Mask Making

It was a day that I wish I brought my camera.  There's nothing more worthy of photographs than watching friends apply strips of plaster to their face in order to create masks.  I didn't apply the plaster to my face.  My make-up, which is a point of pride for me, usually takes about forty minutes to apply in the morning, and I couldn't bear the thought of ruining all my hard work for the sake of a mask.  Well, that, and I was didn't know how I would be able to clean up the mess it made.  Make-up for me usually includes at least four colours of eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, foundation, powder, blush, and a lip colour, all of which would have melted and swam underneath the wet plaster, leaving me looking more like the Wicked Witch of the West than the tropical princess look I was going for.

(I'm pretty sure my make-up was tropical that day.  I seem to remember being a little embarrassed when I declared I wouldn't be wearing the mask as I made it when I showed up for the lab, given my obscene amount of make-up.  I think I was wearing a mix of pinks, oranges, and yellows that would have made Joseph's coat look drab.)

Anyways, mask making begins with strips of plaster from the craft store that are dipped in water and applied on the face or, in the case of women who wear too much make-up, onto a tin foil mold of the face.  I pressed a two-ply piece of tin foil on my face and pressed it into the contours, an act that succeeded in not messing up my make-up.  I then began applying strips around the eyes and nose.

One of my favourite things to do with make-up is apply it in asymmetrical styles.  I started with colours at first - applying one colour on one eye and a contrasting colour on the other eyes - but I've since started playing with shapes and styles.  Over Christmas I created a look based on Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds where I painted small, black bird silhouettes flying up towards my right eye along the cheek while another flock of bird fluttered away from my left eye along the crease towards the temple.  I used that idea to form my mask: one half of the face sweeps up towards the temple, the other half curves down towards the jaw.  I also dotted the edge with small balls that I would paint later. It was suggested to me by the professor that I use the mask to perform a dramatic recitation of Sappho, but this never came to fruition.  The mask is still unpainted, and between all my other school work, I didn't have the time to memorize the poem.  It was a disappointment indeed; there's nothing I love more than being on stage nowadays. 

Mask making would be an awesome activity for any classroom.  I'm inclined to do it with my student for any project really.  English, history, cosmetology...it seems to be a good fit for just about anything.