Halloween is Coming – part four

HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This weekend is going to busy, busy, busy!  The party night, which is when my services are in the most demand, is Saturday.  As Halloween is actually next Monday, the bookings on that day are kids on their way to school and my regular special effects client in the early morning.

This year I have appointments booked on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  As always, it is a tiring weekend, but I look forward to it every year.

I am booked solid on Saturday but there are always cancellations at the last minute – and unfortunately no-shows.  I keep a waitlist and will call people if a spot opens up, so you can still contact me (message me through my Facebook page which is linked to on the right.)  I just can’t guarantee you will get in.

Here are some of my favourite costumes and make-up design combinations.

I love what I do!

Next week’s post will be all about what I did this year for Halloween, so stay tuned.

Halloween is Coming – part two

Here we are at the second week of my Halloween countdown in the form of some of my make-up and costume work.

I love Halloween and those clients who want to go all out with their ideas.  I’ve one particular client who comes every year, many years twice, who is the epitome of Halloween spirit.  He gets a full special effects make-up every Halloween day morning and goes out for the day, often completely decorating his truck as well.

He has the idea and gets his costume together, and I get the make-up figured out to his specifications – sometimes I make the pieces, sometimes he buys them, sometimes both are used.  Copious amounts of blood are usually involved.

I have such a lot of fun with my clients!

 

Halloween is coming!

The most wonderful time of the year!

I am going to do a weekly post featuring past make-ups and costumes I have done – for fun and possible inspiration.

I am still taking appointments for Halloween make-up for this year but am filling up fast so if you are my area and want to book I suggest contacting me ASAP!  You can message me through my Facebook Page – the link is on the right of this page.

These make-ups are from one of my favourite appointments – a group of friends would come regularly for special events (not just Halloween, but birthday pub crawls and theme nights.)  This particular event was a Dead Pirates theme.

 

A little rant about my pet peeves

Everyone has their own pet peeves.  I have several.  Um, actually, I have a lot depending on the day of the week or phase of the moon.  You know… the usual variables.

I am a list maker so I’m going to categorise some of mine by topic/theme.

Recipes

WHY do people use fractions of items in recipes?

I’m not talking 1/4 teaspoon; I’m talking about 1/5 of an avocado for heaven’s sake! Who the hell would cut up an avocado to use only 1/5 of it?  Really?  You couldn’t manage to use ALL of it?

Or how about 1/2 a can of sweetened condensed milk?  I don’t know about you, but when I open one of those I only have one thing to make and what the heck am I supposed to do with the leftover half a can?

Or recipes that call for 3 egg yolks and 5 egg whites?  What’s up with that?  Either figure out how to use 5 egg yolks or cut it back to 3 egg whites.  How hard is that?

Or 1 tablespoon of diced onion?  Sure you can put the rest of the onion in the fridge or freezer to use later, but… I’d have just included the whole “small” onion in the recipe.

And for baking – why on earth would anyone want to use margarine?  BAKING… you know, sugar upon sugar, usually containing other sweets like chocolate and fruit… use butter or lard or shortening – REAL food.

Driving

Turn signals.  When did they become optional?  They are either not used at all or only turned on half-way through the turn.  I was under the impression they were for indicating your intention to turn, in advance.  Silly me.

Rolling stops.  A stop sign means STOP.  I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve just about been t-boned, or as a pedestrian, was just about clipped.  These same people complain and wail when they get a ticket for not stopping (a $275 ticket!)  My heart bleeds.

Tossing butts out the window. I can’t even describe the stupidity of this.  Given the fires we have had you would think anyone with a single brain cell would know how stupid this it, but, daily, I still see it happening.  That or flicking their ashes out the window instead of into an ashtray.

Make-Up Pricing

As a professional make-up artist I buy a lot of products.

Many “brands” buy their items from the same sources – private label companies.  You can order anything with your own name and logo on it: brushes, liner pencils, eye shadow, etc. You can buy their stock items or order custom colours or packaging. You then can create your own price point.

I recognize a lot of these products and the price variation is ridiculous.  Personally, I go with the lower prices on many items – price is no way to judge make-up quality.  It can be a factor (i.e. stuff made in China for example, which I try to avoid) but all being equal, I’ll go with price.

