Snapdragon Face Painting

Spookiness at Fulham Palace

2011-10-26T00:58:00.000-07:00

I sort of feel like Hallowe'en has been and gone. I face-painted for One Bigg Spooky Party at Fulham Palace over the weekend and what a party it was?! All of the best entertainers and family focused people in London were there, I even bumped into my friends at Helen Bartlett Photography there too. If you haven't already, check out Helen's beautiful work here http://www.helenbartlett.co.uk. Totally dreamy.

I don't think there was anywhere in the place that hadn't had the full Hallowe'en atmospheric treatment! Expertly carved pumpkins, a cauldron, bats, spiders, skeletons, cobwebs, witches hats, black cats... And better still, there were some amazing little costumes. I did paint many of the more expected spooky designs such as ghosts, zombies, pumkins, witches, skeletons, dragons and beasties, but there were still plenty of pink flower girls and butterflies :)

School days.

2011-05-27T09:20:00.000-07:00

A few days back, I had the pleasure of face painting for a very cool 'school leavers' disco party that was in celebration of everyone getting ready to leave Year 6, and looking forward to starting Year 7 at new schools. Everybody had a great time and it was clear that all of the girls were close friends.

It was lovely to hear them say that they would definitely stay in touch with each other, but that they were excited about starting at their new schools and making new friends as well. Each of them were great girls, very smart, kind and interesting, so I'm sure that they'll have no problem at all there :)

Hauser & Wirth: Christoph Büchel's pop-up 'community centre'.

2011-05-18T02:11:00.000-07:00

It's been such a busy time recently and last week was no different! In between my normal sort of bookings, (actually, I'm not sure what is a 'normal' booking?!), I began my participation in an interesting project. Sometimes, I'm lucky enough to see my interests and work briefs overlap neatly. I'm a big fan of the Swiss artist Christoph Büchel's ambitious art works, and in fact, I wrote about some of his work for my postgraduate research. He is internationally renowned for creating immersive alternate realities through carefully constructed interiors, removing all trace of the gallery or contemporary art context. So, it was a real treat to be asked to participate in the pop-up 'Piccadilly Community Centre', which has been specially created within Hauser & Wirth gallery and, for the coming months, will be the temporary home to a diverse range of community groups and organisations using the space for all sorts of amazing activities.

The opening of the project last week went off to a great start with a tea dance in the ballroom. Before the tea dance began, I had the pleasure of meeting some of the ladies who'd be taking part and I painted their faces whilst having a cup of tea and a chat. Face painting is often something that people associate with the very young, and there's also the assumption that it can't look good on older skin. However, I think that one was clearly debunked... The ladies that I painted looked beautiful and, more importantly, they were happy with how they looked.

The lady in the photo above is Rosa, who not only looks stunning, but was incredibly elegant on the ballroom dance floor.

For more information on scheduled activities: http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/963/piccadilly-community-centre/view/

Please do visit the Piccadilly Community Centre project, which will be at the gallery until 30th July 2011. It's just across the road from the Royal Academy and next to St. James Church/ Piccadilly Market.

Spring has sprung!

2011-03-03T07:44:00.000-08:00

Spring has sprung! Last year, I was hired to create some face paint designs for the brand new Stella McCartney Spring/Summer 11 Kids collection campaign, so I'm thrilled to see that one of my favourite designs has been used. The brief was unusually abstract-based (some might say in the vein of the avant-garde even!) with bold smudges and pops of colour, and it was certainly a move away from the precision of my normal repertoire of tigers and butterflies! But it looks wonderful and suits the sense of fun and whimsy of the clothing range itself. Needless to say, I really enjoyed being involved and of course meeting the models... Each of them were incredibly super-cute!

Take a look at http://www.stellamccartneykids.co.uk/

2010-10-28T04:14:00.000-07:00

More recently, I worked on a selection of images with my friend, Claire, who has, amongst other talents, a fantastic gift for making everybody involved feel totally at ease, while she snaps amazing photographs!

She even managed to take some of me that I love, which is no mean feat!

I really enjoyed the day, and want to thank Claire, of course, but also Matt, (who kindly allowed us to use his beautiful house as the perfect location), and last, but certainly not least, our models, Tania, Anke and Jasmine.

Check out Claire's work at http://scarabpictures.webs.com/.

2010-10-28T04:06:00.000-07:00

I worked with Sean some time ago now. He is busy traveling the world as I type, so check out his blog http://www.thecamerastrap.info/category/photo-of-the-day/ for some daily inspiration! Some of his images, (the specially lit ones), are featured on the new website. Enjoy!

2010-10-28T04:01:00.000-07:00

Over the past few months, I've worked with some brilliant photographers but I have to say a huge overdue thank you to a couple of my especially talented friends, Sean, (WhatSeanSaw), and Claire, (Scarab Pictures).

2010-05-27T01:17:00.000-07:00

I found this wonderful little fairy girl down at the bottom of the garden during an event in West London!

2010-03-17T03:34:00.000-07:00

I think this is a humming bird? Or maybe I painted a sort of Bird of Paradise? I'm no ornithologist, so if you're an expert, let me know what sort of bird this looks like!

