YAY FABAIC! Warning - long winded with pix!

Sorry it took so long for me to come back to you guys! I had to go on a 20 hour joy ride with my airline! I got home on 5am TUESDAY morning after leaving FABAIC on Monday morning at 8am. Life should now be sufficiently sorted!! LOL

Well FABAIC has come and gone! I learned so much and had such an adventure!! I shall now bore you silly with a few of my details and some memorable pictures!

MANY thanks to all of the fantastic people I met from here, over there!! I wish there were more hours in the day. Dinner was great but STILL not enough to really meet everyone and to get names straight, next year I am going to carry a pen and queue cards! Every person I have a conversation with will print their name on the card and hold it up to their face while I take a picture!!! I’m already blurry!! I didn’t get to hang out anywhere near enough, but it was whirlwind right down to Jinny phoning me up and coming to my room for henna on Sunday night while I was packing (long story, creative and inventive lady)!

I was usually surrounded by well-wishers and henna seekers the whole time there and although it was fantastic, I didn’t get to wander or paint much at all. I’m not good with ‘no’ and I feel so strongly that I always want to henna anyone who asks. So I think my learning was stunted a little and I really only painted almost at all in classes. (which THANK YOU WHITNEY for being a fantastic model for my Wiser/Reid class and to LONE WOLF who let me graffiti her on both arms….you guys are great sports!!)

Watching would have helped me so much but I just kept trying to henna ‘one more’! I got to where I was now using henna as a bribe “I will give you mehndi IF I can paint you first” but of course then the painting was cut short because you couldn’t do a two hour piece or something when there are so many others trying hard to be patient and hoping they can squeeze in. SOOO I would put henna on about 5 peeps and then try to get back to painting. Sorta worked!! But I think that even if I could say no that I just was at war with myself over wanting to spread the ‘henna love’ and learn and observe. I am sure I STILL would have felt I needed more ‘holy! How did you do that?!?’ time even if I had hidden my cones and meandered. Just sooooo much talent and soooooo little time!! Need an extra week!!!! Could not take every class I wanted and only 1/3 at that!

Wiser gets mobbed a lot so we had to sneak off to do his henna…which made me late for the Wolfe Brothers class!! LOL I really seemed to be behind on everything!! But the other instructors were so kind and generous with their praise and their support I could have cried. Actually I think I did on a couple of occasions! And at least 6 instructors asked if I was competing and Jinny said that she could not believe I was so new and that she had almost no advice to give on my piece in her class but did help me on my shading, which needed work, and her advice was fantastic! Reid and Wiser also were very sweet in their assessment. I cannot say how much this helped me to try and up my confidence a bit to where I think I can confidently say…I do NOT suck……I just have a long way to go!! I did my Bollywood showcase piece and it was a huge learning experience and if it wasn’t for Lone Wolf assisting with base coat and hair, I would NEVER have finished on time! She was truly a gift from above who’s generous spirit really saved my Canadian bacon!

I think that the vendor room may be pumped full of a mystery narcotic of NASA like secrecy that makes you spend WAAAY too much on new toys and shiny things than you could possibly afford! That must be it…or the devil made me do it. I would NEVER have spent that much without secret outside forces forcing me to do so against my better judgment. OR I am just a large kid in a candy store – the new arty cakes are pretty cool! They are the same size as tags now.

If any of you who did not get there EVER have a chance to go…..FIGURE OUT A WAY to get there by hook or by crook!! It was more than I could have hoped for! I didn’t take many pix as far as henna went as teaching my rose was the biggest request so there were a WHOLE lotta roses going on, and then the second request was for the ‘eye’. Go figure!

So HERE is most of the ones I did capture:

I am always comfortable in my ‘henna zone’ but after seeing all of the amazing talent around me, I was TERRIFIED of picking up a brush! I felt so very very inadequate and Whitney (let’s hear it for super girl again!!) said “You Must Paint!” and even offered me to use her kit. She was doing a stunning piece on a girl and gotta say…the girl is awesome! Everyone seemed to have ideas before they got there, reference material, sketches...I had jack!

I was still ‘hiding in henna’. Then someone found my Achilles heel. “I saw the wings you did…I have a gay pride parade to do when I get home…can you show me how to do rainbow wings?” Ugh. A request for help. So with VERY shaky hands, I showed her a simple two tone and let her know she could use the same technique with a rainbow cake. It was simple but effective and by the end, I was a bit more relaxed. Then she asked me to show her flames. So I did that as well. Here they are! My first two ‘play paints’ and you will be able to see the progression from there as my nerves calmed down a bit.





