What I'm currently up to...

I'm the Director of the Faery Cast of my local Renaissance Festival here in Casper, WY: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Middle-Platte-Renaissance-Faire-2013-by-Stage-III-Community-Theatre/110650838955383 So right now I'm working with my Faery cast on makeup, costumes, wings, etc. and I've put together a few boards on Pinterest to show the direction I want to go in with my Faerys as well as, to give them some inspiration: http://pinterest.com/elvensphinx/

Skulls..

I'm trying to break away from themes I've done again and again...bird masks, mainly. I've never before done a skull mask and while I do realize that it's done often by other mask artists, I feel like there are certain motifs and themes out there that are almost an obligation or requirement for a mask-artist to work on at some point in their 'career'...skulls being one of them. So, this is my current WIP Skull-mask base-sculpt: and... It's been put on the back-burner for a little while as I have various ideas in mind that seem to be jostling for the front of the line. Some reference images: * * * * * *

Steampunk meets Art-Nouveau meets Faery

I've had this idea in my mind for a while now of a steampunk/art-nouveau/fairy mask..and I've been slowly buying up the decorations for it and refining the image of it in my mind. I don't want to overload it with details, but at the same time...that's a big part of my masks -the details. I'm not going to give it ALL away here, but I want to share what I've got in mind so far... -still debating over the color...I'm pretty partial to purples anyway; I had originally thought maybe a rusty brown or sepia toned off-white, but I feel like so many of the details would get lost against either of those colors either by blending in or being swallowed altogether. Purple seems to be the right balance right now for everything involved. And it's not a bright or particularly vivid purple, either. Here I finally found some copper wire that just might work for the wing frame and membrane: -and those are iridescent green/blue beetle wings which will also go on the mask.. -This is combo of some of the Steampunk gear and clock elements I plan to use, as well as various bronze jewelry bits that will play in with the art-nouveau theme. -Also, I plan on adding color accents to the various art-nouveau pieces using these metal Patina paints. I've never used them before, but I think they'll add some excellent color accents here and there. ~*~ ~*~ -I plan to cut this in half and use it as the accent on the forehead...debating over the keep the pearl in the center or not... *Ironically, the design I drew on the forehead was something I'd come up with before I ever came across this jewelry piece. It's not an 'exact' match to my design, but it comes pretty close. And all this just for one mask: I've got the silk floral accents in my craft room along with the metal mesh I want to use for the wings themselves. And, as I want this one to actually turn out smooth and last a long time while keeping it's shape, I'm wanting to give this new clay a try: -I understand that this is primarily used for doll making, but I'm hoping it'll work just as well for a mask. Thoughts?

June 2013 Peacock Mask -Finished

And here I've got some pics. of my latest Peacock mask before I have to mail it off to a lovely woman named Jasmin in Switzerland this coming weekend: ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ I'm pretty happy with how well this one turned out. Unfortunately, the paint job photographed lighter than it really is in person, but otherwise...really good.:)

June 2013 Commissioned Peacock Mask

I try not to take on commissions too often as I find, unfortunately, I suck at keeping to a schedule. Doesn't seem to matter what kind of time I have to work on this project, I procrastinate and procrastinate like crazy and then crunch-time at the very last. Not good. I prefer, instead, to make my masks as I will and then sell them -all on my own schedule. With that said...I took on a commission for this Peacock mask...I want to say this is the 3rd or 4th Peacock I've ever done. Each one is always a little different from the one before as they are all hand-made and I keep growing as an artist and discovering new materials and techniques. Some WIP for ya:

Craft Porcelain air-dry clay by Amaco Review

I first started using this air-dry clay back in 2005, I believe, and this stuff was like gold to me. I finally was making so gorgeous masks and it was easy to use and durable once dry. It dried so smoothly with very little shrinking and looked very much like plastic. Took acrylic paint beautifully. Well, over the years I've noticed the company switching to different materials...the smell of the clay has changed, the overall texture, the finish as it dries and once dried, etc. The quality has suffered and the price has been slowly climbing. For a 8.75oz. tub I pay anywhere from $8 to nearly $10 retail, which tends to last me one mask -depending on how much detail and the size of the mask, of course. I wouldn't mind the price if the quality wasn't slowly plummeting. Now, I don't get a smooth finish as it dries and it doesn't adhere to itself the same way it use to. Here you can see how rough it looks once dried...the 2nd mask, to the right, didn't dry well at all..some of the edges are turned up rather than drying flat to the base beneath it. And the edges aren't the least bit smooth where I tried to blend the clay together: Further, and unfortunately, this has be a draw-back of this clay since I first started using it, but as I keep so few of my own masks...it's not something I'd be able to notice. -I have a Fairy mask I made back in 2008 that I have held onto and I've noticed that despite the fact that I made it about 5yrs ago now...the mask still wants to shrink inward at the edges. Unfortunately, even years later, this clay doesn't hold it's shape. Not a big deal if you are making some like a doll, perhaps...but when it's something you'll be wearing, it's a huge deal. It's still a decent product, but it's no longer worth the cost or the hassle for me, unfortunately. I think I've bought my last tub of this product. I have seen some recipes online for making your own air-dry clay: http://thejunkwave.com/2011/07/18/how-to-make-your-own-air-dried-porcelain-with-common-household-ingredients/ http://www.craftstylish.com/item/2802/how-to-make-cold-porcelain/page/all I will be trying one or two of these out myself before too much longer in the hopes that maybe these will work better than the store-bought air-dry clay. -and at that point, I will post back with my results.

"Sculpt it!" air-dry clay review

I haven't been posting for a while due to kind of losing my motivation when it comes to my art, sadly. I've been having problems with the clay I make my masks out of and not having a ton of luck in finding a good replacement: A while back I bought a tub of Sargeant Art's "Sculpt it!" air-dry clay...had way more product for my buck than what I usually buy and I thought I'd found my magic answer...NOPE! I looked up reviews on how it's used to be sure that I would be using it correctly and for all intents and purposes, looked to be the same as what I'd already been using: Craft Porcelain air-dry clay. Well, here's what happened: -Here it isn't even all the way dry and has already started to shrink so horribly while drying that it's cracking and separating...and as it's drying, it looks incredibly brittle. And once fully dry, did indeed prove to be very brittle and easily snapped in half. I returned this crap immediately. -Apparently some people can get it to work for what they do, but a lot of us can't. I really wouldn't suggest this product for anything.