George Bathgate masks

Full Buck Moon

“The full Moon in July is called the Buck Moon because the antlers of male deer (bucks) are in full-growth mode at this time. Bucks shed and regrow their antlers each year, producing a larger and more impressive set as the years go by. For believers in astrology, this full moon is a source of energy and relates to the abundance and ripeness of summer and to a time of unique personal development.”

…from “Mr. Google” 2022

I’ve had this idea of doing a moon with antlers for some time, and for the purposes of making a mask with antlers, it pretty much had to be a full moon. While doing a bit of “imagery research” online I came across the Full Buck Moon image (courtesy of www.auntiemoon.com) below, and a number of classic “Man in the Moon” pics which gave me the basis for sculpting the face.

Set of Moon, Crescent, illustrations in engraving style. Graphic drawings in vector. Vintage pastiche of esoteric and occult signs.

I’ve had the clay on Mayne Island (where I have my studio) for quite some time as I haven’t been terribly productive during the pandemic – having only made “Pandemic Pan”

( https://clayandbone.com/2020/11/16/pandemic-pan/ ) during that time. I did ask my antler guy – Hunter Bob as I call him – if he had any antlers that were slightly weathered and bleached, which – I felt – would complement the whiteness of the full moon better. Bob is a great guy, and was able to oblige with the lovely rack that you see on Full Buck Moon. As with most of my antlers, these are Fallow Deer antlers from a species which was introduced to Mayne Island more than 20 years ago, and is now regarded as invasive by Conservationists.

I had to create a base or a mold for the initial sculpting, as wet clay can be quite pliable and unstable and collapse if it is not supported. I found a yellow dinner plate which – with a bit of modification – worked quite well for my purposes.

What followed was a few days of shaping, sculpting and adding features and contours to resemble – as much as possible, with artistic licence – one of the “Man in the Moon Faces” I’d found online. My friend Bill Maylone – also a Mayne Island based artist – thought my creation looked like the Moon in George Méliès short film “Le Voyage Dans La Lune »(1902).

Buy me a cup of coffee $5.00

(ps. I’ve just installed this little payment button – at the recommendation of WordPress – to accept a small donation for Clay and Bone…which is me 🙂 It’s the first time I’ve done this, so am experimenting with various methods of alternative income. Cheers!)

As always, I approach firing with trepidation as I’ve suffered one kiln disaster and would prefer not to repeat the experience. My friend John at “You Paint I Fire” has fired all my masks successfully, and Full Buck Moon was delivered intact and in one piece – with a great sigh of relief. Without scribbling about this any further, have a look at the pictures as I feel they give a fairly complete visual of the process.

Pandemic Pan

It had been a while since I had made a mask so I was eager to get back at it and reinvigorate my abilities & process. The local Arts Council on Mayne Island had proposed having an online exhibit during the Pandemic to avoid crowds mingling in confined spaces and – as it turned out – their theme for the show was “About Face – An exploration of masks and portraiture”…all things pertaining to the face from 3-dimensional masks to paintings, drawings & other mixed media…so, as a guy who makes masks, the call to create within my area of interest was enough incentive to participate – here’s the show (a lot of great work in there, have a look): https://www.artsontheislands.org/about-face.html

**The early stages of preparing the clay, shaping the face, and adding facial details**

So I made the journey from my home in Kitsilano to my Studio on Mayne to dust off my mask-making abilities and put something together. Of course, at this time, we are all painfully aware of the ongoing pandemic and this made me think of the Greek root words of Pandemic – which are Pan (meaning all) and Demos (meaning people)…and so, as minds do (mine at least) I thought of making a depiction of Pan, “god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature of mountain wilds, rustic music and impromptus, and companion of the nymphs.” (from Wikipedia)…perhaps if we paid more respect to Pan (nature) we’d have fewer Pandemics.

After 10 days of curing my mask (basically letting it air-dry) I brought it back to Vancouver where I have access to a kiln at a friendly little neighbourhood business that I’ve been going to for years called “U Paint I Fire” run by an amiable fellow named John.

John – Proprietor of the Kitsilano-based ceramic shop,
“U Paint I Fire”

There’s always a worry that a hand-built clay mask – or any object for that matter – may explode in the kiln, due to inadequate drying, or air pockets that have been trapped in the clay due to inadequate clay preparation (throwing/kneading/rolling)…so, I always have some trepidation as I hand my mask off to the kiln-master as there can be accidents: https://clayandbone.com/2017/04/30/mask-making-abraham-maslows-exploding-head/

So I am always releived when John pulls my mask out of the kiln and I can hold the finished (almost) fired piece.

**Before & After: Unfired on the left with two pics of the final fired mask**

Currently Pandemic Pan is residing on the wall of Shavasana Gallery & Café on Mayne – antlers attached, hanging wire in place – just waiting to be painted. Unfortunately, due to current Second Wave Pandemic restrictions it’s a little harder for me to get to Mayne Island so this next stage will have to wait.

Ok…fast forward 4 months from where I left off in the previous paragraph. I managed to get back to Mayne Island to paint Pandemic Pan & take a few more photos – I feel pleased with the result, have a look:

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

When I first saw his face my immediate thought was – I must tackle this as a mask project. Look at that moustache, those steely dispassionate eyes and puffy dissolute face. For me there was something compelling about his face and I felt a need to try and recreate that in clay. Certain aspects of “The Archdukes” lifestyle though, provided an ironic justification for wanting to see his head mounted on my wall sporting a set of Fallow Deer antlers…

If not for the widely-accepted thought that his very public assassination by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip precipitated the start of World War 1, he may have remained a more obscure footnote in history – carrying on with the self-indulgent life of a member of the Austro-Hungarian royal family. That all changed on June 28, 1914 when he was assassinated, with his wife Sophie by his side, as they drove through the streets of Sarajevo in an open and unprotected sedan.

But it wasn’t this pivotal historical event that compelled me to proceed with my mask project. While doing a little research into other aspects of his life I came across this tidbit in Wikipedia:

“Franz Ferdinand had a fondness for trophy hunting that was excessive even by the standards of European nobility of this time.^[11] In his diaries he kept track of an estimated 300,000 game kills, 5,000 of which were deer. About 100,000 trophies were on exhibit at his Bohemian castle at Konopištē…”

How is it even humanly possible to kill 300,000 animals in one lifetime? Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria was evidently a pathological one-man extinction event and he deserved to be mounted on a wall with sporting a beautiful pair of antlers in honour of the unlucky 5,000 deer that fell prey to his insatiable murderous hobby. I began to draw, prepare the clay and commence adding facial details:

Once the facial details bore an acceptable likeness to my subject I allowed the clay to cure for a week or so

Following successful firing in the kiln (always a bit nerve wracking before it comes out in one piece) I began the process of painting The Archduke – layering shade and shadow:

Until I felt pleased with the final outcome.

Personally, I think that this may be my best creation to date. There is a definite evolution in my skill level and attention to detail. Not that detail and lifelike realism need to denote higher quality in a piece of art. Creativity and expression can take us down many roads, but I am pleased with this effort as it does reflect – quite closely – what I was setting out to achieve. 🙂

If you are interested in purchasing “The Archduke” it can be yours for $685.00, by ordering online through the Mask Gallery (on this website) or by visiting my studio at: www.shavasana.ca

Clay & Bone