After The Rain

It's seems like forever since I've posted some creative work I've done on here so I'm so excited to share w/ you a new beauty story I did back in Jan that is currently featured in Tantalum Magazine! It's really cool too b/c there is a lot of really good work featured in the magazine...always nice to be surrounded by other awesome artists and work!  Also awesome is that the magazine is available in online and in print!

For this look I really wanted to work w/ the idea of wet or glistening skin and wet strands of hair in the face.  I'm not going to lie it's not as easy as it looks to make it work and in fact in the beg. of the shoot I thought we were going to have to scrap the whole concept b/c it just wasn't meshing the way we (as a team) had envisioned.  It finally started to come together though when we realized it looked better if the hair was wet but being blown over the face gently using a bit of fan action versus being placed and stuck to the face.

It's always important to remember to not be afraid to make mistakes or try new things out as artists...sometimes what you originally had in mind isn't going to work but sometimes something even better comes out of it!

For the makeup I wanted the skin to being dewey and glistening and I used a lot of baby oil gel, clear lip gloss and MAC strobe cream for that.  The problem when doing any sort of "wet" look though is the up keep...it looks awesome but only for about 5 mins so you gotta work quick to get that shot lol!  I also wanted to get back into using some colour w/ Spring (hopefully) around the corner lol!  A lot of the products used were from Yaby Cosmetics, Face Atelier, OCC and MUFE...great shoot to pull out my flash palette and OCC pigments!

After The Rain

Photographer Ruo Bing Li

Model Julee (Elite)

REHAB, the art of re-doing

One of the big deciding factors on my trip to Paris was the fact that my brother Steve had his art show opening the wk I just happened to be thinking about going there.  When I found that out I figured it was just meant to be and too perfect to pass up.

It's all pretty awesome and a big deal for him actually.  He actually got invited to be the resident artist at the gallery for 2 mths and gets funding to live and work there.  Pretty big deal for such a young artist...I mean how many 23 yr olds can open a conversation w/ "Well at my show in Paris..." lol.  I mean it even sounds cool for me to say "I'm going to my brother's art show opening in Paris" lol. 

I'm not a huge art person to be honest and sometimes the stuff goes over my head but this show was a collaboration by a lot of artists and I actually really liked the work and found the curator did an amazing job of creating a very cohesive exhibition. 

I'm not very good at explaining the show so I'll just include the little blurb from the press release:

REHAB, the art of re-doing


Espace Fondation EDF

October 27 2010 - February 20 2011

Over recent years, contemporary artists, whether they be openly eco-conscious or merely aware of the changes in the world, have found right ways to reveal an unsuspected artistic potential of ordinary materials. REHAB, the art of re-doing, the show curated by Bénédicte Ramade at the Espace Fondation EDF, invites us to follow the artists in a new creative experience, as their works, with their surprising aesthetic qualities, use familiar and everyday objects for something they surely were not meant for.

Neither ready-made, remake or pastiche nor eco-freaks, the works shown in REHAB let us rediscover materials we thought there wasn't much to them, from the Formica piece of furniture to the cardboard box. Sculptures, videos, photographs or installations are the favourite mediums used by the eighteen French and foreign artists invited.

The richness of their work is a good example of the ability of the artists to exploit double-sided things like waste: both contemporary material endowed with interesting physical properties and a perfect subject to talk about the most urgent societal issues as environment is. Neither peremptory nor accusatory, the artists express the possibility to take part to this social debate through their works, without passing judgment.

This exhibition extend the commitment of Fondation EDF Diversiterre by the side of architects, designers, landscape architects and artists who constantly offer a new perspective on the great contemporary issues. It also shows the involvement of the foundation in social cohesion and planet preservation.

Here's some of the other exhibitors:

This was in the front room right next to Steve's main piece...definitely a show stopper!

This is actually made out of cardboard

Steve's work was really well received too.  Many ppl came up to him to tell him how impressed they were w/ his work and how cool and different it was.  He actually had two pieces showing.  Lock Ness (which I had actually seen before) and Double Forgery (a new piece).  The interesting thing about his work is it's completely made from reclaimed materials found in the exhibition space so while it may be similar w/ a similar outcome during every exhibition it's actually different b/c every single time he has to deal w/ new challenges that come from the new materials he's using.

Here's his explanation of the two works b/c I suck at describing them in an educated way lol:

Lock Ness

Loch Ness is an evolving project developed over a series of exhibitions since 2008. In each exhibition, I reconstruct a photograph of a Loch Ness Investigation Bureau observation deck taken in 1965 using a live feed-video camera and materials collected from inside and around the gallery space. Assembled within the physical and material constraints of each exhibition space, a live-feed video system translates a unique assemblage of scrap construction materials (wood, cardboard, paper, foamcore board, masking tape, paint, etc…) into the image of Loch Ness on an external monitor.

