Private Sessions and Workshops!

I am offering private maskmaking sessions this summer! Whether you are a mother-daughter pair, a couple celebrating your connection, a pair of good friends, or just your self, maskmaking can be a potent and powerful way to acknowledge rites of passage, dreams, soul journeys and also an excellent way to set intentions. Give yourself or your loved ones a unique gift! For more information, contact Denise via email:
deniseastar@gmail.com

Karina & Elodie

...she is a very strong presence, what came through. I am calmed every time by the fact that she carries the crescent moon on her lips. Shhh, she seems to say to me every time I grow agitated looking at her, there is time, and there is light, and there will be more always.

Karina's story:

I was very touched by the taking care of each other that happened during the mask-forming part of the workshop. It was immeasurably sweet to feel my little girl's hands on my shoulders, and smoothing the plaster-strips across my forehead. There was a palpable hum of pleasure in the room as Elodie was encouraged to make me comfortable and help Denise with making a mask while I just relaxed and let her do it. It was really funny when she said "My mom is good at smoothing things out," because it is true on so many levels, which is how Elodie often speaks. She is one part trickster and one part cipher ... and a couple other parts I cannot always name.

I was also surprised at how comfortable I was behind the mask. The thicker and harder it became, the deeper I went into a meditative state. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that wearing a mask relaxes me, but it was an interesting lesson nonetheless. Being physically present but showing no face to the world, and in fact having my eyes closed the whole time so I couldn't "see" the world, it heightened how everything sounded and felt, making me feel both very relaxed and very alive.

Denise did a wonderful job of managing my daughter in her art-making process so that I had the space to do my own. My daughter is someone who requires a lot of interaction, so generally I have a hard time doing art alongside her. She pretty much always wants to jump into whatever art I am creating and participate, which can be frustrating for me in terms of wanting to follow my own artistic flow, and at the same time not wanting to discourage from making art. She also can get frustrated with her art not being 'as good' as mine when we do our art together. It was wonderful how she felt really good about how her mask turned out. She was pleased with her own artistry, which made us both happy. And I was happy with how much space I had to work on my own thing. At one point she came over to look at it and said "mom, it's like looking at you on the inside." Very sweet. And her squirrel mask was just crackling with little furry animal energy, just like Elodie.

I was shocked to see my mother staring back at me when I first saw the mask. Because my  mother passed away just a couple of years ago, and has been in my dreams a lot lately, it really catapulted me into a journey space that I wasn't expecting. At one point I felt light-headed and somewhat overwhelmed with the task of creating a whole mask right then and there. I had a very strong urge to lay down somewhere and take a nap instead. Denise was very good at gently nudging me towards creating without, at any time, making me feel like she was taking over. Making art felt very accessible, whereas most of the time I feel like a rank amateur. And by making art, I mean making something that resonates deeply with something I am experiencing.

There was a moment when I was painting some blue on the face, and because I hadn't dabbed the paintbrush properly, it streamed down one side of the face.I felt like I was watching my mother cry, something I had done many times when she was alive, but in this instance it felt beautiful. I had the experience that there was beauty and perfection in my being witness to her pain. It's a lesson I'm still trying to take in.

Both Elodie and I loved the idea of hearing the egg "crack" open when the mask was lifted. Elodie did a special ringing and knocking when hers came off. I wasn't sure she'd make it through that whole process, and was really impressed and proud of her for breathing and calming herself down when, in the middle, she started to panic about her face being almost covered by plaster. I held her feet, and I felt everything in her relax as she felt she was being held the way she needed to be held. Then she gave us the thumbs up and we continued.

On the whole, I felt stretched and inspired by the mask-making process. The beginning part of making the mask grounded me, as did dialoguing with myself by writing questions and answers. The transition to actually decorating the mask was probably the hardest part because I have so little confidence in myself as a person who "makes" things, but Denise somehow, effortlessly, helped me through that so, before I knew it, I had a paintbrush and a bunch of collage strips and was happily creating my own version of color and grace. I could've probably spent a couple more days on it. The end result, the mask, is sitting in my living room. I can't always look at her, she is a very strong presence, what came through. I am calmed every time by the fact that she carries the crescent moon on her lips. Shhh, she seems to say to me every time I grow agitated looking at her, there is time, and there is light, and there will be more always.