I was looking for individual/single false lashes – the store I was in had one store brand package left at about $8.  I asked the attendant if they had anymore.  She checked the drawer, but had none of that brand left.  So she went and checked two other brands… in the “designer” section… $20 for a Borghese package.  Keep in mind these are tiny individual fake eyelashes… why would I want to pay $12 more for the name brand?  So I just got the one package.

Things like moisturizers have a wide variety of pricing – essentially ALL contain the same ingredients, in slightly different proportions with different scents, etc. There is no point, in my opinion, in spending on the higher priced brands when a $10 or $20 brand will serve the same purpose.

Brushes are something that really annoy me.  I have literally HUNDREDS of brushes for face painting.  I refuse to buy face paint brand’s labelled brushes.  They source their brushes just like any other company would, and have them customed coloured and stamp their name on them.  If you look around an art/craft store you can find the same, and usually better, brushes.  I’ve also discovered sets of cake decorating brushes work excellently – a set of 7 for $14… can’t beat that.  Quality of brushes is often judged by price, particularly artist brushes, so this is often a “get what you pay for” item.

Trying to get a price without having to talk to a salesperson

I’m curious to find out what solar panels would cost to install on my house.  I just want a ballpark – I don’t really have any intention to do it in the short term.

Couldn’t find any pricing on the interwebs that could be figured out by a layperson.  I do NOT want to talk to a salesperson, I just want a general idea of costs.  So I filled out one of those “get a quote” things – that sends to local outlets (I used one before to get car insurance quotes – and didn’t have to talk to anyone.)  They keep contacting me wanting my phone number – I told them I prefer email.  I just want to know what the price range is and that I can answer questions by email.

Just give me an average cost for this city. Then I know what I need to aim for if I want to do it.  I know they want to push a sale, but I just want information.  I hate hard sales pitches.

Well, that made me feel better.  Here’s a photo of my clematis.

 

 

I may be famous, maybe

I worked on a film in October for a local film challenge called the Frightening 48.  Teams of film makers signed up, then Friday night at 6 p.m. were given three specific things that HAD to be in the short (under seven minute) film:  a character, a prop and a line of dialogue.  Each team was given a different character but the prop and line were the same.

Then the teams had to write, plan, shoot, edit, and submit the finished film by 6 p.m. on Sunday night – in 48 hours.

The shooting took place starting at 6 a.m. on Saturday … in a graveyard (it was still the middle of the night here as dawn wasn’t until 8 a.m. or so).  Then we moved around town, on the streets, an old isolated farm house, a dive bar… etc.

Then the post-production crew pulled an all-nighter and through Sunday to get it done to drop off.

After the challenge, more scenes were shot to expand the film to a longer version which is being released for television.

It stars Gerald Auger (AMC’s Hell on Wheels) and lots of local talent.  Check the Facebook page of Bohemian Blood.

So, my point… the poster for the movie was just released… and they credited me ON THE POSTER!!

Opening tomorrow: Agatha Christie’s Cards on the Table… in shades of grey

Does that title sound like a bit of a mash-up?

It isn’t really… literally (in the literal sense of the word) the entire show is shades of grey – and black and white.

The sets, the costumes, the make-up, the hair… shades of grey.

The photos are from dress rehearsal as the show opens tomorrow night.  I still need to tweak a few things – it is a process to get the make-up right and a challenge to have total and complete coverage.

Particularly when one of the actors reacted to the make-up and we had to figure out an alternative which isn’t perfect.

And colouring the hair with make-up on those who we don’t have wigs on and trying to cover the scalp so the natural skin doesn’t show through in the stage lights and make the hair look pink.

I’ve got a great crew to work with and we’ll get it right!

Here are some shots I took backstage:

It is a little strange looking at the photos; they look photo-shopped.

Once we work out the kinks I’ll get more photos of the whole cast.

It’s a good show too!  Come and see it – tickets are available at GPLT 780-538-1616 or on the website.

Productive downtime

I have been enjoying my “break.” Aside from a make-up test last Saturday for a show in April and a couple of clients for an appointment early this morning, I’ve been relaxing after a very busy fall and winter.

I’ve managed to get my laundry/utility room back in order after getting everything dried out after my flood on Feb 18th.  And the hall carpeting is completely dry now too.  Now I have to start getting all my kit, wigs, beards, etc. cleaned and put away – we just piled up everything from Les Mis in the corner of my studio.  I had to do a rush tidy-up last night for this morning’s appointment but they are regulars here so were understanding of the reason for the mess.

