Communion Season

Did you notice that May seems to be communion season?  I painted and did tattoos at a lot of communions this year, it was pretty fun!  Kids that age are great.  At one particular one held at the Indian Trails Club in Franklin Lakes, I was hired for solely temporary tattoos.  I did a ton!

This one young girl who was so shy she refused to talk to me came back for SIX tattoos.  We were able to communicate without her saying a word.  Thankfully, it wasn't a rushed event, and we had the time.  My favorite of the designs she got was this coexist.  How cool is that?

She wanted neon rainbow, which I think turned out great.

Some of the boys decided to challenge me, and I got to pull out my inks and brushes too.  I was out of NY Yankee stencils, but was able to do 'em anyway. 

I'm only annoyed I didn't get photos of the New Orleans Saints freehand tats I did.

Back to Backing Up

Every June, some friends and I have one of the best and most rewarding gigs of my year, the Valerie Fund Walk in Verona, NJ.  We meet so many great people who benefit from the fund or just make this their cause.  Really a terrific bunch all around.

I was so busy beginning to end that I only took one photo this year, because I was happy with my daisies.

Almost as cute as the girl sporting them.

Independence Interlude

I still have more looking back to do with you, but in the meantime, I'll post photos from my paintings at a country club party - Indian Trails club in Franklin Lakes, NJ.

 

These two were funny.  I had a run on camo faces, and then a trendsetter who wanted "rainbow camo."  If he hides in a Crayola factory, no one will see him for sure!

The one fun adult who showed her family how to really party!

And this was just too hilarious.  This young man got a Viking balloon hat & cutlass, then asked for a beard!

He loved it!

You Know It's a Good Party When the High School Kids Get Involved

Back in June, I painted at a high school graduation party.  I was originally hired to entertain the smaller kids there, but everyone was having so much fun, I was asked to stay longer.  What a great group!

That was my first ever attempt at Tweety.  Not bad, I think.

You may notice that this is different from my typical Joker.  The tech-savvy kids at this one pulled the face painting of another artist, and asked me to replicated it.  Yikes!  I didn't have that much time to make it really stellar, but it was fun to try mimicking someone else's work!  Made me appreciate their talent, too.
 

And a girl vying for the "strangest" request of the party, who asked for a nailpolish bottle...

I think the best, though, were the teens.

Awww...

Sleepover Party

Last Friday evening, I painted a bunch of well-behaved, appreciative, and cute girls at a birthday sleepover party in Westwood, NJ.  It was a blast!

The birthday girl asked to look like her orange striped cat.

Meanwhile, I was shown a medium-haired, fluffy cat in tabby colors and asked for a rendition of that too.

In addition to a few more cats, I also had a couple of dogs, of course.

Only one more species at this party, bunnies!

The funniest and most creative request, though... a chocolate chip cookie.  With a bow.  And moustache.

Um... ok!

Working My Way Backwards

I've been so lax about posting what I've been doing!  So rather than start at the beginning, I'm going to start with this past Saturday and work my way backwards for a bit.  This past Saturday, I painted at a corporate picnic for Brown & Caldwell.

What a great group!  I know I say that a lot, but this bunch was really fun.  And they didn't even make fun of me - much - when a gigantic cicada landed on my leg and freaked me out, sending me dancing around like a rather shrill lunatic.

So... on to the painting.

My very first request was for a zebra.  I wish I'd known it at the time, but this girl actually had a zebra print dress, complete with tail, and a headband with zebra ears!  It was terrific!  My lament is that by the time I saw her and realized, I was painting others and really couldn't go tackle her for another photo since she was off and running.

Then, another very specific request.  This one wanted to look like her yorkie.  Who can resist that?

This great kiddo said "cow."  Okie doke!  So here you see what I believe is my first ever cow face painting.  His mom cracked up when I started painting the straw.  To do it, I googled cow images and came up with this guy.

I think it's a fair rendition, right?

It was hot out, so the arm art was understandable.

 

If you don't recognize that last guy, it's an Enderman from Minecraft.  You may remember the Creeper I once painted.  I'm starting to think I should get to know all the Minecraft characters; it is not an unpopular game!