My name is Jeanne, and I have been making masks for over 10 years. In 1986, I traveled to Italy and studied with the University of Georgia's Cortona art program for a summer. At the time I was a ceramic sculptor and painter. Upon visiting Venice, I was introduced to paper mache masks as an art. Up until that time I had a very narrow view of masks and their place in our culture. Since people, and faces in particular, were the focus of my own art I was fascinated by the masks of Venice; with their variety and quality.
   Upon returning home I began to experiment with paper mache on my own. As an artist, I had always felt constrained by the limitations of my two chosen mediums; ceramics and painting. I craved the dimensionality of ceramic sculpting, yet the slip and slide of oil paints and the vibrancy of the colors also seemed necessary to me. In paper mache I had found a medium which I could sculpt by hand and then paint. And since faces are my focus, making masks just seemed like the logical evolution of my work. The masks which I make allow me to explore the art of the face in extensive detail and variation.
    In the last several years I have taken the paper mache another step. By integrating paper mache with traditional oil painting on canvas I have created several large pieces of relief wall sculpture which are then painted with oils. These are mainly exihibited in local galleries and art shows. If you would like to see a few of them then you can click on the links here or below to visit the art gallery. Some of the pieces shown there are in my own collection and are available for sale upon a good offer, others are already sold and a part of someone's private collection. If you have a question about one please email me to discuss it.