Here's a the piece from behind the camera...I know it looks like a pile of junk lol

Then from that this is what the camera sees!

Double Forgery

Double Forgery is a small scale installation in which a photograph of Robert Smithson’s Nonsite (Essen Soil and Mirrors) (1969) is recreated using a live-feed video camera and materials (wood, cardboard, paper, dust bunnies, dirt) found at Espace Electra, Paris in October 2010. A “double forgery” historically involves the forgery of an already forged painting, perhaps most famously undertaken in the 1960s by Jacques van Meegeren, son of the notorious Vermeer forger Han van Meegeren. In Double Forgery, I forge not a nonsite, but a photograph of a nonsite that was already remade for a Robert Smithson retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in 2004.

So this is the piece as it looks just to view it

And this is the piece as it's seen by the camera and put on the TV screen...still don't get how it works!?!

So the VIP opening actually ended up being very exciting and high end!  Literally, unlimited champagne and INSANE appetizers and desserts which you know I took full advantage of ;)  This appetizers and desserts were like little works of art themselves...I can't even describe how some of them looked...and I made a point to try each and every one of them at least once...some even twice lol!  No wonder my face looked all swollen and puffy the whole time I was in Paris lol!

So now I'll actually bring the blog back to some makeup talk lol!  I did Steve's wife Ania's makeup for the opening.  Earlier that day we went to the Make Up For Ever Boutique and I had helped her choose some new colours just for her.  So I made sure to keep the look super soft and pretty b/c she's not a big makeup girl...and my brother is DEFINITELY not a big makeup guy...at least on his wife (which I found out even more at the opening).  To finish it all off and make it special I added some flirty, flared false lashes.  I used some of my Model 21 lashes and I have to admit I love these things.  All my brides go on and on about how natural they look and they looked so natural and yet dramatic on Ania.

So we got to the gallery and Steve was already there and he took one look at Ania and I literally thought he was going to cry...and not in a good way :S You'd swear he just saw her kissing another guy or something the way he looked! Turned out the false lashes were just too much for him! And I know natural makeup...they did NOT look like too much at all. Ania and I went to the washroom immediately and took them off. Now normally I would have told my brother to suck it b/c she looked gorgeous and she loved the false lashes so if she wants to wear them she should! But I agreed b/c it was "his special day" and I could tell he was really really nervous so I understood w/ all the stress he justed wanted to see his wife in her usual way that he's used to. I guess it's nice that he loves her natural beauty and doesn't think she needs anything to make her look better...although I still did ride him that night about making me compromise "my art" lol.

I took 1 pic in the washroom before I took off the eyelashes...too dramatic I DEFINITELY think not!

 Steve talking about his art

 They are so cute together!

Feeling Very French!

As I briefly touched on in my last post I'm definitely eating "French", although probably not like a French person who enjoys and savors the rich food and wine they are drinking...I mean I'm enjoying and savoring it like the French but I'm also stuffing it all in my face like a North American...and lots of it lol!  After 3 days definitely feeling the need to lay off the baguettes, cheese and wine for a few days.  In fact I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say I've eaten more baguettes and pastries in the last 3 days then I've eaten in Toronto in the last 3 yrs lol (I don't even typically keep bread in my house). 

Anyway, let's move beyond the food lol...I've done a few other things in Paris inbetween eating lol.  On my first day of course I HAD to go see the Eiffel Tower...I mean isn't that what everyone does on their first full day in Paris?  I got there early in morning and I'm actually really impressed that I got there using the metro from my hostel b/c it's not actually the most convenient location and required some transferring...I probably didn't take the most direct location but I got there nevertheless. 

I know this kind of sounds stupid and I don't know exactly what I was thinking beforehand but the first thing I thought when I got there is "Woah this is bigger than I imagined".  I have no idea how big I thought it was going to be but I know it was bigger then I expected lol.  It was pretty early so the lineups actually weren't that bad.  I considered walking up to the first and second levels but I have this weird fear of stairs and heights...esp. stairs where I can see the ground below me or I'm outside and walking up them so I thought it better to just take the lift up (yes I'm feeling British too ;) ). 

It was the MOST PERFECT day to go to the Eiffel Tower.  Cool, crisp Fall air. Clear, Blue skies w/out a cloud in sight (when I went to the Great Wall of China in Beijing it was equally perfect..but hot...how lucky have I been!?!).  Seriously, I couldn't get the smile off my face b/c I just couldn't believe I was there!  I took a bout a million pics on the second level and third level (which is as high as you can go).

Taken from a bridge after I went up it!

 Looking Up!

 View From 2nd Level

 Annoying thing when traveling alone...taking pics of yourself and holding the camera at arms length lol!

