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I’ve always had soft spot for masks. I love the exaggerated features, intricate designs, how some can look so sinister, the drama and stories. It started when I was at school and I did a project on the North American Indians. I was fascinated by the array of facial expressions in their masks; I loved the protruding lips and strong noses.
I’ve since taken an interest in masks from many different cultures and when I travel I always make a point of trying to see some first hand and I’ve always wanted to carve my own.
When we were in Takaka, Golden Bay, NZ in April this year, I was so excited when our friend told us that you could do workshops with the many artists in town, bone and wood carving included. Chris Bone was recommended for carving. When Chris asked me what I wanted to make there was no hesitation, he looked surprised that I didn’t want to carve a pretty bone pendant, but kind of excited that someone wanted to do something different. So, he told me “It’s $50 (about $40 US/£25), take as long as you want. Although you’re going to be using a lot of material, so maybe $60 for you.” I was stunned, he would be creating nothing while I was working in his studio, most places charge about $90 NZ for one day, end of! So I went home, designed my mask (I combined African, Korean and Maori features) and took it to Chris the next morning.
Now, this guy’s a real character. Chris took one look at my design and said “Bloody hell! It’s not going to be that complicated! You can draw though can’t you?! It’s going to be f***ing amazing! This is awesome, never had someone want to make a mask before. It’s going to waste (thanks) far too much material, so it’s definitely $60 for you!” Fine by me, so off we went! He’s got plenty of stories and plenty of colourful language to tell them. One story nearly made me fall off my chair, he told me that he’s got an original Hundertwasser painting at home, given to him by the artist himself!! I was lost for words! http://www.hundertwasser.at/index_en.php
Using Chris' precious rotary engraving tool.
Chris would sit watching me work, chatting and cursing away, chipping in the odd bit of advice, sipping a bourbon and coke or ‘Diesel’ from 10am ‘til 4pm and chain smoking the day away (when Andy popped in to see how I was getting on Chris announced, “Your husband’s going to do me a favour,” which involved leaving me in the studio and driving him into town to top up on his Diesel!). He’d often bark at me “You’ve got it girl, you’ve got that real quick!” and in the same breath, “F*** up my tools and I’ll kill ya!” He hated me using the machine engraver because it’s so noisy, but because of the nature of my carving it was necessary to use it quite a lot. Every morning when I turned up at his studio he’d say, “Ugh, here comes the noisy bugger!” I loved him. People in Takaka and past students alike clearly think a lot of him and they kept popping in throughout the day to see him, share a story, catch up or trade something for a carving. I was fascinated by him and his eclectically decorated studio and meanwhile learning from a guy who I later learned is one of New Zealand’s most highly regarded master carvers and has taught many prominent artists. Here’s a couple I managed to find online: Justin Ferguson and Ian Thorne.
So for three days Chris helped me make my mask and taught me loads in the process, machine tooling, hand tooling, inlaying… The finished mask isn’t perfect but I like that about my first attempt- it’s supposed to be a bit rough right?! Here are a few photos of the different stages and from his studio:
After carving off some of the template.
After lots of hand tooling, machine carving, filing and sanding!!
After more filing and sanding, design drawn on. African forehead, Korean eyes/nose/cheeks and Maori tongue.
Forehead inlaid with a red wood and wire superglued in, cut off and filed down to make silver dots.
Tongue carved and superglue mixed with bone dust in the eyes.
Bone dust filed down, tidied and final sanding all over. C'est fini!
Lovely girls! Making beautiful carved wood and bone jewellery.
These two were making plectrums and seranading us in the studio.
Chris and Me, his stuffed fawn and my finished mask! Lovely time.
Click the images to enlarge.
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