Summery summary

Often I have the urge to share something here, but time does not permit me the luxury of plugging cards and cameras into the computer, or of sorting through photos to find pretty pictures to accompany my thoughts. But a shortage of words makes a web-log go stale even faster than a shortage of pictures!

Summer is here already, and it finds us in the midst of much frantic preparation for Faire Season! Newly finished masks assemble about the studio in colorful piles, and loose bundles of elastics and ribbons and fabric trimmings scatter across most work surfaces. Fresh wearable horns hang from the ceiling waiting their turn to be sorted and packed, and the new selection of extra-affordable felt masks grows bigger with each passing day! (I'm so happy that the felt mask experiments have been a success!)

As each event races towards me, my biggest concern is always reining in as many unfinished pieces as I can, so we will be sure to have plenty of pieces in the booth that are ready to sell! The inventory did seem a little thin this time, so I have finally decided to dip into my personal mask archives and sell some of the very first masks I made. Perhaps a lucky collector will enjoy the chance to have "Curly Masquerade mask #1" upon their living room wall?

Also, I have suddenly become very conscious of how much space ten or twenty years of accumulated art can occupy! There is a lot of stuff there I should sell--and some I should probably recycle, donate or give away! If I'm sufficiently organized, I'll start putting a "Make an Offer" trunk in the booth at shows full of random arty items in search of the right home.

I'm really excited about Faire Season this Summer! Part of that reason is that we didn't do any faires or markets during the Sproggling's first year, and I have missed the chaotic but interesting life of the traveling merchant. The other part of that reason is our new set of wanderlusty-wheels! The cab of our little pick-up truck was never intended to fit a family of three, so for the sake of practicality (and for the sake of my ability to be able to feel my legs!) we'll be cleaning it up and helping find it a new home. And the replacement vehicle for our faire-related travel is a big chevy camper van! It is older than the truck but has an excellent engine, and will provide us with a comfortable place to sleep, a sink with hot and cold running water, and a stove and a fridge so we'll be able to cook our meals and enjoy hot pots of tea! It will take a couple of shows to pay it off, but it will be SO much easier for us to do more out of town shows, (especially with the Sproggling-factor to consider). And suddenly, the notion of spending a week or so of every month at the Oregon coast no longer seems crazy--there are lots of charming little art and craft markets along the coastal highway that we can sell at throughout the Summer and Fall as well.

It is funny, as ever since college I had imagined myself on the road in some kind of "house on wheels". I spent many hours visualizing (and designing) house trucks, converted school buses and gypsy caravans. True, the van is a little less romantic than those images, but probably a lot more practical for now. And if we keep doing faires and markets and need more space, there could still be reason to convert a step van or delivery truck into an amazingly versatile wheeled camper/booth/portable studio in a few years. Such lovely daydreams for making masks by!

Revisiting paper mache

Rick and I have been digging into the interwebs, looking for new information and inspiration on paper mache. What an amazing resource we have at our fingertips these days! The web was so tiny when I was doing my art degree, paper mache knowledge had to be distilled from dusty theater tomes in the library, or picked from of the brains of passing artists.

Here are some of the most interesting links we discovered, (weblogged here for my convenience, as well as for your benefit):

• The Paper Mache Resource
  Paper mache tutorials and articles, gallery of paper mache artists around the world, forum.
  

Sculpture by Sergio Bustamante, "The Farewell of the Night"

• A look at Sergio Bustamante, an absolutely breathtaking paper mache artist in Mexico.

• Interesting paper mache techniques by Wendy Harford. She has adapted ceramics techniques such as slab building and coil pots for paper mache.

• Demon Reapers by Stolloween
  Innovative Halloween prop builder's technique for making really interesting paper mache skull masks using flat cardboard cut-outs, and a lot of homemade celluclay.
  

(I'm a big fan by the way, of using flat cardboard pieces to make a three-dimensional armature for paper mache! The ears on the donkey mask I made were done this way, although I used Liqua-che instead of celluclay).

