Uniporn

Yup, that's my mask. I sold it to a nice gentleman from Lightborne Studios ( http://www.light-borne.com/) in Cincinnati back in May. I have to say, this video came as a bit of a surprise. I've been puzzling over the path my artistic offspring has chosen, and wondering if my parenting skills were too strict, or too lax, or *something*. I mean, we've gone from this:

To this:

Where did I go wrong??

In any case, it gave me a smile!

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!

First Unicorn Mask Completed!

I've been working on this thing for a better part of a year. Part of the hangup was how to attach this somewhat oddly shaped mask to the wearer's head. I did a lot of experimentation buying and making hoods onto which to Velcro the mask, but found I needed to add straps to the base of the skull to tighten the hood for smaller-headed wearers. So I figured, if straps were needed anyway, why not just skip the hood?

So I went through a lot of gyrations just to be reminded of three basic principles of mask fit, which I was told practically first thing when I started making masks.

1) The mask must rest on the "third eye" of the wearer's head, at a point in the middle of the forehead a little bit above the eyebrows.

2) The straps must fasten at the wearer's temples.

3) The straps must tighten at the base of the wearer's skull.

The black browband I added underneath the mask allows the mask to meet all these requirements. It's also much cooler than the hood, fits more snugly, and makes the mask easier to get on and off.

So now I have a bunch of black vinyl Japanese Zentai hoods laying around I don't need anymore. Fetish clothing, to be exact. Maybe I can unload them on eBay, and let all those friendly neighborhood pervs drive up the traffic at my store.

First Horse Mask Cast!

Whoopee!!!!!!

Now to work on a way of attaching it to someone's head! I'm imagining Velcro-ing it to a snug fitting hood of sorts. Time to cozy up to my friends who can sew!!!

Horse Mask "Rival" On the Way to the Moldmaker!!!

I am so excited! The horse/unicorn mask "Rival" is on its way to the moldmaker's, Campbell Plaster and Iron in Rutland, VT! I started this mask over five years ago, I'm so happy it's finally finished. I've posted three pics of it above. Two in its final state, one with the horn and the other without. One in an earlier state (ie, with ginormous ears) showing how it will be worn. The finished production castings will have long luxurious manes and will be attached to a hood, which will fasten under the wearer's chin.