·       LMC:  Talk about good ole George W.

CH:  Well, I guess that it’s obvious that I was not a Bush voter in 2000. (Ralph Nader all the way). I saw a hilarious cartoon by Tom Tomorrow, “This modern World”, that had Bush morphing into Alfred E. Newman. And after W became president, the Nation magazine had an infamous cover that mixed W and Alfred E. I just had to try to make a mask of that. I was just finishing up the sculpture when it was announced that W himself would be in St. Paul in a week. I was up several nights getting a casting ready and painted for the event, and barely made it. A good friend of mine wore it –complete with suit and “What, Me President?” sign– outside the building where Bush gave his speech and got all the TV attention. He appeared on every local station that night, and the St. Paul paper’s story on the visit had a picture of the mask along with those of the president’s visit.

I had several people contact me about mass manufacturing the W. mask. So far nothing’s worked out, so I’ve kind of relegated it to being a personal project. But there’s a big senate race heating up this year, so I’m sure that W will be back in town. And the W. mask may have to make another appearance. It was so much fun that I plan on doing parody masks of both the Democratic and Republican candidates for now on. Not a bad project every four years. If only I could develop a relationship with a quality manufacturer… But most of this stuff is made in foreign sweatshops, so I’m not willing to join in on that.

LMC: Nice, I can see a niche there.  Not too many people doing it, and a lot of possibilities for national exposure.

CH: Definitely. And politics is a big part of my life. So it’s great that I’ve found a means by which I can satirize the politicians with my FX work. Most of the mass market, political caricature masks are of very low quality. If I could find a producer, I think that I could give them a good run for attention.

CH: I think that when it comes to most products, it’s only affordable because someone else is “paying” for it, i.e. with cheap labor. For an independent artist to fabricate a mask takes so much time and skill that the limited edition pieces are still cheaper than they should be. But people have little to no idea how much work goes into a quality piece. If people want affordable, that’s fine. But they shouldn’t expect artists to just give away their work. For some reason, resin kits sell for up to $100 or more, and all they are is basic resin castings. The materials may only cost $15, but the expertise that goes into them makes it worth the cost. Yet, mask collectors don’t seem to think the same way about limited edition masks. The paint jobs alone are probably worth the total asking price.

What’s needed is a place where artists can go to and get their works produced. When someone takes advantage of that need, they’ll be a bunch of really cool stuff available at a lower price. But until then, it doesn’t seem worth it for most artists to self produce high quality works for sale to the public.

LMC: What would it take for a company to produce these types of masks?  Do you see any way for a company to turn a profit at it?

CH: Short of a drastic change in the way that the world economy is structured, it’s probably not feasible. But who knows? (I can dream, can’t I?)

LMC: Who do you think the typical mask buyer is?  What do they want to buy?

CH:  There’s certainly the connoisseurs, but most people want what they’ve seen in movies. I like famous horror characters too, but I think that there are such creative artists out there that people are missing out on some much cooler stuff. But a Jason or Myers mask will get far more interest that some brilliant piece from Teves or Schell. I’ll never understand it.

LMC: What’s your favorite clay?                

CH: Definite love/hate relationship with Roma. I haven’t had much of an opportunity to work with others, but would like to. I’m still at such an early stage that I need to hone my sculpting more than anything. And I’m used to working with Roma, so I’ll probably stick with it for a while. That clay-sulfur smell sure annoys my roommates, though. I’ve just got to get myself some of that WED that everyone’s so excited about..

LMC: Any tips on creature creating?  Sculpting, molding, casting, painting.   

CH: Study anatomy like crazy. Try to sculpt realistic bone structures. Be critical of your work, and see if you can solicit critical comments from other artists. There’s a tendency to over praise each other, especially over the web. And though it’s good to encourage one another, we should try to improve our skills most of all. Also, I think it’s important that artists create their own designs in addition to tribute pieces.                                            

LMC: How would you recommend a beginner getting started making masks.  

CH: Sculpt like crazy. Don’t worry about your work being “great”. But keep at it, and try to note the things that set the really good work from the mediocre. Trust in your ability to create. Don’t just try and copy something from someone else. You may have an even better design lurking in your head.

CH: My sculpting still needs a lot of work. I’d like to be able to create realistic skin textures, but I think that it’s mostly a matter of practicing. I would like to be able to draw as well as I sculpt. A skill I need more than anything is patience. I get way too frustrated with this stuff sometimes. I’ve had a few blow ups, mostly working on molds, that I’d rather not repeat in the future. I really need to learn how to deal with it when things don’t go perfectly.

LMC: Ahhh, the patience we wish we all had. 

CH: I think on nearly every project I’ve done, I have just about given up on the whole thing, i.e. “I’m selling all of my supplies and never doing this again!” After a while, I tend to get my head back together. But it’s hard to be patient when you’ve got so little time to work on this stuff. Comes with the territory, I guess.

LMC: Any funny or interesting stories about the work you’ve done?  ie. disastrous molds
   

CH: Man, I’ve got a near disaster for almost every project. One of the full head casts I did went terribly wrong, as I had forgotten to plug the nostril holes. I’ve had molds lock up on me several times, leading to my loosing it and nearly destroying the mold out of frustration. Interesting, maybe, but funny, no.          

LMC: What are your near term plans in mask making?

CH: I may do a few prop heads that I started last summer. I’m not sure whether I’ll do another mask sculpture until I get my hands on some WED. Roma is really hard to work with on larger sculptures. It’s kind of inhibited my designs. Specifically, I was just thinking of doing a mask of the guy from the cover of the Cramps “Bad Music for Bad People” album. Not original, but something that no one else would do.

CH: I’d like to continue with the political masks, maybe to the point where I can produce a bunch every election. But mostly I’m going to focus on prosthetics and things like that. I’d also like to learn more about film-making and screen writing. Possibly contribute in a major way to a film project.

LMC: Got anything on the sculpting table now?

CH: I’m determined to finish up a corpse body that I started last summer. I hope to make it into some sort of cable controlled puppet by this Halloween. I’m still just recovering from the mess that I made molding the Executioner, so I’m taking a short break.                                             

LMC: Here’s a million bucks.  Retire and do what you want.  What do you spend your days doing?

CH: I would either make an indie film, put together a deluxe haunted house, or start a mask making company. I want to be involved in all aspects of a big production, to see some vision from start to finish. That’s the big appeal of film. I would also hire all of the semi-pro artists around the country to help show off their talents. Probably a big zombie film like nothing before.

LMC: What makes you happy?

CH: I enjoy completing projects, seeing them finished. It’s great to know that others are enjoying work that I’ve done. Conversely, day dreaming about the possible future projects gets me going.  

CH: The lack of creativity and openness among genre fans grates on me. People just want to rehash what others have done, rather than create their own work. And a lot of that stuff is pretty lame to begin with. I think that the fan mentality has really dominated to everyone’s loss. There’s so much talent and energy out there, but it’s wasted on worshiping movies and characters from years ago. I say follow the example of the artists that you admire and create your own unique vision.

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