Hummingbird Mask
Doug Lafortune was born in 1953, in Bellingham, Washington. He was raised near Victoria on Vancouver Island, B.C., where he attended High School and later studied Fine Art at Camosun College. Uncertain of what he wanted to do, he went logging until 1972, when a visit to Simon Charlie at Kohsilah kindled a desire to carve. Simon, already a world renowned artist, took Doug on as an apprentice, and it was here with Simon’s teaching and influence, that Doug developed his unique and successful style. Doug has carved many pieces, from a 14 foot totem, to masks, feast dishes, talking sticks, rattles and animal figures. He also does a lot of design sketching and painting. This has led to the release of several silkscreen prints, one of the most striking being the “Cowichan Crest”
This mask was commissioned by HeeNilth. HeeNilth had not seen many hummingbird masks since her mother pearl danced the humming bird dance honoring George Clutesi in 1952. Doung Lafortune created this mask out of red cedar and using abalone in the eyes.The back of the heardress is lined with red cedar bark.