This is what they had done (they were adjudicating an innovation challenge for students):

The collar on the Egyptian Queen is a big glitter tattoo that goes all around her neck.

I have been doing marketing and paperwork – got in touch with my repeat clients and confirmed dates, and got contracts and deposits back through to the end of the year.  Also getting my taxes ready to take to  my accountant as soon as I get all my receipts.

After not getting any Christmas candy making done due to being too busy, tired and then getting sick, I seem to have been hit with a baking bug!

A friend was looking for a Chocolate Fudge Torte with Chocolate Ganache icing.  He couldn’t find one anywhere so I baked one for him on Tuesday night – it was a four-hour process (make, bake, cool, chill, coat, chill again.)  I found a recipe online and it smelled divine while baking.  I heard it tasted awesome…

Then this morning I was seeing pie references everywhere (today is Pie Day 3-14-15) so I made an apple pie which mom and I had for lunch with vanilla bean ice cream.

Tomorrow morning I’m going to make scones and we will have a Cream Tea for brunch!  For those who don’t know what that is – fresh-baked scones, fresh whipped cream, jam and tea!  In England they have “double cream” and it is different from whipped cream but I’ll just whip the cream till thick, not fluffy.

I think the baking mood is because I am not so tired and have some energy.  Although, I haven’t seem to have found the energy to get cracking on the wig washing and kit cleaning yet.

Once we get to the end of March I will be busy again with theatre and bookings.  I really needed this break to get a chance to take care of household and business stuff, although I still need to vacuum.  Maybe next weekend.  It’s been so long since I used it I may not recognize it…

 

Les Miserables

First week of Les Miserables is now history here in Grande Prairie… FOUR standing ovations!

This is an amazing production full of stunning talent and absolutely phenomenal performances.  If you are local, and enjoy music, you do NOT want to miss seeing this show.  Tickets are still available for some performances through Grande Prairie Live Theatre.

I am the Make-Up and Hair Coordinator/Designer for the production and with my crew of nine we are doing the hair and make-up for 60 cast members.  Cast members are also helping out when necessary – and I thank them all!

With a production of this size there are many changes throughout the show – chorus members play multiple roles that require make-up, hair and costume changes.  Beards on, dirty, then beards off, clean them up, then pretty them up, put on a wig, take off a wig, etc.  We have to keep some hair and make-up crew members available right to the end, and wait to get all the wigs back before we can leave.  Once the initial rush is over some of the make-up crew leaves and others take turns staying to the end (except me, I’m always there and Marg who takes care of hair and wigs.)

Here are some photos from the show taken by the producer at dress rehearsal (not in any particular order):

And these were taken by Beauchamp Photography:

This one is the set as viewed from the balcony – way, way up.

Master of the House…

And these are my shots of make-up as we’ve been working – I have charts so the crew can follow what each actor needs done, so I take photos of each time so I can choose the best looks.

This is my initial make-up for Javert – I’ve since darkened up the aging to read better on stage (the lighting is “atmospheric” and we need more contrast for it to show):

One of the convicts from the opening number… he has to quick change to be the Factory Foreman:

Madame Thenardier – she doesn’t like having her teeth stained, that’s what that expression is about!

Madame Thenardier all dolled up for the Wedding.  Her moles move about, never the same place twice.

Some “lovely” ladies (I have to admit this is loads of fun…):

Someone made a comment that the Lovely Ladies could be zombies too.  Yeah, I can see that.

The show runs until February 21st!

I’m recruiting!

I have a couple of productions coming up for Grande Prairie Live Theatre and I need people for the make-up/hair crew.  These are volunteer roles, but great for learning about theatre and make-up/face painting.

The first production is “The House at Pooh Corner” which will be at Second Street Theatre and runs Jan 16 to Feb 1.  Dress rehearsals are usually the Mon/Tues of opening week so that would be Jan 12/13 but needs to be confirmed.  The make-up for this show will be face painting.  There are two shows on Saturdays and one show on Sunday, as well as Friday evening.  On Saturdays we usually do full application for the first show and then one person sticks around to touch-up for the second show.

