Sooo having caught up with my blogs this spring, I’ve totally failed again since having baby Euan in April, sorry! But will just skip a bunch and do these more recent (-ish) ones then catch up again when I can.
Anyway; Martin & Sonia met Jennie at Paintopia 2014 and came up with a pitch to shoot some episodes of a documentary about artists on the people involved with Paintopia. Plan was to work with us (as in ‘staff’, guest artists, instructors, models…) over the year, then film the final parts at Paintopia 2015. They came along to many of our local paints, meet-ups and events and we got to know them well. They had the same wish to portray bodyart as an art-form divorced from the sleaze etc it often attracts as we do, and we really got on.
Of course things didn’t go to plan: I was unexpectedly pregnant and often ill, things got moved/ cancelled, then poor Martin broke his arm, so a lot of the scheduled filming didn’t quite happen. However they and their team were at the whole of Paintopia 2015 and put together a lovely episode based mainly on those 3 days.
Martin filming 1 of the Paintopia catwalks shows
We decided to do a launch party to show it to the bodyart community & say thanks to all before it aired on TV. Sadly the channel which had commissioned it had obviously seen too many of the nastily edited/ scripted american (etc) shows (not just on body art), and very late on decided our lot were too nice to each other. Which is something we are proud of, Jennie & all work hard to try to make everyone feel welcome at Paintopia. If you have forgotten some bit you need or want to try something, unlike at some bodyart events around the world I have painted at, most people there will offer it to you or try to help you. Etc. But Martin refused to fake-edit in strife and conflict, so the show wasn’t aired which was a shame! However we went on with the launch evening which Sprowston Manor kindly hosted again (I think their staff are addicted to paint & glitter) anyway as we wanted to have a nice gathering to see it.
Jennie & I fancied some painted models welcoming in our audience, to showcase what we do/ what the film was about and make it a bit more fun. As we (Paintopia) are starting a series of bodyart Youtube tutorials we thought to kill 2 birds so to speak, so this was supposed to be the 1st one… but tech malfuncitons etc meant that didn’t quite happen. Jennie re-created her Mystique paint on Gracie and to show the differences (amazing how many people muddle them) I decided to do yet another Avatar look, on Simmone. Angela Youngs painted a stunning Hell Girl on Mel using props she made herself.
NOTE – Mystique is a red-haired slightly scaley one-colour-blue (in this case cameleon Victorious) mutant woman; Avatars are incredibly tall, incredibly skinny stripey-shaded-blue-with-glowing-white ‘star-speckles alien life form, with zebra-like ears and long zebra tail and extremely long dark hair often braided tribally with beads & feathers. Oh and usually a sort of tiger nose/ brow but I didn’t bother with that prosthetic this time.
Anyway we met everyone and started painting to be ready for 6ish for photos and people arriving. Simmone who was being my Na’vi from Avatar was a bit under the weather but insisted on keeping going. We each painted the front of our models alone, then did the backs together.
This was the first play I had with Cameleon bodypaints new metallic purple-blue ‘Inkheart’. I LOVE it – its a fab strong colour with a sheen like spilt blue biro ink. I mainly used it for the stripes on Simmone. Jennie’s daughter added some plaits into the wig I had bought and I’d alos quickly braided/ glued some leather/ wooden beads/ feather ‘jewellery’. Add in a raggedly skirt I used to use when I was a facepainting wood elf every day and I had my Na’vi.
I don’t quite know where the time went; OK I had both my boys there, but I’ve done this in under 90 minutes at events like the Rugby 7s in Hong Kong! Think we were having too much fun/ too many breaks!
We then had all 3 models stand together and quickly (with about 20 minutes left!) I sketched in a really uneven ‘Urban Jungle’ which we filled in with assorted paints including UV JT glitters, and added fast detail with some freehand drips, flicks and BAM/ Grafitti stencils.
I’m hoping you can see what a fun time everyone had; I like it when models really get into their characters (and have a bit of fun).
The ladies went off to have a photo sess with David Cook and we painters tried to tidy up and change (I look odd in pics as I was mid-baby feed and hadn’t belted my top yet).
