I love making this design...it's so much fun!

Most of my new Clockwork masks are so big and heavy...I wanted to do something smaller, a bit more delicate. So, I made this one. It's a leather base augmented with real clock parts, securely bolted and/or cemented to the mask, and based off my basic Persian mask shape so it's really comfortable to wear.

I'm calling it "Time Bandit", for obvious reasons.

This is the 8th version I've made. I tried something new; steel, brass and black lacquered aluminum parts all together. I kind of like the contrast.

This is also the last "train wheel" part I had (the spiky-looking cog in the center) and it's an antique and I can't seem to find any more...so hurry and get this one if you like that spiky gear assemblage in the center.

Available here: [link]

I'm calling this an "Elvish Leaf Mask" because it is inspired by the golden leaves of Lothlorien. Does that make me a total, pandering whore? Possibly. Probably. I don't care.

Actually it was a design that was commissioned, and everyone knows the customer is always right. So, I am absolved.

The leather is 8oz, high quality tooling grade. I hand carve the design, hand-shape the mask, and paint it with colorfast Liquitex acrylics.

Signed, dated, numbered original. "Elvish Leaves #2" Available right now (until it is gone!) in my online shop, here: [link]

Okay, this is the prettiest Time Bandit I've made so far. I was experimenting with different colors; this one is bronze, cream and gold.

I had some new gears in copper, so I used copper and brass clock parts together and I LOVE the way it looks.

This is V10, in my shop here: [link]

This is a true story.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I was a struggling artist. I had no shop, I had no portfolio, I had no computer...I just had these two clever hands. I was very poor, but I was teaching myself to do leatherwork, and I'd stumbled upon a way to carve and shape 3-d things out of leather, so I was experimenting with that. I had started selling small examples of my new experiments at sci-fi conventions and such, but it was a pretty rudimentary setup (sometimes just myself, a tupperware box of my masks and things, and a blanket to sit on).

I was also a huge nerdgirl. My very favorite TV show (still, to this day) was "Mystery Science Theater 3000" and I never missed a single episode. I taped all the shows, and that's what I watched while I stayed up late at night, working on my little leather thingies. I loved the show 'cause it was smart, funny, a bit nostalgic, and nerdy (like me!). Also it had a wonderful "handmade" quality that I found endlessly clever and charming.

In spite of being dirt poor, when I saw there was going to be a very unique MST3K convention in Minneapolis, I saved my pennies and went to it. My beloved show had just been cancelled by Comedy Central and I didn't know if it would ever be on TV again (it got picked up by the Sci-Fi network, eventually...but I didn't know that at the time), so I felt compelled to make the effort to meet my heroes and thank them for being my late night "friends" while I was up all night, working, and for making such a wonderful TV show.

Joel Hodgson (the creator) had already left the show by then (to my sorrow), but I knew Trace Beaulieu was going to be there. Trace was just as instrumental as Joel, when it came to the clever hand built "thingies" on MST3K, and he was the genius behind the puppet "Crow"...a robotic sorta-bird-thing with a wise mouth. I loved Crow with all my heart. If I ever had to choose a "totem animal", it'd be Trace's Crow. So I was looking forward to meeting Trace, thanking him, and even giving him a tiny example of my fledgling leather work, as a gift.

Except...I froze. When I walked up to Trace at the meet-and-greet, I started to shake. All I could do was hand him the tiny leather dragon head keychain I'd made just for him, blurt "...I made it for you. It's gold. Like Crow". And, quite literally, run away.

I blew it! I have no idea why I freaked. Trace seemed like a really nice guy. Anyway...at least I gave him the gold dragon keychain. I had to be content with that.

Except...Trace Beaulieu is a ~really~ awesome person, who makes things with his hands too, and appreciates handmade artisan work. So the last night of the convention (at a really big, really fun party) he actually detached himself from a gaggle of fans, ~ran up~ to me and said "Hey! You! You gave me a little dragon...I love it! What is that made of...leather?" And since I had a drink in me and I was less nervous, we started to talk.

And he was really nice! And he said several things to me that were encouraging, like; he'd never seen ANYthing like that little dragon, and I needed to get online, and I needed to build a website. He said private websites promoting self-representing artists was going to be the wave of the future. He said he thought if I could get my work seen online, by a wider audience, there wasn't anything holding me back from being a real success as an artist.

Well, I took his advice to heart. When I went home, I bought my first computer. It was just a sad little used PC (dial-up...ugh! 32k. I used to keep a Rubik's Cube next to it, so I'd have something to do while I waited and waited for crap to load), but in 1996 it was the thing that got me off the ground. The name I picked for my AOL (haha!) screen name/email eventually became my business name; Merimask. I built a website. Because of that, I had to learn how to digitally photograph my artwork. I had to start taking credit card payments, so I incorporated as "Merimask Designs"...and it was off to the races.

In the midst of all this activity, I also found (to my joy, because I was so poor and isolated and lonely...) that the computer was great for social networking too. In an MST3K chatroom (remember those?) I met a really nice, funny, smart, nerdy guy who eventually became my husband. MST was the perfect dating tool; I already knew how smart he was, what his political preferences were, how well-read he was, and how nerdy (very important!). No way would I ever even consider dating a guy (much less marrying one) who couldn't quote Monty Python lines at will. A nerdgirl has to have standards...

