Another Great One

The Tribeca Film Festival this year was a rousing success, no surprise.  I painted for 8 hours straight, with the assistance of a few line managers, including Eric.  Someday I need to buy a counter so I can see how many faces I've painted.

Meanwhile, here are a few of the photos he took for me.

Guess where you can find me next?

Remember this?  Well, we're on!

I'll be at the Tribeca Film Festival again!  I'm face painting at the Kid's Festival on April 30.  This time, though, I'll be there all day long, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.!  Can you tell how excited I am?  I really love this event.

Of course, a post telling you where I'm going to be in the future doesn't give you any nifty photos to look at right now.  So here are some long overdue photos from an adult event I did in February...

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!

Give and Get

Yesterday was the Rutherford Street Fair, a very large fair at which my mother has been telling  me I should be painting for years now, but I've always had other gigs that day.  Besides, they've already got a couple of regular face painters, though from what I understand one will no longer be there after this season.  She's just not in the mood to do fairs anymore, and that's reasonable.

It's a tough kind of day, painting at a fair.  For birthday parties, I normally arrive 10-30 minutes before my start time to set up.  That's all I really need.  Well, with street fairs, they need all the cars off the street by a certain time, and I'm not just bringing my table, chairs, and kit.  I'm bringing my 10x10' canopy, my glitter tattoo and face painting kits with a table for each, and all of my signage.  It's a lot.  Heck, my canopy, which claims to be "easy" (it's a lie) requires help to set up!

Then I'm painting for 7 hours straight, usually with no breaks, and then have to take everything down and pack it up again.  There's a risk, too.  What if the fair is small and no one shows up?  What if too many people just aren't in the mood for body art?  What if it's pouring rain or deathly hot?

So I can see why this other face painter may be tired of it.  It's a lot of work, but I'm still at a point where I really do love it.  Plus, when it's a big fair I bring Eric with me to help.  He can help me set up and tear down, and talk to the parents and kids who're waiting while I'm painting, so everyone stays entertained.

Yesterday was different, though.  Yesterday I was actually asked to come and paint on behalf of Giants of Generosity.

It's a really nifty group (definitely check out their website) that really just finds random people in need and gives them a hand.  As they state it, "Our mission is to respond to the most pressing needs of people who are experiencing desperate times, right here in our own communities."

Who can argue with that?

When a man landed in the hospital with severe injuries after trying to assist a woman who was being attacked, they paid his medical bills.  That's the sort of thing they do.

So they paid for my booth at the fair, and in return I donated back 40% of my proceeds from painting yesterday.  It was a slightly slower day for me, unfortunately, so that amounted to $150, but I was glad to be able to give that to them in addition to the donations they were taking at their own separate booth.

I did a lot of painting and a few tattoos, and here are some of the fun ones...

I did this GoG logo on one of the volunteers at their table.  Lettering's not my strong suit, but I think it came out pretty good!

This boy's mom was skeptical about his desire to become a dragon until she saw his face.  Then even she was a fan.  He absolutely loved it.

This young lady just wanted a heart on her cheek, but you know I can't stop with just that.  So she got to be a heart princess instead.  When she saw the mirror, she was ecstatic with the improvements.

These two were funny.  They came up together in a group of giggly girls, wanting a butterfly and... wait for it... a jellyfish.  A jellyfish?  Heck, I'll try anything once, and they were happy.  To her, jellyfish are pretty, and I did make it shimmery of course. 

Personally, they freak me out.  Seriously, I don't understand them.  Where are the parts?  Where's the brain?  Eyes?  How does it think?  Ah, to each her own.

I had a few takers for the glitter tattoos, like this dolphin and the Irish skull.

The most fun thing of the day, though, was that my friends Denise and Bill came to the fair with their son, Kody, not knowing I'd be there.  I painted at Kody's first birthay, but of course now that he's almost 3, he doesn't remember that.  He had me do a snake on his arms, and loved how it's running up one arm and down the other, so it looks like it's running right through his shirt.

A lot of people thanked me for being there and for helping out such a great charity, and it felt great.  I hope they have me back next year!

What will you be doing for Labor Day?

Personally, I think you should be coming to the Rutherford Street Fair, where I'll be face painting at the Giants of Generosity booth from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Yes, I'm already talking about September 6, 2010.

Who are the Giants of Generosity?

They're a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that simply finds people in need and helps them.  Through internal donations from its members, other private donations, and fundraising efforts, Giants of Generosity works on a "pay-it-forward" philosophy of giving.

Their funding has gone to medical bills for a man who was gravely injured during an assault when he tried to come to a woman's rescue as she was being attacked.  It's gone to a woman's cancer surgery and radiation treatments.  It's helped pay the rent of someone in need.

For more information, visit their website.  The testimonials there made me cry.

I'll be charging for face painting, and all of the proceeds will go to the organization.  Please come out, support this worthy group, and get some information from them!

What an experience!

Wow.

Friday night was opening night of the show I'm in, and everyone went out after, so I got home late.  And then of course I was wide awake and couldn't sleep right away.

I got up on Saturday at around 9 a.m., leaving for Tribeca at 10, to get to the Film Fesival. 

I found my place in Washington Market Park, and set up while Eric went to find parking - it took him an hour!  Tha'ts how crazy and huge the fetival was. It makes sense on such a gorgeous day.  The high was 88, and it was just partly cloudy.  Perfect for this sort of thing, really, and I was in an area shaded by trees, so it was even more attractive.

Well, on the first trip, people saw me put stuff by the table with the "face painting" sign, and started to line up.  As usual, people started getting on line for painting while I was still setting up.  I set up fast, and got going... and going... and going.

I painted nonstop for 5 hours, barely taking a break for a swig of SmartWater.

