I began making masks around 1991. My early masks were decorative wall hangings with elaborate bead and featherwork designs. During this same time period, I also began working with garment leather to create bags and purses. After a few years, I realized that I could fuse these interests to create *wearable* masks using leather bases. These masks are from the mid 90’s, and they show that transition from decorative to wearable.
It’s challenging to find pictures of my earlier pieces, since we were on the road for several years and simply didn’t take many photos. Even the masks that I made later (say late 90’s/early 2000’s) are not very well documented. Somewhere around here, I have floppy discs full of images… but my current computer doesn’t even have a slot for floppies! Likewise, I have slides floating around that I used to use to jury in to art shows (that’s how we did it back in the day 😉 but I have no idea where. I’ll keep an eye out for those, and share them if they ever crop up. It’s been fun to look back and notice how my work has changed and evolved over time.
