MASKS

I have decided to write about our art collection. My husband, Arnt and I have been collecting local artists, friends art and art on our travels. My first choice is our mask collection.



We bought this mask in San Blas, Mexico. The indigenous tribe, Huichol that makes these masks of bees wax, wood and beads live in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico. They don't use a pattern to create these masks. It is done freehand. They are all sacred animist images. We went to a show at the musem and looked at all the pieces on display but really loved the half finished piece the artist was working on there. We talked and he said come back in a week and it will be done. The images are scorpions, lizards, snakes, deer heads, butterflies and other natural flowers and fauna.










Fiji is where we got this mask. This is a piece of wood that has been painted and then carved. The turtle image is very important to the island as it represents health of the surrounding ocean. We also bought a paddle done the same way and a couple pieces of jewelry.












Ebony is the wood in this traditional mask from Bali, Indonesia. The image is of a Garuda. The Garuda (Sanskrit: Garuḍa गरुड, eagle; Pāli Garuḷa) is a large mythical bird or bird-like creature that appears in both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. ...
We bought this beautiful piece as we were lying on the beach in our bathing suits. Now that is shopping! The carvers of Bali are amongst the best in the world. When they carve with their hand chisels and mallet, they use feet as a vise.








We were at a fundraiser for the Local BC
NDP and this mask was on the
silent auction. We bid not thinking
we would get it but we did. It is
made of cedar, paint, horse hair
and the artist is Harold Madore.
a Coast Salish native from Kispiox,
BC. The west coast is getting an
amazing reputation for its first
native carvers.