A Shout Out to the WCFBPA!

I am thrilled to have placed in the top 3 for a few more contest entries with the West Coast Face and Body Painting Association's bi-monthly contest and I wanted to thank you for your votes. This past contest was Easter Faces and I entered two designs and won first and second place! Thank you to Wolfe Face Art for sponsoring this month's contest. Wolfe Face Art products are vibrant and a great choice for professional face and body artists. (www.wolfefx.com) The contest entries can be viewed at http://www.westcoastfacepainters.com/contest_april2012easterfacepainting.html

I also won first place for the Valentine's Legs or Arms contest with the following entry below:

Thank you to Kristine and Nicole for being such lovely and cooperative models. Stay in tune with my facebook page for postings about my public face painting events and newest contest entries. Here comes the summer!

Thanks for your support!

Happy New Year! I am off to an exciting start for 2012 - lots of creative opportunities coming my way in various avenues of my life.

One of my commitments to myself artistically over the past several months has been to start creating face and body painting that is outside of my comfort zone. For me, this means anything that isn't part of my book of designs - unicorns, Spidermen, butterflies - my "easy" range.

I found an online forum that offers contests to North American West Coast Face and Body Artists and decided that I would enter at least one design every contest, no matter what the theme is. I can't believe I'm writing that here! That means I REALLY have to stay committed!

Well, as some of you know if you follow my facebook page, I garnered 1st place for my first entry in the Monster faces category. Thanks to an intense looking model and the votes of the public, my Snakehead Monster design (pictured)beat out the other entries. Fun!

The second contest I entered was Princess Faces. I really decided to go out on a limb for this one. I knew that most entries would be beautiful and full of swirls and flowers and wonderful girlieness and although I find that very appealing to paint and view, it didn't feel like an inspired challenge to me this time. So I took a risk and interpreted the theme my way: I painted the faces of iconic fictional princesses onto my models face. I placed third for this contest and felt brave for having submitted an "out there" entry.

Pictured here on my model: Princess Leia, The Paperbag Princess, She-ra Princess of Power, and Snow White (my interpretation, not the Disney version! I had to do research to be sure she was, in fact a princess).

The point of blogging about this isn't to brag (although it is a good opportunity for me to thank those who voted - thank you!!) but rather to publicly announce my artistic commitment to continue pushing myself outside of the box. I LOVE my birthday parties and my corporate events AND I need to continue developing my interpretations of how I paint, for my own fulfillment.

Having said that, watch for my latest entry coming soon on the next West Coast Face and Body Painters website. http://www.westcoastfacepainters.com/contestindex.html
The contest will be up by February and my entry will be the bee's knees! (That's a hint and that's all I will say!)

Thanks for your support,
Allyson

Getting creative

Hi All,

It's been a long time since I posted here but my good excuse is that I had a busy summer full of birthday parties, farmer's markets, corporate events, community barbeques... the list goes on!

Now that the busy season is slowing down, I am feeling the pull to create outside of the box a bit. Unicorns and superheros are great fun, but I am craving challenge outside of my comfort zone.

I recently asked a friend if we could do a back painting and this is what we came up with. I was fortunate to have the wonderful Will Minsky take photos in the forest for this project and am thankful that my model braved the wet and cold to create this lovely... er... "interesting" character.

Makeup and body painting by Allyson Grant - www.gossamerdesigns.ca
Photography by Will Minsky - www.williamminsky.com

Alice in Wonderland

Last month, I had the pleasure to work with a talented and hard working cast of young performers in Abbotsford for a production of Alice in Wonderland, the Musical. Their energetic and enthusiastic production director, Mr. Paul Lilly, was a joy to work along side and gave me artistic license to create unique looks for the 4 characters I was assigned to: The March Hare, The Cheshire Cat (played by three different actors), the Dormouse and the White Rabbit.

The excitement of the students was contagious! I had a blast helping them bring their characters to life for the run of the show. And with my background and training in acting, it was a joy to be backstage at a beautiful theatre complex. Thanks to Chief Dan George Middle School for such an enriching opportunity!

I love Birthday Parties!

I did a very fun Monster themed birthday party for a 3 year old over the weekend. The kids were fantastic and loved being their characters, some of which included a butterfly, The Hulk, a few Spidermen, Batman and a Rainbow Glitter Girl... So what if they didn't all want to be Monsters?! It is such a treat to see that initial look on their face when they see what they have "become" in the mirror!