We were again very lucky with the weather – warm and sunny – so Sprowston Manor looked its best. Bet the golfers were surprised again.
Poor Simmone then went off to A&E on medical advice! She’d been a trooper, insisting on staying to get the shots at least and had even been researching the film character’s poses. Goodness knows what they thought but I guess she would have been easy to spot if they put any description in her triage notes!
After airing (eek) the Abba homage re-written for Paintopia by Al that we asked everyone to send in clips for, we watched the documentary which went down well and can be seen
Jennie & Gracie are also Euan’s god-mums and Gracie wanted baby cuddles after the show. I usually put him in a black onsie that doesn’t matter if paint gets on it, but he’d been sick so was just in his last clean shortie. We found that Gracie cuddles transferred rather well onto nicely moisturised babies!!! 🙂 All washed off of course…
So thats it. DO have a look and do subscribe to Paintopia’s/ myYoutube channel if you’d like to see more…
Jennie & I wanted to do a promo paint forPaintopia’s Sci Fi & Superhero theme, so agreed with the lovely KJ we would do a demo-paint at her event, the face paint & balloon Fab Mega Jam. Also, it was to intro the Isnap Events boys to what one of our industry gatherings was like, before they got thrown into the deep end with Paintopia!
As several models we’d asked had to cancel for one reason or other, we met Louise at Dunstan Hall to drive her to Cambridge. She’d never been painted before but was brilliant and looked so cute in the bald cap (our 1st go at a proper bald cap). Poor Jennie had to do all the driving – I was pregnant so not allowed to as well as being very sick:/ (So hair etc worse mess than usual!)
We were painting in a cosy room so had Jam go-ers popping in & out as we worked to watch and question. Lou coming to lunch in her dressing gown caused a bit of a giggle!
We used Cameleon pink with some of their darker shades and white, Superstar silver, then stencilled on some purple. After that it was lots of highlights, lowlights and ‘circuit board’ dots and lines in freehand glitter tattoos.
Despite James’ hate of glitter the boys took some amazing shots and even persuaded Lou to pose outdoors. In February!!
Then Lee of Amrkandi made this rather awesome graphic
and the Illusion Magazine team transformed the front cover of Paintopia’s brochure/ time-table with this:
This was a stunning idea Jennie had for Paintopia – lots of professional (and non!) face painters never tried a body paint as they were too shy/ nervous/ unsure of how to set one up. (Not me – I just went ahead and did it!). She designed a competition – more like a set-time workshop really – where she teamed up experienced body artists randomly with newbies. We had a few weeks to talk on email etc, some even meeting up to practice together.
Nic and her ‘apprentice’ Carla -Jayne starting to paint Pete.
The very sweet Italian Teresa Antinoro from Milan had been paired with me for this. TBH she is a great painter already and I don’t think she really needed help, but it was nice to chat as we worked. She went on to do well in some EU bodypaint comps that summer!
It was a genius idea of Jennie’s; put a novice painter with someone much more experienced to give them the confidence to have a go at body art. Sadly Italian is one of the languages I know nothing of (German, French, and Dutch I’m OK at and I even have a smattering of Cantonese and Spanish).
We’d chatted a bit on email and had a few ideas, so I’d made a giant paper-feather bird head mask with the smashed out bottoms of the plastic LED lit pint mugs I’d got from the HK Rugbys 7s as eyes. Elisabeth, who I’d painted for the My Bloody Valentine shoot, was our model.
I used sculpted foam-latex breats covers from BodyFX NZ again, love them! 1-stroke cakes were just getting popular so I’d bought a new one ( Iusually made my own), showed her vaguely how to do feathery patterns with the flamey colours, and we ‘feathered’ Liz then drew a flaming pheonix on her tummy.
A lot of pinning and fiddling fixed on the bird head, and a tutu/ bustle I love which I had got from Fairylove years ago (and no longer felt brae enough to wear).
A bit of glitter tattoo was added with the freehand glitter tattoo bottles and tipsI sell, and off Liz went. We didn’t win but it was nice experience and I LOVE all the different shots the photographers took!
