Edoardo e Marco
We hope that this brief journey through our artisan lab has given you the opportunity to share with us our everyday life, that is made of passion, plaster dust... and some other unrevealed secrets!
HOW A MASK WAS BORN
It all begins with an idea, a creative spark. A magic place where our artist's imagination blends with his knowledge of the topic and meets his passion for the history of the "Commedia dell'Arte" (an Italian theatre genre). First, his imagination translates into form using a simple pencil and a blank sheet of paper.
The following step is modelling clay. This is the most challenging part of his work because it is here that his imagination faces the practical limitations of sculpting clay. The model that he creates will be used multiple times in the future, and if it is not well-executed, the finishing decorations will do little to hide imprecisions that a careful eye could easily spot. At "il Campiello", our philosophy is to focus on the three-dimensional nature of our creations; from modelling to decoration, our intention is to magically wrap you with our masks, so that you can feel immersed in an all-around atmosphere.
Once that the clay model is finished, the next step is plaster casting, where our artist creates the mould used as a base for our masks. This is another delicate step, and if it is not carefully executed, it can easily spoil the mask quality. When the mould is dry, our mask-maker can finally hold in his hands what we like to call our "little treasure", which is stored in our "bank", the mould storage area. This is a place that is jealously guarded and protected, because without it, our masks would not exist.
The paper laying. Finally, we can see that our mask comes to life! Each model requires specific techniques to make its parts fit together, to ensure the right balance between elasticity, strength, and lightness. Some mask-makers prefer to paint the mask interiors; at "Il Campiello" we prefer to follow the tradition and leave the interior un-painted, so that paper overlaps, a result of our hand-made process, are visible and guarantee the manufacturing originality of our models.
The finishing is unique for every mask. We add more plaster, polish it, and we sand the mask's eyes and edges to prepare it for decoration. In general, some mask-makers opt for a final smooth effect, others prefer to leave the paper overlaps visible to once again emphasise the craftsmanship of the piece. Each of the steps described includes a drying time that can often be long but must be respected, to avoid compromising the quality of the final decoration.
Lastly, we reach the most creative step: the decoration. Here, we do not follow any specific rule and allow our creativity to guide our hands, always respecting the tradition of Venice, our unique and beautiful city on the water. We enjoy mixing gold leaf with precious local damask fabrics, fusing the Murano glass tradition with our papier-mâché, embellishing our masks with rich trimmings, and returning a subtle antique touch using the fine art of craquelé and Judaic bitumen.
We hope that this brief journey through our artisan lab has given you the opportunity to share with us our everyday life, that is made of passion, plaster dust... and some other unrevealed secrets!
Edoardo e Marco