Woodland Faerie

This mask, my conception of a woodland faerie, is reflected in not only the elements that compose the mask, but I hope, in the general "feel" of it.

There are branches sprouting out of the head, draped in what looks and feels like moss. There are wild mushrooms growing among the branches as well. This mask has no eye openings, so it cannot be worn, but is meant for decorative purposes. She has faerie eyes: solid blue black.

This is certainly a mixed media mask: as with all my masks, the base is paper mache, as are the "branches", paper mache over a metal frame. The mushrooms are polymer clay, and the moss is composed of antique lace that has been shredded, hand dyed and stiffened. The handle of the mask is another branch I found on a hike.

All but one of images for this mask was taken in natural light, coming in from a north window; in natural light the colors of this mask appear quite muted, "forest-like", as if the light was being filtered down through a canopy of leaves. I am including one photograph taken with a flash--there, as you can see, the color appears more saturated.