After that I met up w/ Steve and Ania at the Palais de Tokyo to get some culture, take in some art and feel smart...or stupid depending on how you feel when you go to a gallery...sometimes I feel a bit stupid like I'm not "getting it" lol.  We had a nice little packed lunch and then went to the exhibit which btw I somehow was able to use my university student card to get a discounted rate (always the thrifty traveler...hell I took a baguette from my free breakfast at the hostel so I had food for lunch yesterday lol)!...it's 10 yrs old w/ no expiry date...why I still carry it in my wallet is really a mystery but I think what's shocking is the fact that I can still use it and get away w/ it lol!

Anyway, we all agreed the exhibit was actually a bit disappointing...good thing I only paid a euro w/ my student card for it ;)  Steve's show had it's VIP opening yesterday (which I'll talk more about another time) and I definitely enjoyed that show A LOT more...and not just b/c I'm a proud older sister.  Overall, it just was a much more cohesive show and the curator was really able to bring a lot of different art mediums together in a manner that really strengthened the themes and ideas of the show. 

After the museum we walked to the Arc du Triomphe took a couple of pics and then headed to the Montmartre area in Paris (you know where the Moulin Rouge is).  Very touristy now of course (and apparently sketchy at night) but we walked to through these really pretty cobblestone lanes after walking up a really really long flight of stairs.  We stopped and had a espresso at a cafe and got some crepes off of a vendor.  I got a buerre et sucre crepe (how do you like my french ;) ) which was so yummy but also very messy.  I don't know how much buerre was put in this thing but I literally had to finish it while standing over a garbage b/c it was dripping so much butter...literally I poured some of it out lol!  A gypsy stole the end of my brother's crepe right out of his hand...it was funny...sort of...only b/c it wasn't my crepe...no one touches MY crepe lol!

 View from near the Sacré-Cœur Basilica

 Notre Dame at Night

 Steve and his oysters

After that we went back to Steve & Ania's place to relax and then out to celebrate a belated b-day dinner for me in the Latin Quarter.  I don't remember the name of the restaurant and the food was pretty good...not amazing but good but really it's all about the conversation and company you keep right!  I think for all of us our fav. part of the meal besides the conversation was actually our starters!  Steve had oysters (which he had never had before), Ania had escargot and I had French Onion Soup...all very yummy! 

So busy busy first day indeed!  Yesterday was amazing as well which I will get to in my next post..hint it includes me going to the Official Make Up For Ever Boutique in Paris!

Sorry for the delay in posts...slow internet takes  a lot longer to upload pics ugghh :(

Makeup Used For Underwater Shoot

So I've had a few ppl asking me what products I used for the Underwater Shoot so I thought I'd go through some product suggests and tips for doing waterproof makeup.

I started w/ moisturizer and primer like I always do.

For Foundations I used a few different products depending on their skintone and coverage that was needed.

I highly recommend Make Up For Ever (MUFE) Face & Body foundation if you want some w/ a light/med coverage and it's sweat and water resistent. I have a feeling Face Atelier's Foundations would work well too b/c they are also silicone based but I didn't try them on this shoot so I can't say for certain.

If I needed a little more coverage I got out my Graftobian Hi Def Cream Foundation but I mixed a little Face Atelier Transforming Gel in w/ it to help make it water resistant. I also did this w/ my Keromask Concealer if there was a stubbon spot that needed more coverage.

I didn't powder anything b/c of course you can't use face powder or powder blush. If there was extra shine that I wanted to minimize I used a mattifying gel product in areas like the T-Zone.

For Highlighter/Bronzers or any Cheek colour I recommend any sort of liquid or cream based product - or even a Cheek Stain can work nice in situations like this. I also again mixed a bit of the Transforming Gel w/ my cheek products just to give it that extra staying power.

For lips any lipstick sealed works fine from what I noticed. I used Benefit She-Laq to seal the lipstick onto the lips but there are other similar products on the market.

I should also mention that underwater shoots are also a great opportunity to pull out your MUFE flash colour palette - you can use those in a million different ways for cheek, lips, eyes etc. (Just make sure to read the labels b/c some colours shouldn't be used near eyes or lips). Again just to play it safe I added a bit of Transforming Gel to my Flash Colours.

A great product for the eyes is Yaby Pearl Paints. They have a very soft texture and gorgeous colour selection. You can just scrap it onto your palette, mix it w/ the Transforming Gel (do you see a pattern here ;) ) and paint it onto the eyes however you want. You can also still totally blend the colours in beautifully together even when it is in more a gel type texture. Of course waterproof mascara is a MUST HAVE in a situation like this but I'm sure that almost goes w/out saying.

One thing I learned through these shoots is that when doing an underwater shoot you have to pump up the makeup even a touch more than you normally would. The water diffuses the colours quite a bit so to make things stand out don't be afraid to go their w/ the colour lol...the Yaby Pearl Paints were really great for this!

