Happy new year, looking forward to more face painting fun in a brand new 2024. But before we got there the last year ended with a bang, and a string on face painting parties leading up to x-mas. Those included two corporate events (Safety Culture and Church of Scientology), around five childcares and a string of community and family events. All in all I heard enough x-mas music to get me in the Christmas mood well before the 25th of December.

It is always great to face paint at these festive events, love to check out how the traditions differ ever so slightly from one group to another. The events ranged from a few people to one with around a thousand people, so yes it can be very different as experiences. I even took my ten year old daughter to one of the larger events (I don’t normally do that) and it as great to have a helper around for once, and she loved it as well.

The face paintings ranged from simple x mas designs to full face masks. The only thing which has been off is probably the weather. When its super hot one day and rains the next its hard to prepare for outdoor events. All the best to everyone for the year to come.

If you cant come to a Peppermint Smiles art class, we will come to you. Besides offering term art classes and art workshops at my studio I also offer mobile art classes and art parties. Art parties are a great way to keep kids engaged during celebrations; they get to have fun, learn something new and also take home their own piece of art on canvas home after the party, so no one goes home empty handed.

Or I take bookings for traditional paint and sip parties at your own place, though the sip part has to be your own arrangement.

If you would like to make arrangements for a mobile art class to come to you on a regular basis that is also possible though it may make sense for you financially if you are booking in for a number of people.

If you are organizing an event and would like to have an art party along with face painting and ballooning please give me a call and I can customize the whole experience for you.

Can a face painter be considered an artist, or are they relegated to only be considered entertainers and not be given admission into a community which seems to stretch all the way from tattoo artists to sculptors to the more mainstream oil painter. Having worked as an artist with traditional water colors, acrylics. oils and canvases for many more years before I started face painting I could argue that there are few mediums as a challenging as a human face, specially when its a wiggly impatient five year old.

One big reason why face painting is often not considered serious business is because face painters find it hard to make a living given our window of business opportunities is so narrow. Most kids parties are on weekends, if there was a rule that every kids birthday had to be celebrated on the day of the week they were born life as a face painter would be so much easier.

Book in for KIDS ART WORKSHOP during the coming winter school holidays ($50 for three art classes) and the little artists can take home a painting of their own. All materials provided – classes will be in watercolors or acrylics. Call or message me for details, or you can also click here for some more information. Or click here to see some of my artwork.

I am looking to upload some updated pictures of the art studio soon, watch this space for that coming soon. Regular art classes will start from the third school term onwards, all skill levels are welcome and students will be able to explore different art mediums. If your child has any particular interests please let me know and I will try to incorporate that into the classes.

A common peeve I hear from people getting their face painted is the trouble with downing their favourite drink, or water afterwards for fear of washing away the paint. This is for those face paintings which need paint on the lips as well – and then having to use a straw to down your beer for the next few hours.

So thank heavens for water proof face paintings, I have just ordering a new batch of those for all the pool parties, the waterslides and the fountains. And of course the cocktails and mocktails. Who says paint and water doesn’t mix? Looking forward to making some mermaids who can go for a dip afterwards. And for those from the Sherlock clan who are wondering how to get water proof face paints off, you just use soap!

Another one on the menu are neon or glow in the dark face paintings. Who says adults can have all the fun – kids parties after dark can also light up with neon face paints. They are great for festivals too, what better way to find your friends in the dark.

Or if you are in the mood for something more intricate then I also work with different media to make face paintings like the below.

I thought I would do a short write up of the face painting services I offer, and what to expect. These are the things clients are the most curious about.

I charge by the hour for face painting and ballooning. For my work please see my facebook page at Https://www.facebook.com/peppermintsmilesart.

All images on the page are my own work, and I work independently, so you know in advance what you are paying for. You can book me by calling or messaging 0419666379. Also you can choose to pay me on the day or transfer the money online, either way works. Though most of my face painting appointments are in Western Sydney, I can travel all across Sydney, from Penrith to Ashfield, for face painting parties and carry everything required for face painting and balloon twisting. All you might have to provide is a small table and two chairs.

I have been an artist (oil, pastels, charcoal etc.) for many years so am not limited by designs, you can request what you like, from simple designs like this

or something more complicate like this

or anything in between like these ones

You will be surprised how excited kids get when they get to choose the face painting they want from google or their imagination. I have two kids of my own and get along well with kids. I am always happy for a chat on the phone to plan your party, so please feel free to call.

Finally it seems we are on the other side of the pandemic, at least here in Sydney. My barometer of normalcy is the number of face painting requests I get and its been picking up a lot lately. I got invited as a face painter in a couple of parties last weekend and it was so great to meet some beautiful kids and make their day. Here is a snap from one of those events

The pandemic has been particularly hard on my profession as we have to work with clients at such close quarters. There is no way a face painter can work remotely (unless you are training others) and in any case its not like it was any festive mood over the last year or so. Hopefully we have seen the end of it. How did I spend my time? Well, with my beautiful kids and at times face painting on myself using a mirror lol

Its tricky but once you get the hang of working inversely (where left becomes right) its mostly a matter of holding the mirror properly. The more detailing required the more interesting the face painting becomes.

