first completed mask?

The question mark in the post title, changing it from a statement, is because I'm not yet sure whether the mask will hold together. It seems to have done fine over the last three days since it came out of the pot but I didn't have the chance to visit the studio today and make sure.

I think the last time I wrote about the masks I mentioned that I was trying to make this one inside the large plan pot I bought for the purpose after the previous one moulded round the outside broke. Part of this is certainly because the clay shrinks as it dries. It is also because, as a friend to whom I'm immensely grateful pointed out, the clay was probably drying too quickly.

Her advice was to place a plastic bag over the work to retard the drying a little. It worked, but I'll come to that shortly. Firstly a few pictures from the process in no chronological order at all.

The first shows the plant pot once I managed to remove the almost dry mask. You can see where the holes for the eyes and mouth were made. There was a certain amount of guesswork in this. It only really matters for the eyes but I haven't yet checked if the mask can be seen out of.

One of a few unfortunately blurry photographs, this is the bowl where the clay was re-wetted and reworked. In this picture there is a large amount of water and a tiny amount of clay in the bowl, as I was carrying out minor repairs.

This is the mask after being placed on the table with a bag over it once the repairs to the features had been carried out.

The mask came out of the mould with only minor surface cracks and one small hole in the top where I had made the clay too thin. These were repaired and the features added to the mask. I then stupidly forgot to put the bag back over the mask overnight and when I returned the next day there were a number of surface cracks, mainly on the features of the mask. These I wet and reworked and made sure I placed the bag back over the mask this time.

Here are a couple of shots, the second blurrier, of the mask while still wet shortly after it went into plant pot mould. I think the fact that it was inside the mould and so less exposed is what saved it. It took longer to dry than the other attempts with chicken wire and on the outside of the pot. I left it exposed like this for two or three days before my friend advised me to use the bag. Both those other attempts were mostly dry after that time.

Since this dried so much more slowly there were only small cracks at the edges and in a few places on the inside surface. They were easily filled and I then ensured I placed a bag over the work. In all it took just over two weeks for the mask to dry sufficiently to come out of the pot. As I hoped it shrank away from the walls of the pot and didn't pull itself apart in doing so.

Another blurry shot. This one of the mask drying in the pot with a bag to slow the drying.

And so to the completed mask. There are actually a couple of little tweaks to carry out but this mask is for all practical purposes complete so long as it holds together. Ideally it should be wearable and allow the wearer to see out, but for this first attempt I'm not too concerned about that.

I didn't realise until I drew the face for a friend quite how E.T.-like I'd made the shape of it. It honestly never entered my mind while I was making it or taking the photos.

A view from above where you can see more clearly that it appears to be looming over and disapproving of Nick Clegg. Or possibly David Cameron, it's hard to tell.

A side view where the face surprisingly still looks quite like a recognisable face.

And finally a closer front view that I think would have made a reasonable cover image for one of the Voices books. Which is realistically more than I could have hoped for.

I'm now waiting for some clay to be delivered when the place I ordered it from has it in stock, which I think might be quite soon. I want to make at least four more of these masks. I've resumed my attempts to design features that I hope won't be just pastiches of the original designs used by the Asaro Mudmen.

Because there may be a delay in receiving the delivery or before I give into frustration and buy some more clay from Fred Aldous where I bought this batch I've started work on the Long Lankin project. This will also mean that while masks are drying or when I otherwise can't work on them I can get on with something else.

I'll write about Long Lankin shortly.