Novica Handmade Elikem Child African Wood Mask

Hand-carved of sese wood, this round African mask adds beautifully to your home decor. Rita Addo Zakour designs the mask, accentuated with embossed brass and aluminum. She names the mask Elikem, a Ewe name used for boys and girls. Product Features: Dimension: 3.1" H x 8.75"" W x 8.75"" D Weight: 0.91 Color: Brown Material: Sese wood, brass, aluminum Intended as wall decor Hand-crafted item -- color, size and/or motif may vary slightly Made In Ghana Story Behind the art: I am a designer by profession. I do my designing with African concepts in mind. Growing up, I loved to sketch things on paper. It was a natural talent, I guess. In high school, I pursued a course in visual arts that helped me develop my natural talent; this made my art studies enjoyable. I then attended a secretarial school, and stringing beads helped me generate income to my support my education. I sold the beads to friends and students, and their comments encouraged and motivated me to create more designs. Over time, I made more to sell in the local market. After completing the secretarial course, my bead-craft became very demanding and I focused my attention on it. I also got into carving as well as developing frame designs for mirrors. I started out by creating a lot of designs and worked with a carver to translate my sketches on wood. I started painting them and added the metal plates. I got lots of positive comments on my work, which encouraged me to continue and not give up. I'm blessed to be married to a man who is also into arts and crafts, and is a designer as well. We work together. It's wonderful to work in such an environment where a simple design can turn out to be something very unique product through the input of my spouse. This makes my products very unique from other artisans making similar products. I find inspiration by opening my eyes wider to see things — in magazines, on TV, on the streets, and all around me. Requests for my designs led us to build a workshop at home and have proper supervision of the work. The carvers who collaborate with me use traditional tools. As the demand grows, I'm able to give work to more carvers, which generates more income for them and their families. I sometimes have young men in the community showing an interest in learning how to carve, and they come around to observe. It is possible one or two carvers who show a keen interest can make a career out of this. The workshop also provides local women with a constant supply of wood scraps for cooking. I'm proud to say that, on few occasions, I've chipped in financially to help a couple of children in my neighborhood. These children see me as their second mother and it is a joy to put a smile on their faces. With the introduction of my jewelry through Novica, women who mainly enjoy stringing beads in the neighborhood also get to earn some money when there is an increase in demand. We use mainly wood, recycled aluminum sheets and recycled plastic beads. Away from work, I love to be with my family and cook for them. It is such joy having three young ladies at home. With their love for fashion, they help out with stringing the jewelry, sharing their opinions on my designs and also suggesting color combinations for some of my jewelry. Please allow 10 business days for the product to leave our warehouse and to receive tracking information. You should expect to receive this item within 15 business days."