LA Fete 2014 - The Ultimate Body Painting Jam

Body Painter: Pashur | Model: Kara Andrews | Photo: Phil Brown

Every year I body paint at a New Orleans event called LA Fete put on by my good friend, Bethanie. This year was cool as always. Great people, great body painting, camaraderie and amazing cajun food and bbq.

The original Transformers dinobot at the St. Patricks's Day Parade.


The first day of LA Fete kicked off on St Patrick's Day. That chilly evening was the St Patrick's Day parade. There were many bizarre and fun things to see on the parade route., I mean it is New Orleans after all! Crazy kilts, floats with bands rocking out while tossing out mass amounts of beads, and dinosaur bicycles to name just a few.

Body Painter: Pashur | Model: Jessica Mellow | Photo: Phil Brown

On day two, my friend Jessica Mellow wanted to get painted but was unsure of a theme. An interesting thing about Jessica is her LOVE of sporks!!She is a huge collector … so that could mean only one thing,  I cranked out a spork themed design on her where Giant Sporks are attacking the city. An action horror movie in the making I tell you! Perhaps a SyFy production? Sporknado?

Body Painter: Pashur | Model: Kara Andrews | Photo: Phil Brown

On day three, I body painted my friend Kara Andrews in a monochrome blue design. I had been wanting to do a design in this "painterly strokes" fashion for about a year. It looks like an oil painting on a black canvas. I love how it turned out.

Sadly I missed the zombie crawl on the last day due to catching a flight to my next body painting project. However LA Fete was, as always, a fantastic event!!

Cirque du Soleil - Octopus

I was asked to body paint an Octopus body suit for a charity event called One Night for One Drop, put on by Cirque du Soleil at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. This is an amazing charity that strives to ensure that water is accessible to all, today and forever. I was honored to be part of such an excellent cause.

The Sketch.

Upon approval of the sketch, they shipped me the outfit, a tiny bodysuit to be worn by one of their performers.
 

Body Paint Suit: Pashur | Mannequin Model: Kristin Lee

I broke out my airbrush paints and airbrushed the entire outfit while my friend Kristin Lee posed as my living mannequin! Because it was permanent airbrush paint on a body suit - I couldn't make a single mistake, as the mistakes wouldn't wipe off. Lines not matching up? NOT AN OPTION!! Oops, let me grab a baby wipe? NOT AN OPTION. Whew, talk about pressure! Upon completion, I shipped the outfit back to them.

Body Paint Suit: Pashur | Face Make-Up: Wester Cooley | Performer: Marina Popazov
Headpiece: Charly Reanczya & Eric Clark | Photo by Tomo Muscionico

On the night of the performance, my friend Wester did the face make up for the Octopus character. Marina Popazov, the performer also wore a headpiece made by Charly Reanczya and Eric Clark. I wish I could have seen the performance in person, but I was happy to be part of supporting One Drop, even from afar.

Organic Knots

My friend Hamish lined me up a gig painting at the Three Owls pub in Gibraltar, a local hang out here in Gib (as the locals call it). I painted an organic knotwork design on the back of my friend Siobhan. Inspired by Mateo, a painter from Italy who made these types of designs popular in the face and body art industry, I really enjoyed giving this organic design a look that was both beautiful and slightly wicked.

Captain America

Body Painter: Pashur  |  Model: Sean Lerwill  |  Photo by: Chuck Aghoian

Recently in Los Angeles, my friend Jazzmin invited me to come to a body painting for a Golden Age Superhero photoshoot. I thought, "Heroes AND bodypaint? I'm in!" Then it was the great debate with myself, so many great choices to choose from! I finally decided on The Phantom, (and was quite excited about it) but then was unable to find a bald model available on the date of the photoshoot!! Who knew bald super heroes would be hard to find in L.A.??  Jazzmin then told me she had found a model who would make a great Captain America. Enter Sean Lerwill, a U.K. actor and model who just happened to be in town, and who just happened to make the perfect Captain America! Turns out that not only does Sean make a great Golden Age Super hero, he's also just an all around cool guy. We had a great time turning him into a Captain America that could give Mr. Evans a run for his money! I turned it up a notch by adding in metallic blue, to really send home that Super Hero look. It  turned out to be a great day in any Verse

Body Painter: Pashur  |  Model: Sean Lerwill  |  Photo by: JMV Photography

The LA Make Up Show

In March,  Andrea of Bad Ass Stencils fame, asked me to come body paint at her booth, Bad Ass Stencils, at the L.A. Make Up show. Of course I agreed! I painted Simone Dawes with a colorful Scarab type design. I tried to showcase many "out of the box" uses for the stencils by creating a multidimensional design that came to life through the strategic placement of various textures. The makeup show itself was fun, and I saw a lot of familiar faces!  Afterwards, we went to party at The Velvet Margarita, the most delightfully tacky restaurant in L.A.! Here we had an amazing Mexican meal and an amazing margarita (or two, or was that three? hmmm...could have been four). Viva la Bad Ass!

Zombies. Super Heroes, Hip Hop Stormtroopers... and Bananas ( yes, bananas)!

Pashur's body painted zombie creation on actress, Jennifer Rice

I was hired by a really cool "zombie survival" company called Z-booth to paint people as zombies at Long Beach Comic Con. The convention was full of creative cosplayers, zombie lovers and comic fans. It had everything from pint size Edward Scissorhands characters to break dancing hip-hop stormtroopers! Some of the more entertaining zombies were the people that came dressed as a character and then let me zombie them up. That's how we got Zombie Captain America and Zombie Amy Winehouse. Then there was the Banana....a guy dressed as a banana. Not quite sure what that was about but it was pretty funny!! I zombied up my girlfriend who proceeded to scare people (usually into joining the hordes of undead and becoming zombies themselves). Some other fun requests included sugar skulls and a few black eyes. The convention was a blast, but then again, zombies always are!

Once Upon A Time...

"Mirror Mirror" by Pashur

I returned to one of my favorite events of the year, Hilloween, A Halloween costume party for charity. This year the money raised went to Team Smile - which helps give dental work to kids in need that can't afford it.

"Enchanted" by Pashur

The themes have varied over the years, and this year it was "Fairytales and Nightmares!" What says fairy tales like an enchanted mirror? Thus, I had my body paint design theme for my awesome model, Natalie Heart. I also squeezed in "Hilloween" across the top of the mirror as a bonus touch for the event I was painting at.

This Halloween event had quite a mix of tricks and treats! I also painted a regal golden fairie queen on one of the co-organizers of the event, a zombie on one of the sponsors, a circus performer as Little Red Riding Hood who was attacked by the big bad wolf, and dozens of the event staff as ogres and fairies.

"Golden Fairie Queen" by Pashur

A special big thanks to my team of painters that helped rock it out, Nick Wolfe and Sonya Grafft.