We had a record breaking short business session at our November meeting. Anne talked about the Weavers Group, Liz told us of a Federation event she attended called “Christmas Butchery” and Meg spoke of her visit to the Federation Annual Council Meeting in Salisbury where the main speaker was David Hempleman-Adams, the explorer.
Meg then introduced our speaker, Karen Johnston, who gave us a potted history of Venetian Carnival Masks. The word “carnival” comes from the Latin; “carn” – (flesh- meat) and “levare” – put away and is associated with Shrove Tuesday. By the 16th Century the Carnival of Venice was in full swing annually. The habit of wearing masks started to spread throughout the rest of the year and several times over the centuries, the wearing of masks was forbidden, most recently, by Mussolini. It was, of course, a magnificent way to indulge in “liaisons”! However, the Venice Carnival was revived in 1979 and now attracts some three million visitors a year.
It was time to move on to the really fun part of the evening! Karen had made mask templates in various shapes and sizes which we used to make our own creations. Then, what a great time we had – we glued, stapled and coloured for an hour or so using paper, material, feathers, ribbon, sequins and glitter and by the end of the evening, had a glorious assortment of masks. A really enjoyable time, even for those of us who are not “crafty”.
So, any idea who this lady hiding behind her mask might be?
Our competition was the annual best-wrapped Christmas present for Green Lane Hospital, which was won by Karen Wright who produced a present wrapped as Father Christmas sitting on top of his sleigh.
We are off to a Christmas meal for our December meeting but back on 10th January for a Wine & Cheese evening hosted by Waitrose.
A Happy Christmas to you and yours from Edington & Tinhead WI.