After dusting off the glitter and looking at the mask, I decided it needed a little more pop. The forehead looked a little empty, so I added a tear by the swirls there and put glitter on the lashes to make them look as if they were wet from the tears. I added a few sequins for a little more sparkle and sewed the Velcro onto the straps in back. After this dried it looked much better and so it was time to add the feathers and flower for the final touches.

"Black and Gold Mask 2014"

The outcome! I was very pleased with this project as it came together much as I had envisioned it.  Hopefully there will be a photo of the mask being worn at the charity event Masks in the Moonlight, a charity event for the Bismarck Cancer Center which will be held March 1, 2014.  Thank you, Austin Schmaltz for the opportunity to participate!

http://www.bismarckcancercenter.com/event/masks-in-the-moonlight-charity-ball/

With the ribbon in hand, I hit the local craft stores and found some other gold items that went along with the design in mind.

Next I drew the details onto the mask, pinning the headband in place to use as a guide. The Arts and Crafts period is my favorite art movement and I love works by Alphonse Mucha and Aubrey Beardsley.

I decided to forego the veil as it hid too much of the eyes and made it difficult to see through that side of the mask. The headband and lashes are glued into place after the glitter is added to the tears.

So this is my very first post in a blog - bear with me as I am on the cusp of the technological revolution, meaning I am mainly self-taught when it comes to computers and the like and I had typing in High School, not Keyboarding in Elementary School. Thanks for joining me!

My first project is a mask for a ball being held in Bismarck around the first of March. A couple of the members of our local Artist Co-op, BDAC (Bismarck Downtown Artist Cooperative) have volunteered to design masks for the event.




"Black Gold" to me hints of the current oil boom that has engulfed the state of North Dakota in recent years and turned our sleepy, somewhat old-fashioned state into a land of teeming activity and out-of-state plates. With the colors black and gold to be used in the design, I thought of a sort of a widow-type mask would be cool. I envision a flapper-style design with a veil and gold accents which will symbolize the old North Dakota's passing into a new age. I found a remnant of an old-gold colored headband I thought would be perfect to build my design around.