Aug 2012
Rachael is a friend of my brother-in-law who stepped in once to save me when a model for a charity body paint cancelled last-minute. Her day job is with the extremely talented Jungle PR team. I have painted a charity duck race duck for them in the past.
Jungle PR had been given the task of impressing the attractions of East Anglia onto hundreds of foreign journalists (over for the Olympics) who were invited to a luxury trip around England on the Orient Express. PR people had been told that due to the constrictions of the carriages, they couldn’t have posters and display tables up, and Jungle PR didn’t think handing a load of leaflets (etc) would be a memorable or interesting promotion. So, they came up with the idea of body painting Rachael who is stunning! We decided on a slightly retro look, as research showed how famous Norfolk and Suffolk was back in the heyday of rail, and I located a cute sailor suit that they ordered for her.
I spent several days making a head-piece for her out of paper and glitter, showing the Southwold beach houses and Happisburgh (etc!) lighthouse.
So, practically at dawn, we met on the coach to London, with poor Rachel having to do radio interviews on her phone all the way down, discussing the event. We managed to arrive on time despite all the horror stories about Olympic traffic. They had reserved a conference room (with sweeties and drinks!!!!) at the hotel opposite the train station, so we set up and got started.
I did her legs first , based on some vintage rail posters advertising the Norfolk Broads (sailing and wildlife), and a local brewery which used artwork of local sights such as the beaches. On the back was a crab scene (for edible Cromer crabs and the big crab catching race), and on the other leg, the horse races at Newmarket.
The cute sailor suit only left her arms exposed, so I did almost tattoo-style motifs of Norfolk (things like HRH’s Sandringham house and Norwich Football Club below the Visit Norfolk logo) on 1 side, and Suffolk (Music by Benjamin Britten, etc) below their logo on the other.
We finished on time, Rachel popped on some killer heels, and left to go meet the press. I was tidying up so missed it, but it seems it worked like a dream! As soon as she took off her coat and popped on the headpiece, photographers went mad and she and her team had an extremely successful trip on the Orient Express promoting our locations.
Above and beyond by Rachel – she got home in the small hours!
Body Painting by Cat 