The wanderings of a pencil :)

I've not really shared any of my sketch books before. Drawing is not my strongest point ...but I'm never without  a pad of plain paper, kept close by to quickly scribble down ideas whenever they come to me. I very rarely work from complete and detailed sketches. I prefer these fragments that capture a feeling, that I can then expand and elaborate on as I create the mask. I enjoy this freedom as it is so organic and fluid.

These are the leafy moth masks that I'm working on at the moment :)

Wintery baroque bats and wolves are demanding my attention as well!

More wanderings waiting to tell me their stories....

                     

'Now you see me.......'

Soft sunlight (though sadly days of pouring rain now) golden leaves falling and dusky nights  drawing in. These all start to fill my mind with dreams of moths and endless masquerades :) This season always makes me lose myself a little and  fills me with visions. So one thing drew me to another and I became entranced with moths who always wear their autumn best to dance with the leaves.....

I love these insects in their masquerade costumes . I have found Praying Mantis's and Spiders that look like flowers and dead leaves , butterflies that look like owls, moths that look like hornets and flies that look like wasps... and so much more!  The leaf moths/butterflies fascinate me the most at present  and have given me some wonderful ideas to play with. I have already stated experimenting with textures, colours and materials.

 I'll go back to those autumnal woods now :)

Portraits of a Muse.

One of my greatest sources of inspiration is the wondrous Marchesa Casati! My 'Medusa' mask (shown below) was a piece that was for me a tribute to this unique lady. So you can imagine how excited I was when me and Chris got an email from Scot Ryersson and Michael Yaccarino, the authors of 'Infinite Variety', the biography of the Marchesa, saying that they were working on a new book and that they would love to include one of Chris's photos of my 'Medusa mask !

'Medusa'

Photograph: Chris Dean

Mask & model: Tanith Hicks

Well 'The Marchesa Casati: Portraits of a Muse' is now out :) We've not actually got to see a copy of it yet .... but one of Chris's photos is supposed to be in it along with a little piece about me and how the Marchesa has influenced my art. Sadly the publishers went for one of the colour shots out of the session we did, whereas we preferred the black and white ones ourselves. But if you get a chance to take a look at it I hope you enjoy it :))

If you want to know more about the Marchesa and about the book then take a look at The Marchesa Casati  :)

Tweet