So yeah just experiment and have fun...once that model dunks her head under the water once and you realize the makeup isn't running down her face you'll breath and be fine!

Underwater Shoot

So a couple of wks ago I was asked to be involved in a really cool concept shoot - an underwater photoshoot. The photographer Meaghan Ogilvie experimented w/ the concept last yr for an art exhibition and it went really well and she won a people's choice award at this exhibition so the people that ran the exhibition invited her back this year to show her work.

I've never done makeup for an underwater shoot before so I looked at it as a great opportunity to experiment and try something new. I knew and understood the basic concepts and products necessary for underwater makeup but like I said before I've never actually done it. Plus Troy Moth (photographer I've mentioned many times before) mentioned possibly doing an underwater shoot at my new apt. (see already luring the photographers in w/ my cool amenities lol) when he got back to Canada so if nothing else I saw it as a great way to practice for that!

So originally it was suppose to be on a Sat. but unfortunately that got cancelled b/c of the rain and another big unfortunately meant that one of the original models Tyleen couldn't do it so we had to find a replacement. So we ended up meeting up on Sunday and overall at least on my part it went really well! I was a little nervous about the makeup b/c even though I did everything right you still never quite know how it's going to go until that model really dunks her head under the water you know. But everything stayed wonderfully actually. I was using MUFE face & body which is water resistant for the foundation and then for the eyes I was primarily using Yaby pearl paints and mixing them w/ Face Atelier transforming gel to make them waterproof. I also set the lipstick w/ Benefit She-laq. So from a makeup point of view I was definitely happy w/ the way things turned out...esp. the final look I did!

There were two model that day - a male and female. The guy - Matthew was AMAZING. He's an actor and dancer and he totally gave it his all in the water. No FEAR...even after a slightly scary almost drowning event involving some loose fabric around the neck..EEKK! The replacement girl on the other hand...not so great! I can usually get a feel for the model the second they sit down in my chair and I start talking to them...and usually my feeling is not off and it wasn't. She was just very quiet and not in a good way. I kind of felt that she might hold back once she got to the water and unfortunately she did. She just couldn't get comfortable in there and we all hoped that as the shoot would progress she'd get more comfortable but she didn't and it was really putting us behind schedule. It was almost impossible to get a shot w/ her head even fully emerged in the water. I mean is you aren't comfortable in a pool and can barely swim don't agree to do the shoot you're just hurting everyone in the end!

Meaghan was really patient w/ her and was actually really nice. I actually had to go inside for awhile b/c I could just feel the frustration building up inside of me. I'm just not the most patient person. I just wanted to hold her head under the water and yell "STAY UNDER GOD DAMMIT YOU WON'T DROWNED". I mean there were like 4 of us there watching her nothing bad was going to happen. She just lacked energy and had too much fear. But then what really pissed me off was she refused to pose w/ the guy model. She KNEW there was going to be a guy there...and hell he's GAY for Christ Sake what's the big deal! That made me really angry b/c now you're messing w/ the whole artistic vision of the piece and if you don't want to pose w/ male models and you're afraid of the water DON'T AGREE TO THE SHOOT! Plus she had to leave b/c of work so the last look - the BEST look was totally rushed! I didn't know she had to leave but just when I was finishing the makeup she tried to make it like she couldn't even stay for that scene and I was going to blow I mean don't let me sit there and change your makeup for 20 mins and then say oh I have to go before we even get some shots in!!

We're actually doing another water shoot w/ the orignal model Tyleen this Sun. and I'm super stoked about it for a number of reasons. Tyleen has an awesome look and I'm really hoping she'll bring it unlike the other model...please don't let her be as afraid! Plus she's black and I'm in desperate need of some black models in my book b/c let's be real there aren't ANY black models in Shanghai unfortunately! She has the most amazing afro too...I'm really curious how it's going to look in the water and she's so tall and lean I think she'll look amazing. So hopefully Meaghan can get these pics done in time for the exhibit too b/c I definitely think Tyleen is going to bring it more than the other girl did (which to be honest wouldn't be hard lol). Just to give you an idea of how frustrated I was getting - I literally offered myself as a model for these...YES ME!!! I said hey I'll throw on some makeup and put on the flowly material and go in the pool I don't care...that says A LOT trust me lol!

I'm also trying to get Meaghan to submit this as a story to some mags too b/c I think they would be interested and it would be super cool! Well anyway, here are some behind the scene pics of the water shoot. Meaghan is also giving me some edited ones on Sun. that I'll be able to show you guys!

Me doing my thing!

See - We Couldn't Even Get Her in the DEEP END!
At least her head is fully emerged here lol!

Matt was AWESOME!