The only thing about self painting which I find easier is painting around the eyes. Most people have a thing about getting fidgety when you paint around their eyes, but hey you don’t feel that when doing it yourself. The only challenge there is to keep the eyes open as you draw because obviously you do have to look.

I have just released my first ad, in a long time, on facebook and instagram to reel some more ballooning and face painting appointments in. Had been careful not to advertise for quite a while now and feels good to be back in business. If you have any event coming up feel free to drop in a line.

I just had my first couple of weeks of face painting appointments after the lock down and its great to be back.

This was after a few months of stress wondering when and how things would bounce back but it is turning out to be easier than I had expected. It seems people are raring to go, I have had contacts from old customers and people who found me out from the internet. And received a lot of interest from one small ad I had put out, so I am relieved that things are back to normal so soon!

A massive thank-you to my first face painting clients after the lock down, it was great to be part of the excitement as we reopen.

And before you know it Halloween is here again, and I have a few clients dropping by in a couple of hours to get Halloween face paintings made. Will share them soon.

Who hasn’t seen the classic skull candy Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) face painting?

It must be one of the most popular full mask face paintings around (one below I made on my husband)

According to National Geographic the Day of the Dead originated several thousand years ago with the Aztec, Toltec and other Nahua people who considered mourning the dead disrespectful. They considered death to be just another phase in the cycle of life and celebrated the departed by leaving offerings that would assist them in their onward trials. In recent time’s the festival seems to have been embraced by Mexicans of all walks of life, and are two days of colour, festivities and rituals rife with meaning; at the core of which is love and respect for ones who have passed over.

For those of us not closely connected to the culture probably the most familiar association is with the sugar skull face paintings. Like the ones below I made for some clients,

The face painting itself is called La Calavera Catrina, or the ‘elegant skull’. It has its origins in the early 20^th century at the hands of a Mexican illustrator named José Guadalupe Posada. His works, often expressionistic and satirical, were quite popular during that time. He was best known for his animated skulls (calaveras) which would be used in satirical art in the place of human faces, to drop home the message that underneath we are all, rich and poor, the same. For example during an epidemic of cholera in his lifetime he illustrated a man in the body of a snake surrounded by a group of skulls. The skulls that surrounded him were depicted with worldly objects with a sarcastic and ironic ballad describing how cholera had affected every section of society. His depiction of La Calavera Catrina (the famous day of the dead face painting) is believed to be satirizing those aspiring for aristocratic norms of the day.

Leaving aside the historical significance I believe this face painting design has become wildly popular and I often get requests for Day of the Dead skull face paintings and have done quite a few different versions of the original design.

Half face masks are ideal for those who might be feeling a little less adventurous

As you might have guessed the highest demand is around the Halloween parties and in past years I have charged $50 for a full mask and $30 for a half mask if clients are able to travel to my place in seven hills for the face painting. I can travel to other parts of Sydney but it might be limited by distance and group bookings would be preferable.

I can also travel for a party where charges would be per hour with a minimum booking of three hours (I keep minimum hours lesser for kids parties because full masks take more time to make) during Halloween season.

The design is also popular during face painting for kids birthday parties across Sydney,

And I have made it even in outdoor festivals

Below is a before and after of a Day of the Dead face painting in progress

Day of the dead is an extremely social festival with festivities in streets and public squares where people would often dress up as skeletons and get face paintings done to resemble the calavera Catrina. The internet is rife with images of parades of people with skull candy face paintings. Mexico sounds like a good place to be a face painter lol.

P.S. – For more of my work please visit me in facebook at https://www.facebook.com/nitasfacepainting/photos

I recently read that body and face painting might have been the first form of art used by humans dating back to the prehistoric times, and apparently archaeological data is there to support it. How cool is that? They would use it for rituals, or when going into battle or for a hunt. The discovery of pigments in an early Middle Stone Age deposit in Zambia dates back as early as 400,000 years ago, according to Lawrence Barham of the University of Bristol. Throughout history body painting was used extensively by tribal cultures across most continents as a means of self expression. They would use natural dyes from fruits and plants, clays and charcoal to decorate and distinguish themselves.

One of these was Henna, used by Sikhs, Hindus and some Middle Eastern cultures. I would often come across it while growing up, a fashionable trend for wedding parties, its been part of the culture for centuries. The henna plant is ground into a paste and mixed with oils to get hues. The designs you can make are something quite remarkable and the imprints can last on your hands for a couple of weeks.

In more recent times body and face painting appeared to have been discarded, no longer fashionable. Relegated to the realm of clowns and bank robbers. Or a symbol of some sort of unwanted paganism. I tried to find out how it all came back into vogue. Apparently a famous cosmetic artist created a full monty body paint in the 1930s, which created such a stir that the model was arrested four times in one day. Talk about double jeopardy.

Till probably the party culture brought it all back. Be it a hippie party from the 1970s, Halloween, a NRL game or a kids birthday party at present face painting has made quite a comeback. So its probably a good enough time as any to be a face painter.