These 3 photos by the IsnapEvents Photographers who set up a green-screen shoot in the painting marquee on Sunday, which was Paintopia’s public open day.
I think Liz quite liked this paint as she stayed in it until the last possible moment!
My fab buddy Jennie had never been to any of the big face/ body paint conferences, as they are usually from Norfolk (she has 2 daughters and a day job), and cost lots. She arranged a ‘jam’, a day where local (ish) painters come and try stuff, play with paints etc, and that whet her appetite. So, she decided to create Paintopia, (partially helped by her friend Kerry), a body art festival in Norfolk!
The aim was to raise the profile of good face & body art and let us all have some fun too. Even though it was its first year, she attracted entrants from all over Europe and even further as well as UK!
This first year Jennie chose a magical theme, loosely based on Harry potter, partially because we were hosted at the historic Dunston Hall.
Unlike many events, painters were able to set up on their own tables in the wedding marquee, and leave their kit there the whole weekend.
Many retailers were set up in a room in the hotel, and official photographers were in another. The first day, Saturday, we were creating mystical creatures in the main body paint event. Hotel staff were really helpful and intrigued (highly unusual compared to many events I have been to) bt did warn us that a famous football team and a lavish wedding were sharing the hotel, and could we be cautious.
I had designed a Patronus Pixie on the amazing Stephanie, in my favourite teal and blue shades.
I added prosthetic horns, and tried to draw Harry Potter casting the spell beside the lake on her leg, so his stag Patronus rose up her front, surrounded by wispy Dementors.
Voldemort on the back I was not happy with, but I finished in time and managed to fix the giant fibre-optic-and-fused fibre headpiece I had made to her wig.
A few wedding guests noticed what was going on and asked to come in; by the afternoon we had most of the wedding in watching us work.
I loved this – Juliet Eve aged out lovely Laurence by decades, changing him into an ancient wizard.
Whilst queuing to be judged, and photographed, th footballers (Aston Villa!) spotted the models and started papping them!
Nic Shilson with her Pheonix on Pete
The wedding couple also sent their official photographer to ask if the models would pose, so the whole crew grinned behind the happy couple with me trying to remind them all NOT to hug the bride!
Helen won for her unusual brown and cream flowery creation, lovely. We came 2nd ! Woohoo!!!!!
The party that night was beautifully set up to look all magical and potter-esque, with the Isnap guys offering green-screen shots of us in various famous locations from the films. I’m afraid that like many I was knackered and still needed to clean kit and set up hings for the next day, so I went back to bed fairly soon after eating. I had to abandon poor Laurence (whi was wearing my leafy home-made tiara) to the female hordes:)
The lovely Jennie Roberts has decided she is putting on a bodypaint event, and after much searching (that was fun, we went to all sorts of venues!) has agreed that Dunstan Hall will host it.
She needed some images to launch it with and kindly asked me to do some artwork. We nabbed the fab Emily and Leaane, and on a windy day in May, started some (VERY QUICK) paints in the wedding marquee at Dunston.
To take advantage of the classical grounds, Emily was decorated in a combo of cosmetic metallic powders (mixed with the matching mixing liquid) and a ‘metallic’ liquid body paint (not too impressed with that, sorry Kryolan, it was just a bit pearly really).
I’d bought and painted a wig and once that was on, dripped and splattered and painted various ‘age’ spots of lichen, bird poo, weathering etc onto her. Emily went off with Victoria Lesley to take her shots, whilst I spent the next hour (as said, super fast!) on Leeane. Vicky I met and did the Leaf Fae glitter tattoo shoot with, and loved her her photos.
Jenn has set the 2012 Paintopia theme as a sort of magical mystical world, to utilise the gorgeously Harry-Potetr-esque look of the buildings. So, using the triangular bra inserts I get in Hong Kong as glued on breast covers, and mainly Grimas and Diamond FX metallic body paints, a slightly starry, witchy look was created.
Business partner Kerry threaded 2 wigs I’d brought through each other and after some super fast stencil effects, we rushed off around the site for Leeannes shots.
Nic Shilson with her Pheonix on Pete
Body Painting by Cat 