W hen Charles Buggs stepped in front of a sixth-grade class at
Floyd Dryden Middle School on Thursday, he was carrying a bag
full of faces. A box of eyes and noses was on a nearby counter.
Each student held an assemblage of "bones," waiting to hear how
to flesh out their creations with paper and glue. Buggs is a
master at making masks, and for the past few weeks he has been
sharing his accumulation of knowledge with hundreds of Dryden
students. To create masks, Buggs uses a technique he developed
that starts with chipboard strips that are curved and affixed
into a symmetrical oval, with an arching grid in the middle.
Then, with pieces of paper - cut-up grocery bags, for example -
covered in glue, he fills the gaps and builds the mask's unique
character. He adds facial features by molding around pieces of
cardboard and wire, then paints and decorates the mask. When
done, his smooth, sturdy creations have the appearance of carved
wood. He has published a book about his technique, called "The
Art of the Paper Ma