• Paper casting with sand

For a long time I have wondered if it might be possible to adapt paper-making techniques to make paper mask forms. The paper pulp used to make sheets of handmade paper is basically the same as the paper slurry or celluclay often used for paper mache sculpture. The problem is that papermaking molds are flat. The paper casting method linked to above looks like it addresses this issue. (And it also fills my head with wonderful daydreams of maskmaking on the beach!)

So why all the paper mache research? Well, for awhile Rick and I have been talking about using more paper mache for our masks. Plastic costs have gone up, and while we are able to recycle most of our scrap plastic, I really want to make more art from renewable and recycled supplies. Paper mache is an amazing material, and I look forward to making more amazing creations with it.

My dear Great Aunty

Isn't this a delightful photograph? It is my dear Great Aunty Hazel trying on one of my masks, during our New Zealand trip in 2006. Sadly, I found out a few days ago that she passed away in early April. She was 91 years old, and said that she was ready to go.

Aunty Hazel was one of my very fond memories from my New Zealand childhood! Purple was her favorite color, and all her clothes were shades of purple and lavender. Even her hair was often tinted purple! I remember helping her water her large collection of African Violets. I remember the exotic-seeming "Hoya" vine she had strung around the walls of her living room--each newly-opened flower dangled a single, delicious drop of nectar from its center, and I would circle the room, capturing each drop with outstretched finger and thirsty tongue! She had a fabulous toy and game cupboard, and I spent many, many hours playing with a box of kids magic tricks. Then in the evening, I would perform a magic show for the grown-ups! Dinner was always Campbell's tomato soup when I visited, and I still list tomato soup as one of my favorite comfort foods.

I am very grateful that I was able to visit her one last time. She had changed quite a lot from my memories, but was still wearing her signature purple. Every time I see a little old lady in a purple outfit, I always think of my dear Aunty Hazel.

Two more Spring events (free, and in Portland)

Goblin Art is doing two more shows this Spring, and both events are free to the public!

Faire in the Grove
Friday May 1st - Sunday May 3rd
McMenamins Grand Lodge,
3505 Pacific Ave, Forest Grove, OR 97116

Featuring merchants, entertainment, artisan and medieval life demonstrations, and more!

The St Johns Bizarre
May 9th (Parade Day), 10am-6pm
Located in the St Johns Plaza, adjacent to the US Bank,
7440 N Philadelphia, Portland, OR 97203

The Bizarre is "a 'Celebration of the Strange' that showcases the unique and eclectic character of North Portland". Please note that N Lombard Street will be closed from N Burr to N New York streets from noon until 2pm, for the 47th Annual St Johns Parade.

Hope to see some of you soon!

An enchanting afternoon, and an experimental evening

I need to start setting Fridays aside for studio experimentation, to have one day a week where I can try out new ideas and techniques. I also need to get out of the studio more often, to visit with artist friends and look at things that other people are creating.

This past Thursday I had an absolutely lovely and inspiring afternoon with one of my dearest friends. We visited the Belfry, which is the studio of another fabulous Portland maskmaker, we stumbled across a fantastic Portland shop full of unique artistry and strange curiosities, and we enjoyed afternoon tea and sandwiches in a lovely garden where we could gaze upon Spring flowers blooming in the sunlight.

The work table last night

It was a perfect break from the many long days I have recently spent in my solitary and subterranean studio! But such a bounty of inspiration and creative stimulation must have been a slight shock to my system, for I could hardly sleep a wink during the night that followed! So many ideas and images demanded my mental attentions that I would have been much better served spending those dark hours creating rather than trying to locate the door to slumberland.

Feathered Bird Skull pin, close-up.
Can be worn upon the chapeau, the lapel, or to decorate one's headscarf or up-do...

