Masquerade Masks

Recently I was asked to make some masks for a masquerade party – a matching set of his and hers. Given ideas along this line (below) as a starting point, I came up with these (above). I had some stiff cardboard-type masks in my stash (as one who works in this area does!) and over time gathered bits and pieces, like these decorative metal pieces - a couple of dollars a bag at Reverse Garbage, with a few more found at an op-shop. They were thin enough to bend to fit the curve of the masks, and I secured them, along with some lace fragments, with multi-purpose wall filler, which unlike glue, I was able to sand off the pieces where it had bubbled through and sand around them to integrate them into the mask surface..

 The next step was painting with gesso, then painting them black, getting into all the many nooks and crannies.

There were a few alternating sprays of gold and black as I tried to get the balance just right. I was still not completely satisfied with the male musk, so removed the cheek under one eye and added another 'wire' - a piece of crinoline tubing glued either end, as well as some 'studs' in dimensional paint. The final touches were some rubbings of Treasure Gold gilding wax, and some dustings of Moon Glow two-toned pigments to bring out the textured surfaces. As they went out the door, I belatedly thought of gilding flakes.....

It was a fun project using some new materials a techniques, which is always great.