Masks

Mask with Hand - 33" x 33 "
with a 7" deep
Lucite box frame

Masks can be art or symbolic tools which teach, frighten, or entertain. Masks don't have to be humorous; however, masks are usually based on an organic concept and are meant to be used most often only to cover part of the face, although I have seen body masks used in theatre productions.

They are representational sculpture in its purest form and always tell a story. The story may not be one you understand except in context. For example, Mexican Indian mountain tribes make raw leather masks for ritual contests called Jaguar mask - uncured leather is shaped into a helmet form then painted with spots, tongue, and glaring eyes. These are worn by young men in battle for their tribe's honor. The full mask protects the head as their bodies are beaten with stiffened rawhide rope. This continues with the villagers watching until the defeated can no longer stand. The proudest masks are bloodiest.

After years of mask making for theatrical productions, I've changed to ceramics for my medium of choice - although masks can be made of absolutely anything that will hold together. Each face is unique with a decorated facial narrative. Subjects vary from whimsical to scholarly. I may work on a depiction of a Maori warrior then lighten my mood with a lovely Greek nymph.

My Bowls of Nature

W hen I was learning ceramics one of my professors informed the class that he did not approve of anything round, blue, or not on a pedestal. Now those eliminate a lot of possibilities. In the South, and many other places in the world, a woman learns to smile and nod when men lay down unbreakable rules about anything - I smiled and nodded and then broke all the rules.

I make absolutely lovely sculpted, not thrown on the wheel, round bowls. Sometimes they are even blue. Mostly, my bowls do not have feet or pedestals (as they are separate works of art) and I carve organic shapes into the leather hard clay. Vines, berries, and mums dominate as design motifs.