John's Mask

A clay mask painted by John Denver

A clay mask painted by John a few weeks before his death recently raised $7,000 for the Hospice of Metro Denver in Colorado.

Masks to illustrate the theme "behind every mask lies the beauty within" were painted by more than 200 celebrities. The masks were displayed in a Denver shopping mall prior to being auctioned in May to raise money for the Hospice.

Small pictures of each mask were shown in a catalogue. Each one was labelled with the artist's name and profession - except for John's, which appeared first and was labelled simply "The Late John Denver". The catalogue had the following comment on John's mask:

The Late John Denver painted his mask just weeks before the plane crash. The mask is representative of John. A statement uttered by those who knew him best was that "his music was simple, but he was complex." At first glance his mask is simple, but look closer.you find hidden in the face a tree, a bird, a heart, a Native American head dress, a tear, and a sad face in the pupil of the eye.

Photo of John's mask provided by Pat Palka.

Another of Pat's photos. This one is closer-up but has the top cut off!

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