Spiraleena & Emily, Mother & Daughter Artists

 "Mask making really brought this full circle for me. Even the 

fear of death, as those little moments of panic when your 

eyes are covered , then your mouth with goopy plaster 

bandages. I found the only way to endure it was to surrender 

completely to deep slow breathing and calm. Looking at the 

un-decorated mask I found myself taken back to that day she

died, ( St. Patrick's day!) and musing as well on the thought 

of my own passing. I would hope people would come and 

make art,  sing, read poetry, say what they needed to say, 

and have a gathering around me, and finally all move together

into a state of bliss and awe."

The first question suggested to ask my white plaster mask, " who are you"?

And this came:

Who are you?

I am a new kind of mirror

Mystery mirror

Gauze bandages

Close eyes

Wrapped around jaw to

Close the mouth-

Like those first moments of

Repose

After

The last breath

When the priestess

Washes, anoints and

Readies

The sacred remains

For the Irish wake-

I await

Flowers and jewels

Totemic decor

Essence of which

Accompanies my journey

To the underworld-

Blesses those who remain

Remain

--Spiraleena

Spiraleena's Story:

It was a serendipitous moment in the calendar which only gave us one day we could all three work together, Denise, my daughter Emily and myself.

As it happened to be the exact one year anniversary of a dear woman who was a friend to each of us, Tyrell O'Neal, we all felt it was the best possible thing to do in memory of her.

Two days before the cancer claimed her life, she had asked that friends and community be invited over to her house for a collage making party. She had never wanted to talk about dying and therefore few knew how close she was.

I came in the afternoon on weds to be told at the door that she was on her deathbed and to come on in and make a collage if I wanted. Paper and magazine scraps were everywhere and friends were making art ( always one of Tyrells favorite activities!) in the living room while she was in the bedroom stuggling with her death. It was quite the odd scene! Very humorous, poignant and strange. I cancelled everything and stayed to help for the next several very intense days.

After a difficult, painful passage, storming and raining, it finally became calm. She moved out of pain and seemed to become very peaceful. Hours later the golden morning dawned. Her family all around, she quietly went beyond. With the mentor ship of two experienced friends I took on the task of caring for her body after her death. Preparation included washing her, closing her eyes, tying a ribbon around her jaw to close her mouth till rigor mortis set in. And finally anointing her with fragrant flower oils, and dressing her in mounds of flowers. All morning even before she passed, I had been stuck by how beautiful she was after the pain was gone and in the golden light after the rainstorm. I was unprepared however, for the radiance
glowing from her after she died, which carried on for hours. She was Irish, and It was truly an Irish, pagan wake.

So much healing had happened in this transition and all noted the feeling of the divine, miraculous, mystery and a great presence of love. Many were afraid at first to look at her body( many had not seen a corpse before, especially the children). We read poems around her dear dead body and told stories and sang songs, all with reverence and even some comedy,at times. Mask making really brought this full circle for me. Even the fear of death, as those little moments of panic when your eyes are covered , then your mouth with goopy plaster bandages. I found the only way to endure it was to surrender completely to deep slow breathing and calm. Looking at the un-decorated mask I found myself taken back to that day she died, ( St. Patrick's day!) and musing as well on the thought of my own passing. I would hope people would come and make art,  sing, read poetry, say what they needed to say, and have a gathering around me, and finally all move together into a state of bliss and awe.

Cover me with flowers and take care of each other. Mask making helped me in a way that just talking or even writing about it could not; moving me to that liminal place of possibility.

 Denise was a wonderful facilitator, hostess, and priestess of this journey/work, and I am well pleased! My daughter and I met Denise at a new moon circle and we made masks there( the only two times in my life I've made a mask!) another full circle, having Emily there.