Rauchfuss: Sure, I do that all the time. I really do travel the nation, I go from one end to the other, and I do get people who say, "I really want a mask to go with this outfit," or "I'm going to this place and I need a mask." 

Crescent Blues: They tell you what color or a character? 

Rauchfuss: Sure. I have done quite a few commissions. And I enjoy doing them as long as I can really get a solid idea of what they want. So far it's been no trouble doing that. 

Crescent Blues: And you're mask making full time? 

Rauchfuss: This is what I do for a living, right. 

Crescent Blues: That's so wonderful that there are enough people who appreciate it that you can make a living at it. 

Rauchfuss: Yes; I started travelling nationally a couple of years ago. That's what really helped move it along. Before that I was working in a theater here alongside that, but I decided to take it a step further and get out there with it, and I did, and it's working. The travel is exhausting; I'd really like to know how I can do that better. But yes, this is how I make my living. It's exciting. 

Crescent Blues: What do you hope to do that you haven't managed to do yet in the masks? Is there a vision that you haven't yet had time or found the right materials or whatever? 

Rauchfuss: I would like to create papier-mâché pieces so I can put more detail into eyelids and noses. And caricatures. I would love to do a line of caricatures. And also [masks] that I could mass produce a little easier, that I could make a series or a limited edition. That would be kind of fun I think, because I haven't gotten into that, and I think it would be nice to be able to make more detail in the actual facial features. 

Crescent Blues: Moving from the abstract to more realistic? That would be fun. 

Rauchfuss: I'd like to continue to create the frontal sculptures that go on there, and I could go anywhere with that. I'd really like to see if I can get my masks to Italy for Carnivale. Places like that. It would be really great to be able to show in other countries. I've been looking out possible sponsorships that might be able to help with that, because it's difficult getting your product overseas. 

Crescent Blues: Especially when it's something you really have to touch and play with to appreciate how wonderful it is. 

Rauchfuss: Yes. So I'd like to see it go more international. I'd like to see possible theme oriented work. There's lots of ways I could go with it; that's the one great thing that's nice about the masks. 

Crescent Blues: You said you'd made a video, what do you do with that? Is it something you sell or lend? 

Rauchfuss: Yes, I've lent it. I've sold it. I've shipped it out for people who want to see my complete works.  

Crescent Blues: So it's something you might use for people who are not going to run into you at a convention but might like to see what kind of masks you can do? 

Rauchfuss: Yes. It's a fun video, too. I think it gives a good insight into just movement in the masks.  

Crescent Blues: Does it show anything about how you work? 

Rauchfuss: No, it doesn't. 

Crescent Blues: It's more the finished product. 

Rauchfuss: Yes. It might be fun to do a video like that. I'll tell you, that video was so much work! I didn't know until we started it just how much. 

Crescent Blues: I've never done a lot of video but I've done the occasional photo shoot and it's just a question of doing it over and over and over again, even for a single shot. Especially when you have something you need to show of at its peak. 

Rauchfuss: Yes. That was an eye opener. The editing alone! It was a good process. I learned a lot about how I would do it next time. 

Crescent Blues: Like that old Peter Cook and Dudley Moore routine: "Have you learned from your mistakes?" "Yes, yes, I've learned from them and I can repeat them again exactly!" I'm usually that way with a project. 

Rauchfuss: Oh, yes; it'll be a while before I repeat that one. 

Crescent Blues: Does it bother you when you sell something? Do you sometimes miss them after they're gone? 

Rauchfuss: There are some pieces that I have never had out of my house because I can't part with them. And even the pieces that I do -- there are some that I have to say goodbye to them when I sell them, because they're really hard to let go of. But I have to pay the rent. And I've got to make more. 

Crescent Blues: And the more you keep around, the less you have to pay the rent and you can't buy cool stuff to make more -- so I guess it works.

Rauchfuss: Yes it works out. 

Crescent Blues: And you know, you might actually be at Mardi Gras and see one of your lost children walking toward you, looking fantastic. That would be kind of fun. 

Rauchfuss: Well, within the science fiction circle I do. I see my masks out there all over the place now. People bring them to cons and they wear them and it's great.  

Donna Andrews