Workshops & Classes

To stay informed of upcoming workshops and classes please subscribe to the Wildland Roots Newsletter.

I can also create a mask-making workshop for your school, organization or community group in the Portland, Oregon area.

Upcoming:

Mask-making with Natural & Biodegradable Materials

10am - 4pm, Saturday October 23rd, 2021
North Portland, Oregon

I am excited to announce this workshop to be offered in collaboration with Rewild Portland:

This is an original mask-making technique that uses a cornstarch-based bioplastic recipe to stiffen and shape sheets of reclaimed burlap over rigid face-forms. We will also make paint from natural pigments, then embellish the masks with color, natural fibers, and other natural objects.

The class will be held in a large outdoor structure that is open on one side, and is limited to 10 students.

Location: The St Johns neighborhood in Portland, Oregon.

Materials provided and included in the $75 tuition.

Registration info HERE.

Photo by Mellissa Berry, digitally edited by Wildland Roots

Masks & Adornment -
A Rewild Portland Free Skills Series Class

2–4:30 pm, Saturday October 30th, 2021
North Portland, Oregon

I am excited to announce this free class in collaboration with Rewild Portland.

The first half will be a presentation on the history and cultural context of masks from various cultures, with a particular focus on the animistic traditions that lie beneath Halloween and other rites of fall and winter.

The second half is a hands-on adornment workshop with Ivy Stovall (Rewild Portland instructor and Echoes in Time kids program director).

For more information or to register please visit Rewild Portland's 2021 free skills series page.

As this class occurs on the Saturday before Halloween, costume-wearing is encouraged--especially if you are joining us for the Samhain River Procession that follows afterwards.

Mask-Making with Burlap, Bioplastic, and Natural Earth Pigments

Echoes in Time, Monmouth, Oregon, June 2019
Green Anchors, Portland, Oregon, August 2019

I developed a completely new maskmaking technique for this workshop, using a cornstarch-based bioplastic recipe to stiffen and shape sheets of reclaimed coffee sack burlap over rigid face-forms. The mask workshop was held in conjunction with a natural paint class by Scott Sutton of Pigment Hunter, using pigments collected around Oregon. Other materials used included cottonwood bast fiber, blackberry stems, wooden beads, scrap leather and fur.

Woven Masks

Echoes in Time, Champoeg, Oregon, 2015, 2016, 2018
Echoes in Time, Monmouth, Oregon, 2019

In this class my students wove masks and hats based on traditional Scottish and Irish straw costume designs, but adapted to use local materials (common cattail/common bulrush, Typha latifolia) and raffia fiber.

The masks and hats were a part of Echoes in Time's end of week Mask Night celebration.

Photo by Lauren Parker Photography, 2018

Photo © by Jesse Ambrose, 2015

Photo by Peraza Media, 2014

Basic Paper Mache Masks

Peninsula K-8 School, Portland, Oregon, Spring 2014

Assisted by Peninsula School SUN volunteers.

A ten session SUN after-school program for grades 3-8. Students learned basic mask-construction using the foil+tape+paper mache method* and designed their own wearable animal masks. For their final project, many of the students wore their completed masks as part of the Peninsula school's entry for the 2014 St Johns Parade.

*Method from Bruce Mars of the Dell'Arte school.

Quick Cardboard Masks

Peninsula K-8 School, Portland, Oregon, April 2014

Assisted by Peninsula School teachers and parent volunteers.

A Peninsula K-8 School Family Night activity. Families spent an evening together cutting out and assembling cardboard animal masks from provided patterns*. Many students and family members then wore their completed masks as part of the Peninsula school's entry for the 2014 St Johns Parade.

*Patterns adapted from those by Douglas Witt