The Cool Art of Masks

Masks have been around since ancient times and have been worn for performance, entertainment, to disguise, conceal or protect the wearer. They have been used in ceremony, storytelling and dramatic enactment.

The wearable image of a face created in a mask can be used for it’s expressive potential in enactment and ritual. Masks are a universal art form that generally evokes power, magic and mystery for both the wearer and the viewer.

Crating a mask from scratch or decorating a pre-made mask can lead to exploring one’s persona. Mask making invites the artist to explore the persona they reveal or conceal from the world.

Through the art of mask making we can access our creativity and boost our self-confidence. Masks can bring consciousness to how the we see our self or what we fantasize we would like to be. Since masks have an outside and an inside, we can consider portraying how we really feel on the inside of a mask and how we feel others see us on the out side of the mask we create. Mask making can be a profound, revealing and personally liberating experience.

In closing, masks can be used to tell our personal story or to enact a dramatic global/political tragedy or to heal us spiritually, emotionally and/or physically.

To see Party Masks:
 Party Masks (Twenty to Make)

Doll Making - The Art of Empowerment

Doll making is an ancient art that serves many purposes. Civilizations throughout the ages created figures in their own images because they believed their “dolls” held symbolic meaning and supernatural influence.

The first doll makers believed their lifelike creations linked them to having and controlling life.  

Women can have a profound experience when they engage in creating a doll for them self or someone else. Doll making is a potent tool that can be used for self-growth, manifestation and healing.

To venture into this art form the artist can look for doll making supplies in unlikely places such as the kitchen, bathroom, garage or basement. Once the items have been gathered the artist can begin assembling them or she can get together with other women for an afternoon of doll making.

The dolls created could become an encouragement or self-affirming doll or it could bring clarity to something that is going on inside of the individual and provide an opportunity of empowerment.

To see Creative Cloth Doll Making click on image:
 Creative Cloth Doll Making: New Approaches for Using Fibers, Beads, Dyes, and Other Exciting Techniques

Milagros Art

Milagros art is usually made from aluminum sheet metal or recycled aluminum cans, but can be made from a vast variety of materials such as felt, paper, clay, glass, wood, found objects, etc.

Milagros are small metal charms that can depict religious symbols or other symbols found in many areas of Latin America, particularly in Mexico and Peru.These charms can also be found in Europe and are referred to as Exvotos, which means offerings.

The word “Milagro” means “miracle”. Milagros often depict arms, legs, women praying, farm animals and a wide range of other symbols that are typically nailed or pinned to a cross or wooden statues of various saints. Sometimes these charms are hung with ribbon or threads from altars and shrines and they can also be worn or carried for protection or good luck.

Often women create Milagros Art as an expression of love for a loved one or to attract something to themselves, such as money, a new job, a new car, a new home or to complete a task or an endeavor they have embark on. Some women create Milagros to remind them of a loved one or a triumph they have experienced in their life. Milagros can also be used to make unique colorful jewelry.

To see Jewelry and Accessories from Everyday Objects click on image:
  Jewelry and Accessories from Everyday Objects: 19 Unique Projects Inspired by Found Objects and Ready-Made Materials