Wednesday 10 February 2010

Lovers and St Valentine.




As St Valentine's Day comes round again, I thought I would show you a mask I made for a masked party - then if you get invited to a masked ball for St Valentine's Day you can make your own! Yes - gentlemen - I mean you too.


When I photographed it on the wall of our bedroom, I realised that it was next to a painting of lovers - and it seemed appropriate to show that to you also - the painting is an oil and was painted by Dick Rivron who painted for some years in Australia and died in the late fifties. It is one of my favourite paintings - I hope you like it too.
However, back to the mask. You can use this technique for making a book cover, a book mark, anything in that line - the sky's the limit.
I started by cutting a mask shape out of pelmet vilene and then cutting out the two eye-holes. Then I gathered together oddments of chiffon, sweet papers, bits of net, bits of colourful material, especially metallics - any old thing as long as it was bright and cheerful. I cut these into small pieces, sprayed the vilene with a temporary glue and laid all the pieces onto the glue in a random order. Then I free machined all over the lot with gold thread, so that every single piece was really well anchored down and the gold threads almost predominated. I went round the edges with a zig zag stitch to neaten them off. I backed it with a piece of velvet before doing the zig zag.
Then I found a piece of thin dowel, glued it well and wound hand-made paper round it in strips to make the handle. The final touch was to string a few beads into four or five dangling threads where the stick and the mask join - and there you have it. It took half an hour at the most and I think you will agree that it does look rather mysterious.
All I need now is a masked ball to go to - and a fantastic ball gown (plus a slim figure, nimble feet
and maybe a gondola in Venice) - well a girl can wish!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the painting and the romance it captures... and your bedroom has such a warm hue.

Unfortunately for us, when I was a young newlywed 20 years ago, we got alittle to adventurous with the color pink in our home, and it's been banned from decorating ever since.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful painting, love the romance.

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Golden West said...

Wow! That painting is outstanding, Weaver! It brought immediately to my mind the paintings Paul Gauguin created in Tahiti. So robust and sensual.

And your mask is quite amazing in its detail and ingenuity - I see you don't limit yourself to just the written word in your creative pursuits!

Tess Kincaid said...

Charming mask, Weaver. The painting of the lovers is just marvelous! Take a close up pic for us to enlarge. I want a better look!

Maggi said...

What a gorgeous mask, makes one long to be invited. Ah well I can but dream.

Lyn said...

The first thing I thought of was a masked ball in Venice, of course..as you say..one can dream..
Really loved the warm hue of the bedroom, same as mine..and terrific painting..here's to romance!

Heather said...

That's a marvellous painting Pat - so sensual. Your mask is beautiful and you are all ready to be whisked off to the Ball! Thankyou for sharing the technique with us.

Penny said...

Your mask is such fun, balls were too once but now one maybe we are like the dowagers in a novel, sitting gossiping on the side lines!
Love that painting.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Love your painting and the mask conjurs up all kinds of fun.

Eryl said...

But what is pelmet vilene?!

Cloudia said...

How lovely your home is, very different from a mole's hill indeed.



Aloha, Friend!


Comfort Spiral

DJ said...

Weaver, that mask looks like it was purchased in a high-brow gift boutique! And perhaps weeks of work went into its creation.
You have a gift, my friend...Would love to see more of your artwork sometime.

Dinesh chandra said...

Good post to know about valentine day, good home .


Regards

Dinesh Chandra

Elisabeth said...

It feels a little cheeky somehow getting this peek into what I imagine is your bedroom.

Did you say it was your bedroom? Something about the mask and the painting, the dresser and the colour of the wall makes me think it is your bedroom.

Ahh me, maybe my imagination is running wild with all this Valentine's Day talk. Not that I'm into Valentine's Day.

mrsnesbitt said...

Love the painting! We are off for a meal out at local pub on Sunday! Looking forward to it! May even pick up a new recipe!

BT said...

Beautiful painting Weaver. I can't believe it only took you half an hour to make that fabulous mask. Ah, a masked ball, now that would be something.