wide range of arts and crafts classes to the community. For more information about SPA, please visit www.studioplacearts.com

Hours of operation will be:

November 18 through December 6, Tuesday through Friday 10AM to 5PM; Saturday 12PM to 4PM. (Closed for Thanksgiving, November 27)

December 8 through December 23, Tuesday through Friday 10AM to 5PM; Thursday 10AM to 8PM (late hours);Saturday 10AM to 4PM;Sunday 12PM to 4PM.

December 24, Monday, 10AM to 1PM

December 26 through December 31, Friday, 12PM to 4PM, Saturday 12PM to 4PM, Monday and Tuesday 10AM to 5PM, Wednesday 10AM to 1PM.

Hope to see you there!

New Sans Souci Studios Etsy Store!

The Etsy store is to replace my eBay store, which I have shut down. The fees on eBay were killing me! My eBay sales were covering the fees and nothing more. The fees on Etsy are much, much more reasonable. Once in a while, however, I may post a mask test or second on eBay, and will mention it here when I do.

Have fun looking around the new store!

Welcome to the 2008 Sans Souci Studios Virtual Tour!

As many of you already know, Sans Souci Studios will be participating in the Vermont Crafts Council Open Studio Weekend this year on May 24 and May 25. We realize many of you will not be able to make it all the way to Vermont, so we created this blog entry and video so you could join us online!



Here we are, me, my husband Brian Wightman, and my daughter Isabelle, cheerfully waiting to greet you by the door! (No, I don't remember what was so funny. I promise it wasn't you.)



Here are the two part time studio assistants, Skimble and Teaze, looking up to greet you as you come in (or at least, to see who disturbed thier nap!)



And here is our lovely abode. Sans Souci Studios is located in our home in Barre, VT, in a room that measures about 11 1/2' long, 9 1/2' wide, and 8' high. Have a look around, let me know if you have any questions and enjoy your visit!

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!

Sans Souci Studios eBay Store Open!

Actually, it's been open for a while, as you might have been able to figure out from the colorful link on the sidebar. But I wanted to make a grand announcement on my blog, so here it is. Check it out! stores.ebay.com/Sans-Souci-Studios

Once again I owe a huge thank you to my husband, Brian Wightman. He set up templates of the sales pages and showed me how to update them, which was no small task.

I also owe a thank you to artist Susan Greaves, who helped co-author "Internet 101 for Artists" (Here's a link to it on Amazon). She also has a page of tips for selling artwork on eBay www.susanfgreaves.com/especially_for_artists.htm which is in my opinion is more helpful and concise than the book. And besides, it's free!