Thanks to Humming Bird girl!

2010-01-26T13:17:00.000-08:00

Did you know that a group of butterflies is called a 'kaleidoscope'? A kaleidoscope of butterflies! Ahh!

2009-12-14T13:29:00.000-08:00

Rudolph!.... Or maybe this is Rudolphina???

Howling at the moon...

2009-11-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

Werewolves, vampires and ghouls at Halloween...

Knight in Shining Armour!

2009-06-23T03:52:00.000-07:00

Big thank you to Sir Lancelot's Mum for this picture, taken at a brilliant party in Kensington... The battle-wounds were all his idea!!

2009-06-23T03:50:00.000-07:00

Ladybird Girl

2009-03-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of painting this lovely girl at a fantastic party in Belgravia... and I found out that Ladybirds are considered to be lucky in France.

Great company, beautiful sunshine, learning something new that day... Doesn't get much better than that!

2009-03-20T08:10:00.000-07:00

Green Goddess!

Springtime and Easter Events... Book Now!

2009-03-20T08:03:00.000-07:00

Just some of the areas that we cover...

Aldgate, Barbican, Belgravia, Bellingham, Bermondsey, Borough, Brent Cross, Brixton, Bromley BR1, Brompton, Camden Town,Canonbury, Castelnau, Chislehurst BR2, BR3,Clapham Junction, Chelsea, Colindale, Crofton Park, Crouch End, Crystal Palace, Dalston, Docklands, E1 Whitechapel, E10 Leyton, E11 Leytonstone, E12 Manor Park, E13 Plaistow, E14 Poplar, E15 Stratford, E16 Canning Town, E17 Walthamstow, E18 South Woodford, E2 Bethnal Green, E3 Bow, E4 Chingford, E5 Clapton, E6 East Ham, E7 Forest Gate, E8 Hackney, E9 Hackney, Earlsfield, East Sheen, EC1 Clerkenwell, EC2 Moorgate, EC3 Monument, EC4 Fleet Street, Elephant & Castle, face painter,face painters, face painting, facepainter, facepainting, Finsbury, Gray’s Inn,Grove Park, Hampstead Gdn Suburb, Harlesden, Highams Park, Hither Green, Holborn, Homerton, Honor Oak Park, Isle of Dogs, Kensal Green,Kilburn, Kensington, Liverpool Street, London, Manor House, Merton, Mile End, Mottingham, N1 Islington, N10 Muswell Hill, N11 Friern Barnet, N12 North Finchley, N13 Palmers Green, N14 Southgate, N15 Seven Sisters, N16 Stoke Newington, N17 Tottenham, N18 Upper Edmonton, N19 Archway, N2 East Finchley, N20 Whetstone, N21 Winchmore Hill, N22 Wood Green, N3 Finchley Central, N4 Finsbury Park, N5 Highbury, N6 Highgate, N7 Holloway, N8 Hornsey, N9 Lower Edmonton, Neasden, New Cross Gate, New Southgate, Nine Elms, Norbury, North Woolwich, Nunhead, NW1 Regent’s Park, NW10 Willesden, NW11 Golders Green, NW2 Cricklewood,NW3Hampstead, NW4 Hendon, NW5 Kentish Town, NW6 West Hampstead,NW7 Mill Hill, NW8 St John’s Wood, NW9 Kinsbury, Parson’s Green, Pimlico,Plumstead, Queens Park, Raynes Park, Roehampton, SE1 Waterloo, SE10 Greenwich, SE11 Lambeth, SE12 Lee, SE13 Lewisham, SE14 New Cross, SE15 Peckham, SE16 Rotherhithe, SE17 Walworth, SE18 Woolwich, SE19 Upper Norwood, SE2 Abbey Wood, SE20 Penge, SE21 Dulwich, SE22 East Dulwich, SE23 Forest Hill, SE24 Herne Hill, SE25 South Norwood, SE26 Sydenham SE27 West Norwood, SE28 Thamesmead, SE3 Blackheath, SE4 Brockley, SE5 Camberwell, SE6 Catford, SE7 Charlton, SE8 Deptford, SE9 Eltham, Shoreditch, South Bermonsey, Southwark, St. Pauls, Stamford Hill, Stepney, Strand, Streatham Hill, Surrey Docks, SW1 Westminster, SW10 West Brompton, SW11 Battersea, SW12 Balham, SW13 Barnes, SW14 Mortlake, SW15 Putney, SW16 Streatham, SW17 Tooting, SW18 Wandsworth, SW19 Wimbledon, SW2 Brixton, SW20 South Wimbledon, SW3 Chelsea, SW4 Clapham, SW5 Earl’s Court, SW6 Fulham, SW7, South Kensington, SW8 South Lambeth, SW9 Stockwell, Swiss Cottage, Totteridge,Tower Hill, Tufnell Park, Tulse Hill, Upton Park, WC1 Bloomsbury, WC2 Covent Garden... And many more areas!

2009-03-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

For more information, please visit www.snapdragon-facepainting.co.uk.