Where you goin' with a head like that?

During the summer I kept my three year old niece overnight nearly every weekend, and in order to keep her busy and distracted I did a lot of crafts with her and my thirteen year old daughter. We really got into making masks, and I especially enjoy making feather masks.

I decided that this Halloween, the last one in which I will probably be able to trick-or-treat with my daughter, I wanted to make a statement about how I felt in my life with my costume. My first choice was to dress as a zombie. After falling into a sluggish, writerly slump for nearly 18 months after graduating from college, I rose up out of the ashes and found my muse again. I honored my muse by making a feathered Phoenix mask.

The final photos in the slideshow are of my three year old niece. She's a real clown. The funny part about the mask is that the finished product reminds me of the Fire gang from the 80's film, The Labyrinth starring David Bowie.



One of my greatest inspirations came from wanting to make masquerade style masks like the ones in the ballroom scene in the same movie. I'm going to start working with paper mache and clay this winter as well, and will definitely post my results here.

Now, I just hope no one tries to take off my head this Halloween!