My next stop was learning Graffiti from Wiser. Missed the second part of the class as I was still experimenting from the first part, so I really need to take that class again. Wiser wanted his hand hennaed, so we waited until the class emptied out and sort of ‘hid’ at a table and got his in. If we didn’t do it then who KNOWS how long it would have been if at all.
My first Graffiti:


My second graffiti:


Wiser’s hand:



I took Mark Reid’s class on biker style tattoos and he was very complimentary but I feel he probably would have said nice things to everyone. All the teachers were pretty awesome! He was a real nice person!!






So that night I tried to get my paint on and here was a back I did between hennas:
Lovely girl with an adorable little baby and she had such gorgeous dark skin – flawless – made the colors just jump to life!!! She was a joy to paint!!!



Next day I took Jinny’s class where she critiques your work. You paint your favorite motif for one hour of whatever you like, and then she shows you how to take it up a notch or correct your problems. Learned SO MUCH from this class! Here is the piece I did in one hour and then Jinny helped me with a bit of hair shading which just made it pop sooo much more! It has really added to my eye for depth. You can see where I was playing with the Reid ‘tattoo’ style on the roses.



Here are two more ‘jam session’ pieces I managed to get out:



I wanted to do soooo much more on and for the mermaid, but time was not on my side so she seems cute, but somehow unfinished.



I just didn’t feel comfortable taking the time on the painting with so many eager eyes hoping that I would finish and get back to mehndi so most of the jam ones were pretty quick. Maybe if I can get there next year I can do bigger pieces!! I also made the mistake of sending almost no one to the photo room so the only captures of my work are with my own camera.

And for the gala on the last day, this was my Bollywood offering! It was very special in so many ways. It was my first full body, the model is wearing my wedding jewelry, it was my first Face painting convention, and Lone Wolfe was my assistant and I got to share the space with some of the most talented instructors anywhere!! HOW freaking lucky am I? It was even scarier as my model was freezing and having a hard time, I started twice and I went in with NO PLAN. Duuuuhhh. Winging it may be fine at home, but I am NEVER doing that again. Learned another valuable lesson. I was led to believe there would be a hair person. There was not. I must learn at least a little bit about hair!!!! This could have been a disaster if it were not for Lone’s calming presence, a positive model and knowing the other artists all felt like THEY weren’t finished either!! Eye opening I tell ya what!! I cannot thank Lone enough for her help with the hair and filling in red!!!



All in all……this was a life altering experience that I really wish for EVERYONE!!!!
If you made it this far….SORRY for the long winded babbling. This actually could have been longer!!! LOL If I remember I’ll try to post the couple of henna pix I got either in the henna section here or on my facebook. Thank you all for your support and help! None of this would have happened without you!!

XXXOOO

Amazing!!!! Thank you for sharing your experience!!!
I have always thought your work to be super duper amazing. Love all the pics and looking forward to seeing more from you.

Kim thank-you so much for this post!
I hung off every word and even re-read some parts.
The pictures and all your work is awesome! I'm so jelous you got to meet Mark and Jinny and Wiser! Let alone do take their classes and have them critique your work.
I estimate that a trip to FABAIC for me would cost min $10,000.
That's a lot a faces to paint!

Thank you for sharing. I admire all your work! WOW!!!
I will find inspiration in your wings....I will have to study it

Thank you so much for sharing. You have some great artwork there. I love the mermaid.

Oh Kim your a wonderful wonderful soul. A felt THANKYOU for posting this. I too hung off every word, trying in my mind to be there too through your words. Your paintings are as amazing as you are, I was so happy when I read "I do not suck" halaloooya you've finally got what we already know. I will get there one day because it is my greatest face painting dream to attend FABIAC. I will also cost me around the $10,000 mark. I believe when you have such a burning passion for something doors will open & you'll live your dream. xoxoxoxoxo

Sorry that I couldn't make it this year.. I wanted to meet all of the new faces that were flying in for the fun. But, I'll probably be there next year, glad you had a good time! Next time, I would seriously consider wearing a sign on your back that said, "the henna machine is turned off, please try again later."

Might work!

Okay, I have to comment because Kim is being too modest. I was a fortunate recipient of one of her paintings (the mermaid) and I am here to tell you first hand she is remarkable, her talent is only surpassed by her generosity. She gave so much to others it is a miracle she was able to take any classes at all. Thank you Kim for your friendship and for the paint. That week was one of the best weeks ever. Thank you to everyone I met and to all the talent that was shared. I am still going through photo's. It certainly raised the bar for me......

