Golden Eagle Mask

I have been "gourding" for 20 years- I cannot even believe it has been that long but it has! 
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Over the years I have made some gourd "oncers" which is my word for I just want to make it once, just so that I have the experience. Like the gourd lamp, the flute, the kalimba and the kaleidoscope. 

A mask was something that I had not yet tried.  Lots of people have made masks, they even have a history of being used by Native Americans, and they are a popular art form today.  

That all being said,  I started working on this in February and my original intention was to use real feathers to decorate it, much like other mask artists use.  However as I started burning in the small feathers on the surface, I decided instead to use actual gourd pieces to turn into more feathers.  

the original gourd ready to cut out the mask

Some of the feather cut outs that were added.

Since I wanted to have a Celtic flair to it, I added knot work to the top feathers and created more feathers inside each knot.  Gold leaf was applied to the Celtic knots, and the feathers, beak and eye rings were painted with transparent gold acrylic.

Top down view, here you can see the gold leaf on the knot work.

So, I honestly thought this would be something to hang on a wall, but as I worked on it and actually tried it on and it really fit!  This is definitely a "oncer" art piece but I am happy I made it.  It took a lot longer to complete than I first anticipated but with the stay at home orders, and most of my shows being canceled, it was good to have a fun and different project like this to work on.

Side view and the configuration of the added gourd feather pieces.

Here's me in my Golden Eagle Gourd Mask! What do you think?