My Time in Connecticut

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, I attended a two-day seminar in Connecticut, hosted by my friend Z, and taught by another friend, world-renowned body painter Pashur. It was absolutely amazing.We spent two full days learning technique and design from Pashur, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., eating great food provided by (and some of it cooked by) Z, devouring carrot cake and fudge made by one of our

This past Saturday, I painted faces at a 5th birthday party in River Edge, NJ. It was a great party, but I didn't have time for photos, so there aren't any of those. Sorry!It did bring up an interesting issue, though, so I thought I might want to give you some pointers for when you're having an entertainer at your party. This is relevant for hiring face painters, magicians, caricature artists,

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

A Saturday Evening Party

I was hired to paint at a birthday party this evening, only it wasn't a children's party.  Some couples were getting together for the adults' birthdays, and wanted to keep the kids entertained.  I'd painted these beautiful girls before, at the McFaul Environmental Center in Wyckoff, when I was there for Bergen County's annual Cabbage Night Festival.  Their mom showed me a photo from that day, and

gz-Body Painting or Lots and Lots of Henna

I was hired to do henna tonight at a birthday party for a 14-year-old girl. The kids were great, though I was really disconcerted to hear "Oh, this is from Glee" when songs from my junior high and high school years were playing. Wow, am I that old? Really? When did that happen?!At any rate, the party was outside, where the humidity was wreaking a bit of havoc with the henna's consistency, but

Tree Lighting

I painted on Sunday for the... geez, I don't even remember how many years I've been painting at the Ho-Ho-Kus tree lighting! It's quite a few at this point.I love this event, despite the cold. We get a heated tent that makes us even more popular than we always are as face painters. I had my new repertoire of holiday designs ready to go, but the line was so long and the crowd so... crowded... that

gz-Body Painting or I Made Their Day, They Made Mine

I must admit I questioned the sanity of taking on a gig in the late afternoon on a day when I had to be on stage that night. Yeah, yeah, this was nowhere near as crazy as taking on the Tribeca Film Festival gig the day of my opening night, but this was booked even before that.It was so worth it.The kids, the adults, they were all great! There weren't that many kids, so they were actually