 1st Place
Donna Hofstee
I started out entertaining 22 years ago. I went to Clown Collage in San Diego and never stopped learning. I found the love of full face and body parting 11 years ago. I went to my first Face Painting convention in Florida 2002 and that opened so many more doors to my imagination. It has been a hard but wonderful adventure/business. I am a single parent raising three kids and taking care of a elderly, sick mom for the last 9 years. But now the kids are older and I have help with mom so I have more time for the things that I love!
WHAT DID YOU DO BEFORE THAT? I worked in the resturant business, Bartendar and Manager
WHAT DO YOU NOW BESIDES FACE AND/OR BODY PAINTING? I run a Family Entertainment Company. I personally do Balloon Twisting, Magic, some Airbrushing, Clowning and Face and Body Painting
WHAT PAINT BRANDS ARE YOUR FAVORITES? WHY? I have several that I love, Wolfe white, black and red, the white and black for line work, the red because it's closer to a true red. Paradise for blending, Diamonds has some great new metalics, Arty Cakes for so many things, Kryolan has some great colors too, I can't live without their yellow, If you have seen my kit you would know there are a variety of brands. You just have to play and find what works best for you.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO PAINT? Bellies! OK maybe full bodies, well, maybe it's kids faces, or maybe it's flowers, butterflies, abstracts, or ..................... I love it all!
This award winning face painter lives in Temecula, California
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 2nd Place
Billy Edge
I'm originally from the UK but now live in Spokane WA. I've been a professional cartoonist and illustrator for most of my working life, but came to face painting through my other career as a clown. Like most face painters I use an assortment of different brands of face paints, as some have advantages over others for different uses. I particularly love Snazaroo, DMX and Kryolan. My speciality is creating new designs almost every time I paint - I love the creative buzz I get from it.
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 3rd Place
Gina Niemi
I was a full time employee for a Government Collection Company with a back round in Nursing. Then, I was invited to help raise money for my son's elementary school in 2004. Not having a clue about anything in the Face Painting world......I found myself to be absolutely horrible at the art. I purchased my first kit from Snazaroo and practiced for hours on a daily basis until I took my first gig.
WHAT PAINT BRANDS ARE YOUR FAVORITES? WHY?
I love Diamond FX for its bold colors and opacity. I love Paradise for it's ease of blending and I love Kryolan for their Neons & Interferenze colors. I am extremly fond of all mica powders! They are great to add they extra WOW Factor to your designs.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO PAINT?
My focus on art is to create colorful, bright & bold pieces that will leave the customer astonished and amazed! I focus on clean lines & really enjoy working with all the personalities that plop into my chair! My strong points are dramatic & exotic eye designs, animal masks, tribal & body art.
IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE ABOUT YOUR CAREER AS A FACE/BODY PAINTER THAT YOU WOULD LIKE OTHERS TO KNOW ABOUT?
Besides working as a face painter & Body Artist I also travel and teach workshops during my off season and also along side one of my great friends & motivators Pashur. Also WOW Factor Stuff is a Face & Body Painting supply company that my Husband and I run out of our home. We really enjoy the personalized customer service we can bring our customers!
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 4th Place
Karen Mercer
Karen is coming into her third year as a face and body artist after spending years in a fine arts studio then pastry kitchen Karen has turned her focus to face and body art. Having taken classes from some of best artists in the industry; Yolanda Bartram, Mark Reid, Pashur, The Wolfes, Alison Kenyon, Jodi Carr, Raphael Fieldhouse, Vargas, Gen Keller, Marcela, Rebecca and Nick Herrera she has also had the opportunity to teach marketing and SEO at Learn and Play and paint alongside Rebecca T at the debut year of North American Body Art Competition.
This design, based on the work of the amazing Donna Hofstee (our first place winner!) comes from a vast collection of images Karen uses to inspire her painting,
Recently relocated to Tallahassee Florida (after her entire life spent in California!) she is bringing her business to dazzling and dramatic face painting, glitter and airbrush tattoos and henna body art to the south. Her family of three kids and wonderhub support her work by ‘toting and hauling’ her booth and taking turns as line manager for her business.
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