Latest mask. An interesting story behind this one:
I had a plan to paint a dog on this frond. I really need to make more dog masks. People really love their dogs, and I'm sure I can sell many masks portraying popular breeds. But when I looked at the blank canvas of this Queen Palm frond base, I couldn't help myself from seeing the angry spirit here captured. It was inherent in the folds and markings of the wood: the squinty eyes, pig-nose, and side-breaking mouth. This is my usual method for creating these masks: I find the face already hidden within it. But this time, I really wanted to make a dog mask! But the spirit of the wood was there, glowering at me. Could I really just cover him up with a happy German Shepherd that had nothing to do with this particular frond's shape and form? Well, no, obviously, I couldn't. There are thousands of frond bases falling off thousands of Queen Palm trees in the OC area. But only this one frond contained this wood spirit. I'm not sure how saleable this mask will be, but here he is, angry sneer and all.
