Miniature Mask Swap 2006

The Miniature Mask Swap of 2006 started at the end of that year, but masks actually got "swapped" in February of 2007. Sometimes projects take a little longer than expected--but this one was worth it! (For the full answers to "What is a swap and how does it work?" read the Swap Info page here.)

This annual swap has become very popular, in no small part due to the appealing theme and size, and also because the quality of the masks is always varied and they are beautiful in their own ways.

There are groups of ten participants, and we began this swap with ten groups. In each group every participating artist makes ten masks using polymer clay. The design needs to fit inside a three inch by three inch square. Other details are all left up to the individual artist.

We have the option of making them all alike, or with stylistic variations. Each artist can be in one, two or three groups. However, as Swapmeister I choose to be in all the groups. This can be looked at as "Fairly Sharing" or "Completely Greedy" but either way it means that I make 100 masks--and get other masks in return!

The mardi-gras style masks shown here at right and above were made using a mixture of gold and black Premo polymer clay for the base, and a sheet black Premo with a mix of multi-colored pieces and metallic leaf placed on top. The mold is the same one used to create the Red Hat Ladies shown here in a face and mold making tutorial. I used this mold in another group too, but in a different style. I also used molds made using Miracle Mold. Both it and Amazing Mold Putty are what is known as 2 part RTV (Room Temperature Vulcanizing) Silicone Mold Making Material. Molds of my original sculpts make duplication a breeze, and more time can be spent on the individual details.

I've used a very small Kemper tool in the shape of a teardrop to cut out each eye hole, and after baking lined each using a Krylon Gold Leaf Pen. Each mask has gold lips as well. The pictures here were taken before the final step of lightly coating each with Varathane. This brings out the colors beautiful, and the depth in th mica bearing gold clay. It also makes it harder to photograph though as the shine adds glare.

That is just one design for one group. There were 44 different artists participating, and we filled 90 spaces when the deadline finally rolled around. Here's a shot of the incoming boxes filling up my studio---and there's still 6 more boxes to come when I took this picture!

My husband and I wait until ALL the boxes are here before we open them. Once they are, we spend a day opening all boxes and alphabetizing them into a giant conga-line in the living room, which is the biggest room in the house. Then we begin the sorting process, using The List. Each person in the group's name is read, their masks fetched, and one of each goes into a brown paper bag labeled with the group letter A,B,C,D,E,F,G, H, or I. Ten of my masks come out, and one of each goes into the A bags. So do nine other artists in group A. We do this with all the groups.

This takes at least one day, and we line all the bags up in my studio and wait for a new day and a fresher brain to start picking every artist's individual box to pack and ship back. For me personally, its easy--I get one bag from each group because I'm in every group, and my bag has a circle around the letter.

But an artist might be in B, F, and G and so we pick just THOSE bags from the ranks when packing their box. We check and cross check, to ensure that everyone is in the group being pulled and getting the right set back.

The boxes start with row A in the back, and the row closest to the door is I. We have found the only way to do large swaps is to be very organized about it. Also, to accept that it always takes longer to do than you think it will.

Some of the artists chose to make each of their ten masks the same. But some also played with details and made each different! These sets were little collections all on their own, and I did take pictures of some of them.

Shown at right is Valerie Aharoni's set of ten for one group. I kept the last one for me, if I recall correctly! It was a hard choice though.

Soon I will be taking pictures of all 90 masks that I received in return for the 90 that I made and gave to the other artists. I'll put up another page soon with more masks from this swap, so do check back again.

These, plus masks from previous swaps in 2001-2005 and full sized masks will be featured in my upcoming book "The Art Of Polymer Clay Masks", due out in Fall 2007 though Polymarket Press.