The Mom who hired me wrote me this beautiful message the next day:

Thank you so much for coming to Liams birthday party! Your face painting talents were more amazing than I had expected! And not only that, but your patient, warm and nurturing personality kept the kids engaged and comfortable.

I have kept your business card in hopes of having you visit future birthday parties! I also handed out your card to each parent because they were ALL interested in having you at their parties as well.

I cannot thank you enough. You made Liam's bday party a success!

Remembering Our Spirit

The Vancouver Winter Olympics are old news. Eight months ago, the city and much of the nation was enraptured with the trials and tribulations, victories and defeats of our country’s athletes and the energy in the air across Vancouver was tangible. Although The Games have come and gone and my summer and fall thus far have been filled with personal considerations and creative endeavors, I find myself reflecting on the spirit of The Games as the chill in the air starts to fill this new season.

I consider myself a lucky participant of the spirit of The Games during the weeks that they transpired. I attended a few exciting competitions, took advantage of the Live City entertainment with friends, and was one of the many cheering, crying, high-fiving bodies at Robson and Granville the day we won our coveted Men’s Hockey Gold.

But as an artist, I was also able to participate with and add to the spirit of The Games in a way that was incredibly deep and moving for me. I was hired at several community centres where children’s cheeks waggled under my brush as they excitedly told me more about the Olympic Flame than I ever knew. I was contacted by private clients to paint patriotic faces for events they were going to, one of whom ended up as a two-page, larger-than-life screaming fan spread in Maclean’s Olympic Commemorative Edition. I painted for the BC Pavilion for the hard-working government officials who helped make it all happen. I painted more maple leafs in a month than every Canada Day event I’ve done in my face painting lifetime combined. I was hired by the Yukon Government to create unique face and body paint on an urban youth dance troupe who were flown down to participate in a medals ceremony show at BC Place... The list goes on.

I was able to have brief and creative interactions with a huge amount of people that left me touched and inspired by the enthusiasm and connection we all shared. And as I write this, I am left with the realization that I get to experience this connection with people – mostly children – on a weekly basis with my work. I am honoured that people choose to share 5, 10, 15 minutes of face to face time with me. Thank you to all who have had a seat at my station and have let me create art on their skin. I suppose The Games were a condensed version of my yearly experiences with what I do and that’s why, as I put on my boots and down-filled vest, and my nose turns pink in the cool evening air, a smile comes to my face as I remember it all.

Belly Painting Packages now available

Belly Painting: Allyson J Grant (www.gossamerdesigns.ca)
Photography: Janine Armstrong (www.janinearmstrong.com)

Do you know a wonderful woman who is pregnant? Consider the following as a unique and exciting gift! I am now offering pregnancy painting services, or as known in various parts of the world, "Gestational Painting".

Belly painting has become very popular in the UK and various parts of the States, and is gaining hype across Canada too. I have had the privilege to paint two expecting women over the past few months - what moving experiences! Over the course of the hour or so that I was painting their bellies, I watched the belly change form, or could feel the heartbeat with my fingertips as I worked. Amazing.

Jess, the first woman I worked with a few months ago, was around 7 months pregnant when she came to the studio for her session. She was open to any design as long as it wasn't too girly or boyish (as she didn't yet know the gender of the baby), so I created a Tree of Life design, which is associated with knowledge and wisdom in many cultures and religions across the globe. I am happy to report that Jess gave birth to a healthy baby boy a few weeks ago!

The second woman I had the pleasure of painting just last week was Becca, who was already just over 8 months pregnant on the day of the shoot. I knew that she liked fairies, and since she was also open to design suggestions, I decided to have a quietly coloured theme of dawn breaking, just before the fairies disappear for the day. Becca was absolutely glowing, and the photographs truly display her beauty.

I have had several opportunities now to work with a wonderful photographer named Janine (www.janinearmstrong.com), a relaxed and professional worker who is both artistic and efficient. We have created an exciting Belly Painting package which includes the following:

*Consultation prior to Creation Session to determine imagery wishes, interests and likes of Mom-to-be
*Creation Session either in studio or on location of your choosing
(consists of a 2-3hr belly painting and photography session)
*Access to web res files of the photos to select from, on an online gallery
*Option to purchase any number of prints in an array of sizes

If you are interested in giving this amazing gift to a special woman in your life or if you are pregnant (congratulations!) and want to celebrate by being painted and photographed, please contact me for details. This is a great baby shower gift - a bunch of gals could pool together to book this fun and surprizing present!

Cheers!
Allyson
allyson@gossamerdesigns.ca