The New York Renaissance Faire
Each year, beginning the first weekend in August and running for eight consecutive weekends only including Labor Day, I attend and display my work in my permanent booth at location #29 Lakeside. If you're interested in joining in the fun, saying hello and seeing (and trying on) the masks in person please check out the NYRF website at http://renfair.com/NY/. The show is located in Tuxedo, New York (35 miles north of NYC). Directions and complete information about the event can be viewed on their website.
Look forward to seeing you this summer.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Chinese proverb say...take look, all connected.
I began working on this Thangka in December 2008. Though this may appear to be a divergence from the masks I'm known for creating, I don't think so. Perhaps the genuineness of a mask is concealed very deeply inside of it and in transcribing it, shifting domains is often helpful. In this way, meaning manages to float to the surface for those who wish to translate.
A purrfect fit
The last word I would ever use to describe the masks I create is adorable. Still, it was the word that came to mind after making this sexy little headpiece and putting it on for the first time. Here's how it goes, a leather strap runs across the forehead (and ties behind the head) and another strap, with two leather cat shaped ears (silk velvet lined) perched upon it, drapes over of the head. For pricing or to purchase this headpiece Bastet or either of the two wrist cuffs shown below (minus the beautiful model Anyssa) please email me at wendydrolma@gmail.com
Pictured below are two new cuff styles. Both are leather. This first pair is my button stud cuff set (solid brass studs and O rings), silk velvet lining. It's soft and so nice to wear.
Pictured below are two new cuff styles. Both are leather. This first pair is my button stud cuff set (solid brass studs and O rings), silk velvet lining. It's soft and so nice to wear.
This next pair is velvet lined as well with a satin silk ribbon tie closure. Nickle silver "D" rings.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
The Creative Process - New Work
Thankfully, this winter has been easier than last. During the summer of 2008, I created a mask that I call Daedalus (now included as part of the "Classic Collection" on my website http://www.wendydrolma.com/) which has inspired a series of newer masks and has kept the creative juices flowing during those long, cold days of January.
Before I tell you about these newer masks there's something I want to tell you about the way I work--I'm slow. I do not decide to add a mask in as part of my published collection until I've had plenty of time to sit with it and feel my way through the creative process. As the saying goes, ideas are a dime a dozen, they occur suddenly and are often, in their original form just a stepping stone. When it comes to working through them, I'm critical and I take my time. I say this to let you know that, along with this, goes a fair amount of self doubt. My "aha" moments are repeatedly tempered by the truest test I know of how a mask is developing. At the end of the day I walk away from it and upon entering my studio the next morning I allow my first impression to mean something. If, when I see it again, my senses confirm the ineffable "Ah yes, that's it" response I know--so far so good. Those are happy moments, full of delight, in which I feel like an explorer in sight of new land.
Starting in the summer of 2008 with Daedalus my most recent creations came about in much the same way. There was no shortage of pitfalls along the way but there was and is something about creating this new work that has felt liberating for me in terms of the practical concerns I address during the creation of a new mask i.e. it must fit comfortably, be nicely balanced and not too heavy. This is not to say that these masks do not satisfy in that regard, only that, this time, I didn't feel boxed in by these considerations. Below are two examples. The first image is a mask I'm calling Phoenix. The mask pictured in the photo below that I've named Lotus-Eyed.
Before I tell you about these newer masks there's something I want to tell you about the way I work--I'm slow. I do not decide to add a mask in as part of my published collection until I've had plenty of time to sit with it and feel my way through the creative process. As the saying goes, ideas are a dime a dozen, they occur suddenly and are often, in their original form just a stepping stone. When it comes to working through them, I'm critical and I take my time. I say this to let you know that, along with this, goes a fair amount of self doubt. My "aha" moments are repeatedly tempered by the truest test I know of how a mask is developing. At the end of the day I walk away from it and upon entering my studio the next morning I allow my first impression to mean something. If, when I see it again, my senses confirm the ineffable "Ah yes, that's it" response I know--so far so good. Those are happy moments, full of delight, in which I feel like an explorer in sight of new land.
Starting in the summer of 2008 with Daedalus my most recent creations came about in much the same way. There was no shortage of pitfalls along the way but there was and is something about creating this new work that has felt liberating for me in terms of the practical concerns I address during the creation of a new mask i.e. it must fit comfortably, be nicely balanced and not too heavy. This is not to say that these masks do not satisfy in that regard, only that, this time, I didn't feel boxed in by these considerations. Below are two examples. The first image is a mask I'm calling Phoenix. The mask pictured in the photo below that I've named Lotus-Eyed.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Bruce Museum Outdoor Crafts Festival 2009
On the weekend of May 16th and 17th I will be participating in an outdoor showing on the beautiful grounds of the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT. During the afternoon there will be musical performances and children's activities offered. Come and enjoy the day, see my new work and bring a picnic or purchase lunch at the festival. For more information please visit their website at http://www.brucemuseum.org
Friday, March 20, 2009
We All Wear Masks
I have always loved to watch people. I notice those around me; I read their faces and watch their body language as if for clues. I see the masks we wear every day. If I can see the mask, then perhaps I can see what’s underneath it. I learn so much from watching people put on one of my masks. Although for some, the experience is threatening, for others it holds a deep, mysterious attraction. I like to witness them experience a juicy chance to pretend that anything that goes on inside can be truly hidden. It’s odd to me how ironic the mask is—revealing and concealing are no more than two sides of the same coin. My face is a mask; the mask, an instrument of revelation. It’s difficult to tell the two apart. Nearly two decades have passed since I created my first leather mask. My ability to explain this act to myself has deepened over time. For now, the Why? question seems to have transformed itself into a statement: We all wear masks! We can’t help it. Without them, we would cease to be what we are—human. And so, when the mask calls, we answer. And before we know it, we realize that how we answer is yet another mask, and so on and on…
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