But I had a chance to play in the studio yesterday evening, and it was a lovely and productive time. There are still a lot of refinements to be made, but I think the projects are worth pursuing. Above is a photo of a feathered pin I made, and I look forward to making (and wearing) more. I have quite a collection of feathers leftover from maskmaking, as well as many lovely beads, trinkets, buttons, lace and ribbon scraps. I had meant for some time to start turning them into pins or hat decor, but I needed inspiration to strike. And strike it did! The little shop we visited yesterday was quite riddled with exotic delicacies of thread, bead and feather. So my only fear is that there are already too many people making similar things! But I don't think any of those people are making masks, and I think these pins among other things, could be lovely accents for a simple domino. And of course I have my own aesthetic twist.

Felt mask 1
A (rather odd) experiment with felt and Sculpt or Coat

The other project addresses my ongoing hope to find a good way to make fast, comfortable, distinctive, affordable masks. I do have some simple masks in the $30-$40 price range, but I really should be charging more for them based on how long they take to create. Another good maskmaker friend of mine has been telling me for years that leather masks are the answer. And she is very probably right! But I still have this hope that I can find another way to do it--firstly, there are a lot of leather maskmakers out there, and secondly, I'm hoping to find a slightly more affordable material than leather. So I'm experimenting with felt right now, stiffened with a material called Sculpt or Coat and folded in a rather similar manner to leather masks.

Felt mask 2
(In process)

We shall have to see how this new process goes, but I have reasonable hopes for it. There do appear to be some costumers and ttheater companies who have been using felt + Sculpt or Coat for prop and costume building for some time. So I shall certainly let you all know how it works out for me and for the masks!

Until then, stay inspired, but sleep well.

St Johns Bizarre

Rick and I at the Bizarre in 2007

I just noticed that the local mini-newspaper The Portland Sentinel is using our photo to promote this year's St John's Bizarre!. May 9th 2009 is "Parade Day", a big day for many folks at this end of town. The 47th Annual St. Johns Parade will be rolling along N Lombard St, and the "Bizarre" will be in the St Johns plaza with performers and art vendors and food booths. As described by the Sentinel: "The Bizarre is a 'Celebration of the Strange' that showcases the unique and eclectic character of North Portland."

We'll come up with some kind of amusing plan for the day, although I don't know if we'll have a booth there this year. What I really want to do is create something fabulous for the parade (think giant puppets, or a bike-towed mini-float), but time is already slipping though our fingers and there are so many other projects awaiting my attention... We'll see what happens!

Spring update

Preview of feature in FAE magazine

It has been a busy month in the studio, between assorted special orders, preparations for some local craft shows, and assembling photos and interview answers for a forthcoming Goblin Art feature in Faeries and Enchantment (FAE) Magazine!

Earlier this week I met with my wonderful and talented friend Theresa Pridemore for a couple of photoshoots. A glimpse of the outcome is shown above--that is me wearing the iridescent green mask I made last year. That photo and others will be in the FAE magazine article, along with a "How To" article for paper mache wearable horns.

For people in Portland, here are the two events this weekend where my masks and horns will be available:

Pagan Faire 2009
http://www.paganfaire.net
March 28th, 10am - 5pm
World Forestry Center, Portland OR

The 7th Annual Vampires Masquerade Ball
http://www.vampireballpdx.com
March 28th, 9pm - March 29th, 2am
Melody Ballroom, Portland, OR
(Look for the Goblin Art booth in the vendor hall).

I will be running the Pagan Faire booth during the day, and then I will trade off with Rick so he can run the booth at the Vampire Masquerade that evening.

Then the following weekend I will be vending here:

2009 Spring Fairy Festival
http://www.springfairyfestival.com
April 4th, Noon - 8pm
Freighthouse Square, 25th St., Tacoma, WA

If you are not in the Pacific Northwest but are thinking about special ordering a mask for Spring and Summer events, please hurry--my Spring production schedule is almost full! I do still have plenty of openings for late Summer mask orders, (after Faerieworlds).

I hope you are all having a lovely Spring!