Whole Lotta Paintin' Goin' On

I only had two gigs this weekend, but I think I may have painted enough faces in 4 and a half hours to rival the Tribeca Film Festival painting days!

On Saturday afternoon, I made my second annual appearance at the Glen Rock Newcomer's Association's kickoff party.  I was there for two hours, flying like the wind, but man, did I have fun.  I worked from a limited list of my fastest faces to keep things moving quickly and was assigned a couple of teens as line managers who did a phenomenal job making sure the kiddos had their choices made before hitting my chair.

I obviously didn't have time for photos, but did ask one of the girls to take two photos of faces I especially liked.  This was a slightly different take on my typical dragon and I thought it was cute.

Even more fun was my new "Zombie bite" face, inspired by Pashur, a master body artist out of Las Vegas.  It may just be my new favorite face.

How creepy is she?!  Those eyes!  Gotta say, I wouldn't want to meet up with that face in the middle of the forest.  Or city, for that matter.

That face was such a hit on Saturday, that I brought it out again on Sunday, when I painted for the very first time for the Heat & Sole Walk to benefit heart failure and transplant patients.  What an amazing group!

The funniest thing to me, and I regret not getting a photo of him, was an older boy who saw my zombie bite and just had to have one.  While I was painting him, he told me, "You painted my sister at a party at Bounce U a few weeks ago!" and showed me a photo on his phone of a pink kitty that was easily recognizable as one of mine.  Turns out this young man was at that birthday party, which was for a five-year-old girl and her friends, and was too old for face painting.... until he saw the cooler options he had this time around!  Ha!  I call that vindication, my friends.

This face also inspired an adult woman to have me "do something creepy" on her arm, and was happy with what I came up with.

To be honest, so was I.  Fun, right?  In case you can't tell, Halloween is my favorite holiday.

I had a lot of my regular fare too, including one boy who was really excited when I told him, in listing several options and ideas, "When I say I can do a bear, I mean panda, polar, or brown bear," and exclaimed happily, "Brown bear!"  So a brown bear he was.

Now I just hope they have me back next year!

Glen Rock Newcomer's Association

I didn't have time for many photos, but the teens helping me obliged with a few.  Back in October, I was hired to paint at the Glen Rock Newcomer's Association event in a park in Glen Rock.  It really was a great idea, a barbeque for the group, a mix and mingle for established residents and newbies to get to know each other.  What a great group!

I painted some old standards, of course.

And some I'd painted before, but not frequently.

And my favorite thing, some that were entirely new to me!

I just hope they ask me back again.

Glen Rock Street Fair

Last weekend, I painted at the Glen Rock street fair.  We were actually allowed to share a booth between this business and our handmade soap (etc.) business, Reef Botanicals.  It really saved us on the cost of the booth.

I let Eric and our friend Kerry deal with the soap (and line managing for me), while I handled the face painting and temporary tattoos.

Holy crow, was I swamped!  From the beginning at 11 a.m. to after the end of the fair at 4 p.m., I painted and tattooed my littl heart out.  Because of that, I only had time for one photo, a dalmation, which by her dad's request, did not include the tongue I usually do on my puppies.

My back was really sore at the end of the day, but boy was it fun!  I love being busy like that.

I did notice an interesting but very smart thing that happened.  Throughout the day, it was all about the face painting and people generally ignored the temporary tattoos.  However, starting about an hour before the fair closed, parents started encouraging their kids to get glitter tattoos because they'd have to "wash the face paint off in three hours anyway."  The tattoos, though, last a few days, potentially up to a week.  Brilliant!

Upcoming Events

After the success of this past weekend and the Glen Rock Street Fair, I figure I should post about what's coming down the road.

This Saturday, October 10, I'll be painting at a Craft/Boutique Fair at St. Clement Church, 154 Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Dover (Rockaway), NJ, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Then on Saturday, October 17, I'll be painting at the George G. White Middle School Craft Show at 120 Magnolia Avenue, Hillsdale, NJ, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

And don't forget to make your appointment for custom Halloween face painting to match your costume!

Hope I'll see you around.

What a Weekend!

I'm tired and my back aches, but I had a great weekend.

On Saturday, I painted at two birthday parties, both for two-year-old girls! The first was at a very nice home in Saddle River, NJ, with a Candyland theme. When I got there, only several adults, the birthday girl in an adorable fluffy hot pink skirt, and her older sister or cousin were there. I painted the two girls, the birthday girl as a candy princess.

After that, the adults immediately got in on the action until more kids arrived. The family was great, and I got to try out some pretty spiffy paintings, like this dragon face...

This peacock princess...

A new version of one of my old dragons. The original won me a prize for "best quick 'n' easy boy design" a while back. I actually like the new one better, and it's even faster. Old:

New:

And a slightly different monster from my usual fare...

The second party was in New City, NY. The family there was huge, and again, both adults and children were ready for me. The mom who hired me had completely underestimated my popularity, thinking only kids would want to be painted. They were fun and high energy, and I ended up staying an extra hour to get everyone done. It was crazy!

The women were mostly into fancy eye designs...

The guys wanted all sorts of crazy things, including a pirate

and a rainbow-painted beard

The birthday girl herself was adorable, and it kills me that I didn't get a good photo of her. Every time the flash went off, she blinked, so all I have are grainy photos with poor lighting.

On Sunday, I painted at the Glen Rock Street Fair. It was my first time doing that fair, and it was an amazing day. I'd sent my husband home, and 45 minutes later I was asking him to come back to manage my line. I went nonstop for the five hours of the fair, painting furiously all day without a break for food or drink. I love it, though, the energy and the smiles!

I got to try some new things again, and revamp some old. I love this dragon...

I've had a clown in my book for years now. It was a girl at a different festival who requested it, sight unseen. This time, for the first time, a boy asked me for a clown face. So this was my boy version...

It was a hit with everyone, including the boy himself. This was also the first time I was ever asked for a snowy owl, of all things. The request was for cheek art besides!

She loved it. Another girl with wonderful red hair who'd just celebrated her birthday was at the fair. As part of her gift, her aunt got her face painted in a custom-requested green and blue batgirl

with blue and green bat glitter tattoos to match!

Personally, I think she's going to grow up to be a model. She had such great camera presence!

Glen Rock Street Fair

I'll be doing face painting and temporary tattoos at the Glen Rock Autumn Craft Street Fair this year!

The fair runs on October 4, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., in downtown Glen Rock, rain or shine.

Of course, if it's raining, glitter and ink temporary tattoos are a great thing, as they are water resistant.

Come find me and be my canvas!