I can give them away!

Just used this mug as a prize in a "Do you remember when..." contest at church. Rev. Michael Carter won by identifying a party that was held just a few years ago. I'll have to come up with some older photos for the next contest!

It's still time for wearing masks in public, though many restaurants and stores have opened. Many people refuse to wear masks however, and there's not much that can be done about it. This week we've had a fallout of dust all over the southeastern US, blown from the Sahara Desert...another reason to wear masks.

I hope you and your loved ones are well.

Masks and flowers

There be dragons...

The Dragon Mask, January 2013

Dragon Mask, side view, Jan 2013

I still am planning to apply something like spikes in the various holes around the mask...some variation of toothpicks probably!

1. Dragon Jar, March 2013

2. Dragon Jar and lid, March 2013

3. back of Dragon Jar, March 2013

I'm really tired of working with this grey background and the camera deciding to give it pink tints sometimes, green tints sometimes, and every once in a while behaving and making it look plain old grey.  I set the camera so it wouldn't do "automatic" and it still does it (on the light setting...where it can be daylight, incandescent, fluorescent, etc.)

So I've spent the last 3 hours taking about 70 pictures, keeping 30, and there's no consistency of the background color!  ARGH, as the pirates say!

So I'll ask other potters and maybe someone will have a suggestion about camera settings.  (Incidentally I use a Nikon Coolpix L810)  I was going to ask through Mud Colony but it's closed till Thurs.  If I haven't heard anything by then, I'll submit this post.

Dragon's end

Into the kiln she went

I'm glad I got these shots of how she was placed, because I think that contributed to the crack, at a thinner spot in the construction which was very close to the heat.  Just my thought at this time, anyway.  I reinforced the entire base of the mask where it meets the wall, but that part of the jaw was a bit heavier on the other side than on this one.

And here she is in all her glory, imperfect as it is.

You can see the crack running almost through the whole jaw, from the right side of the mouth to the base of the mask.  There's a thin piece of glaze still holding it together, but it goes through to the inside all the way through the wall.

Sharing this week with Mud Colony here http://mudcolony.blogspot.com/


 

Mama Dragon

Been thinking about Mardi gras? (If you're in New Orleans or maybe Rio, or ???)

How about Gasparilla? (If you're in Tampa)

The Mardi gras folks love masks, among other parts of costumes.  Garparilla folks not so much...mainly just costumes, beads, and pirates galore.

Well, for the last month I've been working on a mask, off and on.  More off than on.

This is how it looked last week.

It shouildn't have been that hard.  It was just hard to get myself to pick up a tool and work for a little while.  To even get into one studio or the other.  Really hard.  I won't bore you with details, but you might check the other blog (When I was 69) and see what I wrote today if you want to know more personal stuff.


But I shared on FaceBook today the dragon mask that is almost finished.  And my joy at having felt like working on it today.

So I've got to give you a glimpse too, don't I?

At present stage...clean up and details still to be done.

It was nice to losely wrap her with plastic tonight, rather than spraying her so she'd stay damp.  Now time for the slow dry.  Then bisque firing.  

Not sure I'll glaze her.  Will have different effects once I do, I know.  I like the idea of the eyes having black pupils, but that's about all I've thought about.  Of course I'd love some red, black and gold colors...just not sure they will enhance the sculptural qualities.  Always a tough decision.

This is a wall hanging, which is why she has all kinds of holes around the edges, for feathers? beads? weaving branches?  leaves?  Who knows?
 
Now what were those other forms I wanted to make this winter?  Better get busy! 

This post is shared with MudColony, come over and see what other potters are doing!

Masks Ibo (Igbo), Fang, Picasso

Part of the problem with African masks is to avoid those which were created just to sell to tourists.

Then there are the cultural differences, and you can't blame Africans for hiding some of their religious rituals from invasive missionary Christians.  Many masks were worn just for the spiritual practices of tribal peoples.

Western European art was impacted by the early importation (19th Century) of African art...including Picasso using some of the style in his early cubist paintings. (see below)

I won't try to depict the ceremonial masks specifically.  I'm just interested in design here.

And actually all of these sculptures are made of wood.  My interest is translating, or using them for inspiration for clay masks.

Process of building a dragon mask

Yesterday the icy rain kept me inside most of the day, and I'd left the mask covered at the Black Mountain studio...which was closed due to the ice storm.

Today it was warm and all the ice was gone.  So I worked at the BMCA studio, then brought the mask home, to continue to work at my own schedule.

This is the inner part of the mask, showing the indentations in which the eyeballs were placed, then given support structures for the eyes.  It also shows one nostril which is open through the mask, as well as the mouth.

Here are the eyes (not open through the mask) and the nostrils which are open through the mask.  I've sketched in some detail areas, and done some of the middle process carving.  The mouth will have a tongue added, and there are various parts of her anatomy which haven't been completed yet. At this point she's beyond leather hard, but I want to keep the option of adding some pieces, like that tongue, so will mist her when I put her under the plastic tonight.

I studied some African masks in Art School at the U of Florida in the 80s.  They influenced Picasso, so I hope they've influenced me a bit too.

Masks Korean and Japanese inspired

Masks from Asia are frequently wood.

Korean Masks

The info below is from an article by the British Museum (why they are authorities on Japanese Masks, I don't know)

Japanese masks and their uses

The Japanese interest in masks probably dates from the Jōmon period (about 10,000-300 BC).  (see my blog about Jomon pottery here). Mask-like objects made from shells with holes cut for eyes and nose, as well as crude pottery masks may have been used for religious ritual. In the later Kofun period (about 300 - mid-6th century) many haniwa (clay tomb guardians) had delicately modelled faces.  (see my blog about a Haniwa house here  and the historic houses here.)

Haniwa figure(Kofun period)

 

The arrival of Buddhism in Japan in the sixth century brought many semi-religious and secular activities using masks. These soon mingled with native Shintō rites and popular traditions. Gigaku masked dance drama probably originated in the Korean kingdom of Kudara. Early performances were wild and bawdy, showing foreign influences from countries along the Silk Route as well as Indian Hinduism and Buddhism. Unlike most Japanese masks, the Gigaku masks fitted around the whole head and face. They were made either of painted wood or kanshitsu, a combination of hemp cloth and lacquer. They often had hair attached. Gigaku died out by the Edo period (1600-1868)

Here's the remainder of the article.  It's pretty short actually.

18th Century Korean mask

I recently looked through a book on Japanese masks, with great photos of actual masks, including a dragon.  (When I next go to the Folk Art Center I'll look for the title in their crafts library.)

Oh my, I thought.  We do dragons differently now, and so do the Chinese in their various replicas everywhere from puppetry for parades (with several people walking under them) to images on place mats, not to mention on pottery.

So that led me to begin to build a clay mask of a dragon.  Yep, it's about halfway fabricated, first building up the form, now carving details.  It is not for wearing in the theater but for hanging on the wall.