On Sunday, February 5, I went to the Centro de la Artesania ( Traditional Craft Center) to shop, and found that there would be a Mask Making Workshop the same afternoon. I finished the activities I had planned and returned in time to join the group.

Our teacher was Pedro Mendoza, an artist and mask maker from the town of Trinidad de Viguera. He brought two fellow artists from their community studio to help us learn about the mask making art form. He told us about his work and the use of the masks in rituals and celebrations in his town.

We began by learning to make a base for the mask: a beginning form without details like the forehead, eyebrows, nose, and lips. Next we learned how to use the newsprint material, tearing pieces and coating them with adhesive and forming them in pieces to sculpt the face.

I learned about symmetry in the “face” I created, and how to add the details so that the face would express what I desired. I worked to build in the eyebrows, nose, lips, and ears. After my mask dries, I will paint it. Here is a photo of my mask in progress:

I look forward to visiting Pedro and the other artists in their Trinidad de Viguera studio in the coming weeks.

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