So! Seventeen years later! Now, I'm international, baby. I've done masks for Cirque Du Soleil and Japan's "Muscle Musical". I've been to Japan a few times...been on TV there as something of a celebrity. Been on TV here too; with Martha Stewart. And in just this last year alone, my masks have appeared in several music videos and commercials...all over the world.

I'm Global! And, in a way, I have MST3K to thank. It's "butterfly effect" stuff ( [link] ) but totally real nonetheless. A small change at one place in a nonlinear system can result in large differences to a later state. Who knows where I would be now, if not for MST3K and some kind advice from Trace?

Trace (and OMG Joel Hodgson too) is now involved with a wonderful evolution of the MST3K idea; Cinematic Titanic. ( [link] ) Next week, I'm going to see their live show in Hartford Connecticut, and I'll get a chance to thank Trace...again. So, I made this mask for him.

I called it "Robot Raven"...but his will be numbered #1 and subtitled "...Gold Like Crow". I kind of really hope he loves it.

I'm also stoked that I'll finally get to meet Joel! Been waiting for over twenty-some years!! No doubt I'll make something nice for him too, start shaking, blurt something really stupid, and not rectify the situation for another couple of decades.

Such is life, when you are a nerdgirl.

Happy Mardi Gras! I made this as a last minute order, to save Mardi Gras for some nice girl who ~really~ needed a unicorn mask. I hope she's having fun with it tonight!

Everything fun goes into making this mask. Leather, beads, feathers, Swarovski crystals...it's a whole party in one mask.

Masks like this one can be purchased ONLY at my online shop, here: [link]

I'm very pleased with this design...it really captures the essence of an elegant Venetian mask with just a hint of the clockwork theme. This is my third attempt at the design and I think I like this pale version best.

A "Colombina" is the traditional ornate Venetian mask with loads of baroque swirls and precious metals...my version of the Colombina sports real brass clock hands and antique brass hardware. "Colombina of time", in Italian; "Colombina Di Tempo".

It is made from one piece of 8oz leather, hand carved & shaped without molds or forms, then dyed & painted with colorfast acrylics in rich gold, cream, and pale gold. Then I augmented and decorated it with real brass clock parts, securely bolted to the piece.

Signed, dated, numbered original. "Colombina Di Tempo V3"

Available (until it is gone! Though, you can always contact me and request a similar one...) here at my online shop: [link]

New, clockwork-themed Time Bandit Mask...in my shop here: [link]

I found some really nice shiny chromed steel gearwork for the centerpiece...it's bolted on from the inside and stuff. These are always so much fun to customize. I think the black-and-white versions of this design look especially Gothic.

Some People (for some odd reason!) get their panties all twisted in knots when I call this "steampunk" art...so let's just call 'em industrial gothic clockwork masks and leave it at that. Perhaps now the self appointed and very important steampunk police won't chew my arms off.

Made of leather, acrylic paint, clock parts and love.

Industrial Anubis, version 8, up close.

Last time I made an Industrial Anubis, I asked this question:
"...how does it look with a goggle/monocle? The answer is; it looks like a cross between a badass robotic Anubis and a mad scientist intent on ruling the world."

Well, if that is true, then I think a goggle/monocle with ~two~ 5X magnification loupes is even more badass. One more badass. That is to say:

Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty DiBergi: Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.

Thusly, this mask goes to eleven.

Sort of a blend of traditional Egyptian motifs with industrial design elements, made from one piece of 8oz leather, hand carved & shaped without molds or forms, then dyed & painted with colorfast acrylics in bright gold and black. Then I augmented and decorated it with real brass clock parts and one cup of a juiced-up welder's goggle that I modified myself.

Signed, dated, numbered original; this is "Industrial Anubis, Version #8", available in my shop, here: [link]

I love making this design...it's so much fun!

Most of my new Clockwork masks are so big and heavy...I wanted to do something smaller, a bit more delicate. So, I made this one. It's a leather base augmented with real clock parts, securely bolted and/or cemented to the mask, and based off my basic Persian mask shape so it's really comfortable to wear.

I'm calling it "Time Bandit", for obvious reasons.

This is the seventh time I've made this design (lucky number seven!). This time I did it in black and white, with silver and steel clock parts. Every time I make a new one, it will never be quite the same because I'm using real antique clock pieces to decorate the mask. So this is signed, dated and numbered "Time Bandit version 7".

Available in my shop, online, here: [link]

This is my new Imperial Industrial Anubis mask and I have to say, it's probably the coolest Anubis I've made yet. The side "wing-blade" elements are separate pieces, attached with mini darkened brass rivets...otherwise it's all one piece of leather. The clockwork elements are all either vintage or new-made brass pieces, bolted on. Fun fun!

It's a new, souped-up version of my Industrial Anubis, so I slapped an "Imperial" on to the front of the title. Sort of like a cross between traditional Egyptian motifs and anime, with industrial clockwork elements. Fun to make, but HARD to make, and I probably won't do too many of these.

In my online shop, until it is gone, here: [link]