Kind of Strange

Not quite done, but wearable! 

The mask consists of plaster strip over fine brass mesh, which I formed on a glass head.  Thankfully said glass head is just about the same size as my large noggin.  It’s held in place on my head with strips of white leather, salvaged from an old pair of pants I found at the thrift store. 

The proboscis portion is a piece of deer leg bone, cut and polished to size.  I dropped it at one point and it split in two.  Thankfully an application of superglue followed by beeswax has solidified it.  Super Sculpey tentacles and toothy bits are near the top, though they’re intentionally difficult to see unless you’re willing to get very close to the mask.  They’re obscured by bleached horse hair left over from a previous costume.

Click for larger view.

From an early birthday and going away celebration in the park.  A small group of us are featured in some Seattle couple’s wedding photos, as they saw our group and thought it would be a fun addition to their special day.  ‘Tis nifty, no?

First look at a new mask I’m working on. 

Plaster strip over brass mesh.  I still have a lot of work to do on this one, but not bad for an evening’s work.

I recently took part in a post-apocalyptic tarot card project photoshoot.  You can see me in the bone mask as a set of twins here:

http://www.shotinthedarkphotography.com/art/Tarot/Cards/queenofpent.jpg

A few days before the photoshoot the artist in charge asked whether or not any of the participants had a ‘bone crown’.  I didn’t at the time, but the idea picked at my brain as something I could create. 

I somewhat obsessively buy very worn, aged leather belts whenever I find them at the thrift store.  There’s a certain aesthetic and tactile feel in well worn leather that you just can’t replicate with any ease. or regularity.  One of these would serve as the base… Within days I was commited to the idea and started poring through my random supply trunk to see what else could be used.

On top of that, I hand sawed, bent and shaped a large, brass coated door hinge I picked up at Home Depot.  I’ve been eyeing those for future projects for ages and was far too excited to finally have a reason to get one.  Once in the right shape and size, it was coated in stain, which took many days to dry.  Once dry, the surface was scuffed up with a brass brush and paper towels.  From there, the hinge was secured to the leather strap using some generic brass rivets, and a set of snaps added to the back in order to allow for size adjusting.

An opossum skull, tusks and pheasant feathers were bound to the crown using faux sinew and patience.  A set of three chains on each side were added.  Pearls and crystals were strung using sterling wire to hopefully add a small amount of regality and a bit of out-of-place elegance. 

The result: (click for larger)

While the aesthetic did not fit and the piece was not able to be used for this particular project, I will certainly get plenty of use out of it in the future.  The short weekend exercise was great and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

One day I will learn to take progress photos as I go along.  That day is not today!

Tired of being stuck in and around the house due to unexpected snowfall, I recently teamed up with photographer Val Mohney to take some photos of the winter version of the bone mask costume in the nearby woods. 

Here’s a few of my favorites.

More under the cut…

(more…)

I’ve finally gotten around to adding a gallery to the site.

You can find it by either clicking the Gallery link in the upper right corner, or shortcut there using this link:

http://www.kindofstrange.com/gallery/

‘Tis nifty, no?

Quick shot of one of my random costume pieces.  I’d been meaning to put it away for ages, but hadn’t gotten around to finding something to store it in to safely preserve the wings from the horror that is my storage space.  At some point I put it where you see it now to keep it out of the way while cleaning up my dining table turned workbench.  It’s been there ever since.

The Winged Hat

Hat is made from an old leather aviator cap and taxidermied pigeon wings I got from the fabulously talented woman behind:

 http://www.customcreaturetaxidermy.com

Scavanged from roadkill and preserved in their present state.  I simply attached them to the hat using a leather hole punch, some metal snaps, and a lot of patience.

And yes, the hat is currently sitting on a bottle of port.

…also, I have a little bronze stand for my port.  Doesn’t everyone?

Originally uploaded by Kind Of Strange

Far too quickly this year really. It seems like just yesterday this photo was taken. 

As you can see, the mask is in a wearable state, though not what I’d call ‘done’.  Though to be fair, I’m not certain I’ll ever really consider it done. 

Some interesting projects in the works, which will be posted shortly. I’ve got a great set of new bones to work with, as well as a good amount of Bronz (sic) metal clay.  The relatively low cost of the bronz clay means that I can experiment a bit more and create somewhat larger jewelry projects than I could with the more expensive fine silver PMC.