My face painting journey began when my aunt forced me to paint alongside her. Little did I know that holding that brush would change my life. I have been so fortunate to travel the world, meet amazing painters and make friends doing what I love. My face and body art friends have become my family. We share our artwork and put ourselves out there to learn from one another and selflessly help each other grow.

After working in a corporate environment, I’m so grateful for my face painting family because we are a community of really good people. Almost 12 years ago, I was fortunate enough to meet a special type of artist. Marcela and I would teach a lot of classes at the NY Clown Alley and that is where I first met Deva.

Deva Prem was a true artist. She wasn’t the best painter in the world, but she had a style all her own. She was a spiritual, peaceful, loving, and inspiring woman. She helped me in so many ways to grow Silly Farm. She was tough on me and honest, and even when I didn’t want to hear it, I always listened because her heart was pure. Deva epitomized the love of art. Deva would introduce all her art friends to our world and would support them as they blossomed into amazing face and body artists. She introduced me to the recent Face Off competitor, Athena Zhe. I remember Deva telling me, “I’m bringing my artist friend Athena to your class. She will blow you away!”. She sure did! Deva also raved about an artist friend of hers, Derrick Little, and after one glance at his art work I was hooked. Deva knew art and knew how to bring people together because of it.
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Sadly, Deva left our world last year. Deva lost her battle with cancer, but in true Deva fashion, I know she would want us to continue her legacy by sharing art. Even during her hardest moments battling cancer, Deva made sure to attend the FABAIC and offered free massages to attendees. Her spirit of generosity is what prompted this blog.

Her dear friend, Derrick Little, has started his own Art Project in memory of Deva and to help others in their fight against breast cancer. Please take a moment to visit his site, ShieldYourHeart.org, and if you have the means, please support his cause and help keep Deva’s passion alive. Derrick is one of the most creative and out of the box artists I know, and I’m sure the card collection is a bonus!

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I make an effort to get to know all my customers because our face painting world is small. Sooner or later our paths cross and it’s good to know our family keeps growing. Happy painting and thank you for reading.

-Heather