The kids were freakin' awesome, EVERY.  SINGLE.  ONE. Not exaggerating.  Polite, sweet, fun.  Laughed at my bad jokes, and I did a zillion butterflies but most let me match colors to their outfits!  And most of the parents and guardians were also freakin' awesome. Seriously, I was thanked for doing the painting, thanked for making the kids happy, repeatedly told what a great artist I was, and thanked some more. They thanked me for even just being a face painter!

It feels so grear to be appreciated, it really does.  This is the kind of event that makes the heat, the lugging and carrying, the practice, the investment, the shore shoulders and backs - all of it - worthwhile.

I heard that people were waiting on line for me for TWO HOURS and were STILL nice to me.  I'm pretty sure that says something about their character.

People were so disappointed when I had to leave at 4; next year I will definitely not audition for the May show at the theater so I can spend the whole day painting.  It's worth it.

While there, though, I got to do my second ever panda!  And third, but I didn't get a photo of that one.

I loved this brother and sister too, a kitty that originally wanted to be a bird, and a robot!  My robot requests are very infrequent, but a challenge is always welcome.

I also got to design my first mouse!  This girl was such a cutie, and luckily, we got video and a photo of the final result.

That night, I was back on stage for a great show, as was I on Sunday afternoon!

After that, I came home to an email from the project manager of the Festival, letting me know that the "official" estimate was that they had over 300,000 attendees and thanking me for "helping to make it such a very special day for everyone who attended."

She commented that she'd wanted to say hi as she passed a few times, but didn’t want to interrupt me "while [I was] busy transforming faces into artistic beauty," that everyone seemed so pleased with my work, and that it was a pleasure to have me with them.  It was definitely mutual!

It's all incredibly exciting!

I have been hired by the Tribeca Film Festival to face paint!

On May 1, 2010, the last day of the Festival, they hold a Family Festival & Street Fair, and that's where I'll be painting.



I'll be stationed at Washington Market Park, near the playground, painting my little heart out.  The park is on Greenwich Street between Duane and Chambers Streets.



I can't possibly convey how excited I am about this.  If you're in the area, come visit!  I'll be there from 12-4 p.m. at a minimum, and possibly for more hours than that.

Norouz Bazar

I painted yesterday at the Norouz Bazar, a Persian Festival at the La Quinta Hotel in Secaucus, NJ.  This is my second year in a row at this event; I have been hired both times by Hirbod Azmi, a Financial Services Representative with Met Life to draw attention to their table.

Draw attention I did!  With a background of dance-inducing Middle Eastern music and the smells of amazing Iranian food, I painted and painted and painted.  In fact, while I was still in the midst of setting up I had two kids, a brother and sister, waiting for me!  I recognized them right away as two I'd painted last year as well.  I had hardly any time to take photos, painting nonstop for three and a half hours, but I did have to get a shot of this one, my first ever request for a full-face penguin.

Personally, I think I need to look at more penguin photos and practice this, but he was really happy!  And I do say that I love being challenged, so trying a penguin was fun.

I also stopped momentarily to take a photo of these two, a butterfly and a frog.  They were just too cute together.

It was a crazy and fun event, kids crowding around me, the hustle and bustle and movement, and the neverending line.  I felt bad having to turn people away at the end while I was packing up, but I had to get to rehearsal for my show.  We go up in May.

Yup, I'm in theater too!  If you're in or near Bergen County, you should come see us.

Yesterday, though, the show had to wait a bit.  The smells were just too good, so I stopped at a table to get some amazing chicken over rice with a grilled tomato, and some pitas with a wonderful Iranian version of baba ganoush.  Leftovers for lunch today!

Halloween is upon us!

Yesterday was the middle school craft fair. It was... um... fun? Actually, it was slow. There wasn't a lot of traffic, and most of the kids were either on their way to soccer games or had just come from them. Apparently, soccer's a hot sport at this school.

I do a great flaming soccer ball, but none of these kids came over to find out.

I did paint this beautiful little girl, who later came back for a glitter tattoo as well.

That tiger was my only painting of the day; the rest of my few customers wanted glitter tattoos. She was so happy, though, and should've been a great advertisement!

Today, after rehearsal for the community theater show I'll be in in November, I rushed to a birthday party in Cedar Grove, NJ to paint. The mom originally wanted a clown, but I wouldn't have had time to get into clown between the two obligations. Instead, I suggested a Hogwarts student, wherein I do my best Hermione Granger impersonation, completely with really bad fake British accent. Heck, I've got the hair for it. And the cloak, tie, scarf, and wand as well.

The party was a first birthday for a boy with a huge family, and it was Halloween-themed.

I was a hit, though I did feel bad that two boys thought I was a magician when I first arrived, one volunteering to let me saw him in half.

I'm definitely going to start studying my magic books.

This party was phenomenal. The food smelled amazing, the DJ had the party rocking, and halfway through my two hours a Uruguayan drum and dance troupe arrived to really liven the place up. I've never seen anything like it, certainly not at a first birthday.

Most of the kids were in costume for the Halloween theme, as were some of the adults, but I was surprised most didn't want me to paint to match their costumes. They got all different faces. I did finally convince one wonderful little boy, who was very happy with the result, as was his mom.

Young as he was, I have to say, he's the least squirmy canvas I've had in months! He was so good, and so patient, letting me work my "magic."

(Shameless plug: This is what I can do for you on Halloween if you make an appointment!)

One other boy had a funny idea: he wanted a syringe on his arm, with green fluid in it, labeled "Swine Flu." Funny. Well, once I heard that, I asked him to let me take some liberties, and asked if it was OK to use pink (since pigs are pink, after all). This very bright boy said, "Pink's fine. There really are no 'boy colors' and 'girl colors' anyway. They're just colors." Brilliant!

And the result:

Fun!