Fantastic post! I loved reading about your learning/sharing journey there. I hope to get to meet you at some point in the future, perhaps at the next FABAIC!

I LOVE it when you post something with a "warning - pics heavy, loaded with pics" or something like that. I can't wait to get in and marvel over your work.

I love it all as always, specially your fairy and mermaid. So glad to hear you had such a wonderful time. Your "long winded" account of the convention was so welcome - you write as well as you paint. For a little while at least I felt like I was there.

Thank you SOOO much for sharing.

kim amazing work as always,, im glad you had a good time I hope to be able to go one day.

Thank you for your kind words Laura! You were so patient with all of the others that were wanting art on your time and you were so nice to wait while I 'tagged' some others at the same time. You were a real special person and I enjoyed the time we spent together, although it was nowhere near enough. Is it ever? I think time truly goes faster at FABAIC!!!!!

Thank you again to everyone for your support and encouragement to continue on my paint journey!!! XXXOOO

i have seriously posted on this 3 times.. why do my commets keep not showing up?! urg i want to tell kim how awesome she is!

of course this is the commet it choses to let show lol...anyway

kim it was amazing meeting you! you are deffinately one of my favorite people, your art work is AMAZING, and just you in general is amazing your so kind and awesomely spazzy (i mean that in a good way! ) i wish we could have hanged out a little more, and jammed together, next year you will have to show me how you do those amazing blue fairies...

great pics!!

Awesome pictures

Jinny also did the highlighting in the wings and on the hair, don't forget. I have the step by step photos for you...to return the favor of taking the ones when she did the wings on my back!

I totally agree with Wiser, and his class. I think it needs to be longer so I could absorb more!!! But then, I think I want a clone machine so that I could make it to all the classes I wanted because there were simply too many awesome ones offered in the same time slots.

Was awesome having dinner with you on Weds...wait, that was Weds that you, Amber and I had food at the Ale House, yes? Holy crap the days have run together! I agree about the name tags because I know we met all the people at the FPF dinner, but it's still blurry.

Oooo...Whitney should put up the video she took for Linda!!! lol That would help!

Glad you made it back in one piece!

Oh there is NO why I could type every detail, Wiser also helped me with my Graffitti, and yup!! It is a TOTAL blur! Sooooo fast and home in one piece you ain't kidding! Detoured due to bad weather! Was SURE they were going to mess me arround by putting me in a hotel in Saskatchewan!! I had clients on tuesday afternoon!!!!!!! Luckily, got home at 5am. Yet more adventures, meetings, help from others and helping others, sharing a laugh and a sniffle, and a shot! (Wiser drinks rocket fuel I swear!!) Sooooo much going on......so much to go on again!!!!!! I'm really hoping for next year and I am almost positive we went for fish and chips on Wednesday....but I wouldn't bet on it!! LOL
LOL

Yes. Weds because you had the good hush puppies then and the not so good on Thurs!
Ahahaha...leave it to my memory being based in food.

Wiser's room was two up from mine. I told him that I think he started the fire in the hotel, but I have no proof. lol Either that it or the hotel couldn't contain the hotness of us all being there at once.

Thank you for sharing Kim! I'm so bummed I missed it, but am hoping for next year!
Sorry you didn't get to paint as much as you'd liked... tell ya what, you may have my back for painting if I make it... whatever you want!

Be careful what you wish for Linda! LOL Seriously tho....if I can find $$ and find a cheaper flight and cheap face paint convention in the winter, I would be sooooo tempted!! I'm jonesing for more 'painting family' time already!!!

LOL I've been jonesin' all the while ya'll were there. I'm really thinking about New Orleans... it's in a slow season for me & doesn't conflict w/ birthdays, mission trips, etc.

Mahndi, you are truely talented! I could not believe you when you told me that you recently started painting in November. I was lucky enough to get a quick henna design on my hand from you during one of the jams. Your henna work is beautiful, I was so upset when it actually came off...wanted to keep it on forever! Just wanted to say that it was a pleasure to meet you and see your work first hand!

Oh Kim! You silly goober! You were one of my favorite parts of the convention!!!

XXXOO

- Lilly

Hey Lynnie,
i love your new avatar. I know what you mean I wish I could have gotten to more workshops. It seems like their were always two or three at the same time I wanted to go to. Oh well next time. I agree with Kim wish I lived near some of these talented people so I could get to more jams.

Loved meeting you, hope it will happen again soon =)