This year’s mask turned out great! Love seeing it under the gallery lights. They chose my mask to make a sticker too! So far it’s raised $160 at auction. May 6th is the last day to view and bid!
Update as of June 2nd, 2022…. mask sold for a whopping $395! Wow that is amazing!
I haven’t been very active on my own website lately. I’ve spent the last year thinking something wonderful was happening only to find out that it was, indeed, just a dream. It was a heartbreak I didn’t ask for. And so now begins yet another year of working on trust and self-worth and asking questions in my own head that probably don’t even matter, but have caused so much pain and confusion that they need to be answered. But what can ya do? You always have to be willing to take a risk, otherwise nothing good (or bad) would ever happen.
So that’s what I did with this year’s mask. I took a risk and pushed myself with it. Over the years I haven’t noticed anyone else do any kind of carving into the bisqueware although, I could be totally wrong about that of course. I think my heart was already breaking when I began my piece. If the mask itself would have broken, I wouldn’t have been surprised.
This one is entitled “Memento Mori“. Everything that I included is fragile, and it dies. The web and the spider, the red rose and the love it represents. Even our own mortality. They all eventually crumble.
This will be on display at the Fort Collins Museum of Art for the whole month of April 2022 as part of the silent auction fundraiser they hold each year.
This was probably one of my favorite creations so far. Using free standing lace embroidery and beaded flowers, I created a colorful array of flowers and insects. The mask itself is painted with Culture Hustle Black 3.0, which I love using in many of my creations. This is titled “The Efflorescence”.
I posted this piece when I finished it and turned it in to the museum, but that was ages ago! Things have CHANGED since then, for sure! The Fort Collins Museum of Art got hit by the Coronavirus Quarantine and lockdown. They had to close for months, and right at their most opportune time: The MASKS Fundraiser Exhibit. This is their major/main fundraiser each year, and it’s a big deal at the First Friday Art Walk each April. The exhibit, which is a silent auction, only lasts one month (normally). This year they definitely got creative with how to get the masks on display to the public. They utilized the video technology used in real estate so that you could scroll around and look at the masks hung on the walls, and opened the auction up online. Thankfully now, until the end of June, the public can sign up in a time slot to view the masks in person! I love seeing my masks under the artsy museum lights!
A friend in town puts together a small art show a few times a year that features local artists and musicians. The door fee is a canned food donation or money that goes to the Food Bank of Larimer County. I’ve been an artist at this show two times, here is my set-up from the last show, in 2019. I tend to haul almost everything I’ve ever made with me; since my art isn’t constrained to one type, I bring fiber art, painting and ceramics.
My submission for the next MASKS exhibit at the Fort Collins Museum of Art (April, 2020) . I LOVE how it turned out! This is “Galaxy Queen”. I used a headdress that I made for a photoshoot as the base of the focal point (pictured last), added more opulence with blue and purple beads, added polymer clay feathers, and sculpted paper mache on top of the mask then painted in a pearl white paint. The eyes are clear plastic halves of a christmas ornament set in front of glitter scrapbook paper.
An old ceramic piece that I thoroughly enjoy. I love how it turned out; the glazes I used came out perfect. I’m constantly on the fence about selling it, but I would part with it for a good price (at least $75). It’s a smallish bowl and I’m not sure what you’d put in it, but mainly an art piece.
“True Beauty Lies Within”
Fort Collins Museum of Art MASKS Exhibit 2016
Mosaic mask inside a wooden box. Put your face in the mask, and look through the eyes and you will be looking at a mosaic mirror. The reflection reveals colorful mosaic tiles on the masks face. You are also looking at yourself. The box opens to display the full design of the mask.
The top also opens, because there is a display light affixed to the top, so that it shines a light into the box so everything is visible.
Novotny Artistry 