Becky Kénaan's Blog

I just went to the Face and Body Paint theme.  I was truly impressed to see both the level of detail and the diversity in style from the models I observed while attending.  I therefore choose this pageant as my homework assignment.  I could not leave the event without talking about it.  My God!, I even went out looking for body paint this morning before class to see what I could do personally!  What better way is there, other than experience it for yourself and to dare challenge your fantasy of ideas by painting yourself as a true form of self-expression? I knew at that moment I would become addicted to this new "temporary" art-form.

Never prompting to have my own tattoo in rl, I was a bit skeptical to come to the event last night, thinking of it as probably just another display of overdone body sleeves, over-tattooed breasts and lower back tramp stamps .

In my mind, less has always meant more from a sophisticated point of view (when looking at a model's makeup as an artform).  In the past, I have always looked upon tattoos as being a bit  "trampish" and a sign of  promiscuity.  Call me conservative or old fashioned, but with most stylish outfits (besides a dress), just bending shows the tattoo design to the world and thus distractive to the overall ensemble and your silhouette.


But this event was very different.  Unlike the stereotypical body tattoos that we have all come to love and loath, I discovered that this pageant was a free exercise in body painting - one that embodied being sexy, fun and absolutely rebellious!

It calmed me to realize that this was "painting" the body as an art-form.  Unlike tattoo and other forms of body art, body painting is temporary and a very personal form of expressive creativity.. Being painted onto the skin instead of tattooed, in rl it may only last for a period of only several hours or at most a couple of weeks.  (Ha Ha!...So don't fret Mom & Dad!) . I also found that the body paintings were seemingly very resilient to stretching and distortion, and thus very forgiving from a photographic standpoint.

It has been said that body painting is designed or created by the forces of natural selection as the means to reach a specific altered state of consciousness.  There were no finer testaments to that theory than what my eyes were treated to see last night. Both Summitt Beaumont: and Narcisissma fashion body and face paintings best exemplified that level of extraordinary consciousness - Retro-Flower children transcending the psychedelic boundaries of the past  1960's Hippie culture into something vividly fresh and fun!

In the realms of pure fantasy, I was completely enthralled with both LadySunFire Erin and Timberlynn's creations.  The array of simple flowing colors that Erin chose to best express her interpretation of "Imagine," - Fellon Celt's abstract design that covered, caressed, and complemented her lovely silhouette.

Perhaps my favorite was Timberlynn's creation.  I believe that there is garden fairy in all of us somewhere - to be given wings to soar and fly in God's beautiful gardens and heaven while being soothed by mystical music and bathed in a display of nature's ever-listening flora.

In summary, I found the event to be very inspirational and a true tribute to CWS, their instructors, and principals.  Simply The Best!