The second part of the blocked hat multiples series is coming soon, but first, on to the next installment of my interview series, with Hallie Dufresne, who runs the crafts department of the Los Angeles OperaI worked for Hallie when I lived in LA (back in 2005-06), when i had the good fortune to be hired as a member of her crafts team for a several- ( Read more... )

I finally have all the images for a post i've been itching to write for weeks: aborigine masks for Shipwrecked!And, even though we begin teching the show tomorrow night, today is a holiday that we've all got off, i'm puttering around the house and have a spare moment to write it up. So without further ado, here's an overview of the process ( Read more... )

While in San Miguel last month, i had the brilliant opportunity to visit The Other Face of Mexico, a mask and folk art museum featuring over 500 masks on display, video of indigenous dances, and a gallery of over 200 masks for purchase.

The museum is run by Bill and Heidi LeVasseur of the Casa de la Cuesta bed and breakfast hacienda. ( ( Read more... )

If you follow the collective costume rendering blog A Sketch A Day, you've already seen my series of renderings of Commedia dell'Arte mask designs in oil pastel. (If not, you can see them all here, and read about the conception process and inspirations, if you wish ( Read more... )

My masks and armor class has completed their second round of mask projects...a while ago, actually, but i've been too busy to get the photos up til now ( Read more... )

This semester, as i've mentioned, i'm teaching the graduate crafts seminar in masks and armor production. Our first project is to make a maquette, a small-scale version of what will eventually be a finished mask. Because in theatre, mask artisans often work with a costume designer from a rendering of a mask design (which may not include side/front/ ( Read more... )

First post of the decade ( Read more... )

Okeedoke, i've finally gotten back to NC, leapt back into the swing of things at work, and uploaded my final round of photos from the symposium. These third day images have some puppet-construction coverage (both small-scale and large-scale), as well as pix of some of the participants' finished Varaform heads ( Read more... )

I am so, so sad for the symposium to be over! I'm genuinely sad that i am going to be finishing up my projects at home and not going to have a chance to see everyone else finish up theirs in person! (Though, there is a Facebook group for us all to share photos on, so at least there is a way to see pix of how they all turned out ( Read more... )

Again with the LJ failure last night. I can't seem to upload any posts when i get home in the evenings here. So, again with the second attempt this evening ( Read more... )