I am also recruiting make-up crew for “Les Miserables” which will be running at the College theatre Feb 5-21 (Thur/Fri/Sat evenings), with rehearsal and timing test for crew on Jan 18, and dress rehearsals on Feb 2 & 3. It is a huge cast, with lots of changes (beards, moustaches, wigs, and multiple role playing). Call time is to be determined based on the Jan 18 timing test – estimate at this point it could be 5 p.m.

If you are interested contact me by comment or via Facebook ShannonFennell.MakeUp

Feel free to share if you know people who might be interested. No professional experience or training is required (but it is helpful!) just an interest and good attitude.

Well, 2014, it’s been swell…

Let’s have a look at the major highlights in my world, of 2014:

January 2014

We had a massive amount of snow to deal with last winter – had to pay a guy to clear the roof, and it kept coming.

I was hired to do some body painting for a couple of club servers for a theme night at their club – the theme was “Safari.”

Private customers for Mardi Gras themed fundraisers too.

February 2014

The body painting continued with painting a statue for a play at GPLT, “The Shape of Things.”  It was a great gig as painting the same thing so many times usually doesn’t happen.  Each night was a little different.

Also face painted at Family Day at Muskoseepi Park, and at the Timbits Jambouree.

March 2014

I took a henna workshop with Michelle Forrester of Fairie Girl Henna in Beaverlodge.  It was fun, but I won’t be adding it to my own business.

Was getting ready for “Macbeth” – I got to create the head for the final scene.

And do the make-up and hair – I concentrated on the Witches and my crew handled the rest.

April 2014

Macbeth wrapped up at the theatre and I was busy with Easter face painting and the Swan Festival.

She’s crying because she wanted mustard on her hotdog.

May 2014

At GPLT we were doing “The Wind in the Willows” so designs were created and painted for each performance.

Badger

Mrs. Churchmouse

Groundhog

Also did some fashion make-up, contouring and age make-up for a disguise for private clients.

June 2014

In June mom and I drove down to Calgary for a week to see Cher & Cyndi Lauper.  It was a nice trip, fairly straight line too.

These two theme cars were at the dealership next to our hotel in Calgary.  I am partial to the Spider-car.

July 2014

Painted some dinosaurs for the Canada Day Parade, then spent a lot of the month building a dinosaur myself.  Even booked a week off from the day-job to get it built.

It was a long hot summer so the garden looked nice.

Painted at Muskoseepi Park for Canada Day with a crew of ten.

August 2014

Finished building my Pachyrhinosaurus, and body painted for the Amber Ball.

Got my photo with Dan Aykroyd!

And with Philip J. Currie!

September 2014

Painted at the Wembley Demolition Derby. Then built a Tyrannosaurus Rex to match with my Pachyrhinosaurus for the Wearable Art Show at the Centre for Creative Arts.

They were left on display at the Centre for Creative Arts.

October 2014

Ah, October… my favourite month.

This year I had back-to-back Frozen themed birthday parties.  I don’t mind the princesses but I never, ever, ever want to see that snowman again!

And, of course, Halloween!

Always fun!  This year my clients won three contests: Scariest Costume, Best Male Costume and Sexiest Costume.

I face painted at Muskoseepi Park’s Halloween Spooktacular, and the GP Museum’s Spooks and Stooks.

November 2014

The weekend of the 9th our hot water tank flooded our basement – as of today, STILL waiting for the restoration company to show-up to assess the damages.

Christmas party bookings started up and planning for upcoming shows.

December 2014

Christmas parties, and more Christmas parties. And getting ready ourselves.

 

And for the first time I will be face painting on New Year’s Eve down at the First Footings Celebration at Muskoseepi Park.

As usual there were lots of birthday parties and events booked throughout – by this time of year it is all a blur.  I enjoy all of them a great deal – I am very lucky to be able to do what I love do and get paid for it!

On the home front lots of frustration – we have had to replace mom’s full time aide repeatedly.  We are on full timer number six in 2014 right now.  Things are good so we hope this one will stay.  Our part timer is coming up on a year with us in January.

In the new year mom is having cataract surgery on both eyes and she hopes to be reading Stephen King to herself soon, again.

I’m planning to get a store set-up online to sell my e-book and other items – there is a learning curve so it may take a bit of time for me to figure it out.  I’ve got the site but need to populate it and figure out the processing side of it.

Happy New Year to everyone – all the best for 2015!