"King" - Mask project (step-by-step)

Hello Everyone

Today, I'll briefly describe my latest mask project which I have titled "King".

Living in the rolling foothills of Calgary, it is easy to imagine the vast herds of bison that roamed the prairies. Strong. Majestic. Like Kings

The goal is to combine red cedar and soapstone to represent the spirit of the bison.

In the same way that painters make field sketches before beginning a painting, I began the process with a simple Plasticine model. It's actually fun to be able to work this stuff over and over until it pleasing to the eye.

Step Two in making a large mask was to make a smaller mask from yellow cedar and soapstone.

Yellow cedar grows slowly, high up in the mountains so the wood grain is very fine and strong. The goal here was to make a small mask and then add the Brazilian soapstone horns, and see if it was a happy marriage.

Step Three was to find the largest block of cedar available in Calgary. After a long search I was able to find a 24" by 14" block of red cedar. It was exciting to carry this extremely large chunk of wood home. I could feel and see the potential in it. It weighed more than my daughter!

So now comes the hard work. Hand carving in the traditional ways, I will use an adz to rough out the shape and then a straight knife to do the detailed work.

The additional challenge involves learning about soapstone and how to create a set of horns suitable for "King".

I feel like I am embarking into unknown territory. Alberta artists such as Susan Cardinal have created wonderful bison paintings.

However there seems to be no tradition of bison masks in Alberta. This motivates me to put my best into "King". My hope that viewers will pause for a moment when they see the finished mask, and ponder the beauty and history of the plains bison.

Cheers, thanks for coming by.

Norm Larsen