by Marcela Murad, Co- Founder on the FABAIC
For a long time in the clown world I was known as “the Queen of Facepainting” because I was the one who introduced this art form to them. I hate to admit it, but I believed at the time that I was deserving of the title and thought highly of my self- taught skills. But then I met Oliver Zegers, who had traveled from Belgium to paint at the Halloween and Party Show I was attending. Not only was I blown away by his talent and the designs he was painting, I managed to fall off my pedestal and hit the floor really hard. It was my first of many humble experiences to come.
Not long after, at a clown convention, a beautiful young girl took my class and approached me to thank me afterwards. She also asked me if it was okay for her to paint in the lobby and of course I said yes without giving it much thought. To my surprise, she was the female equivalent of Oliver Zegers. This talented young lady happened to be Jinny, and she is one of our original instructors at the Face & Body Art Convention!
My philosophy has always been: “if you can’t beat them, join them!” So I set out to make these amazing artists my friends and mentors. Before long I met artists from around the world who were doing amazing work, like Nick and Brian Wolfe, along with other artists from Enjoy Your Face, who painted at Disney. I remember when I met Mark Reid– he came to take a class with me and was afraid to show me his portfolio!
After meeting so many talented artists, all I wanted was a way to share the blessing I felt of knowing these people and learning from them. They were the reason the Face and Body Art International Magazine was born and the inspiration for the creating the FABAIC. I wanted to gather the best of the best in one place at the same time to teach others what I had been learning from them.
For 14 years one of the most rewarding parts of the convention is introducing you to new talent and giving you the unique opportunity to learn hands-on from many of the artists we all admire. All of our past instructors have been chosen not only because of their amazing skills, but because of their personalities, their passion and dedication for the arts of face and body painting, and their desire to help us elevate these art forms to new levels. Every year it gets harder and harder to choose our instructors list. I wish I had enough money in my budget and time in the schedule to keep adding new faces while bringing back all of the ones who have honored us in the past.
My goal once again is to gather the best of the best to help us celebrate our grand 15th year anniversary. We are still in the process of finalizing our list- but I can tell you this. Those like Jinny, Mark Reid and Nick Wolfe who have been giving me their all since we started the FABAIC will be returning in 2017. New confirmed faces include Jo Bertram (Australia), Teresa Mullin and Sally Ann Lynch (England) and Elisa Griffith (USA). Other first timers on our list include FABATv instructors Cameron Garrett and Marcela Bustamante. The amazing Yolanda Bertram from New Zealand is coming back after a long absence, and others like Margi Kanter who bring so much joy and fun energy to FABAIC will also be joining us. If this was not enough, our sponsors are bringing some amazing talented artists that we can’t wait to meet in person.
As we prepare for the biggest and best FABAIC yet, we want to hear from you on what you would like to see in 2017! Have an instructor you are dying to learn from? Art style you are dying to try out? Or a suggestion on how to make our 15th year anniversary the most memorable convention yet- email me directly at marcela@fabaic.com– I would love to hear what you have in mind!
Also make sure to join our mailing list and our facebook forum to get updates on instructor lists, class schedules, special events and more!
See you in 2017!
