Photography

So often, my customers take better photographs than I do.
That's because they have time to watch and relate to each other -
I frequently have people waiting, work to be done.
I just point and click and hope the picture will be clear. Next!

I was so happy to get an email from one of my wonderful customers.
This is a photograph that she took (Photograph courtesy of Lily Springs):



to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Bearded Men

Even with a beard - look at how good the face-painting can come out:





Actually, the very first person I ever painted, the very first face I had ever approached with a paint-brush - It was a clown from Brooklyn names Eddie. He had a big dark beard. So I immediately got the sensitivity, the technique for painting over a beard. Because I didn't know that that was any more difficult than any other face.

to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Hello

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optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Mermaid Eyes

Seems like Everybody wants to look like this:





to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Deja Vu

I painted this girl before. I just know it.



Walking around in a fog, I was very tired the day she stopped for this butterfly. I didn't even realize that I've seen her before. But now that I see the beautiful photo, I just know it. People are starting to look familiar. I like when they stop with me again and again. I remember if they remind me once or twice, and perhaps we'd get to talking....

to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Balloons in Central Park

Oh lalala - There I was in Central Park - having fun with the people who pass by my life - and hahaha - Look at what came out.

So big:



and still able to have fun:





And this is what I made when the people weren't talking to me:



to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

So many different ideas. It never ceases to amaze me that each person has his/her own dreams. That the 'character' that will delight one person can be completely different than the character that will delight another person. And, before we accept a 'label' like - 'Oh, she's so sweet', or 'Yeah, I'm tuff', that character can change moment by moment (surely year by year):













to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Attitude

I just had to laugh. Because I pulled together several
pictures which show 'attitude'. From such little kids!
All ages, from the very start of birth, have all the
emotions/attitudes.











to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

It's a Life

This is my life. This is their lives. Here we are - all together in this life. Gotta be amused:









to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Retail

I love to work at Parties. No haggling - just get there and get INvolved. But there's also something nice about working Retail. Since nobody is paying me by the hour, nobody cares how much time I spend with each customer. A lot of time? A little time? It can evolve naturally - depending on what I want to do and what the customer wants to do. Look at these unique balloons that I created recently:



to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

The boy who got everything

I think this is a quote from the end of "Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory": "And you know what happened to the boy who got everything he wanted, don't you?" "Yes - He lived happily every after." "Of course".

Sometime's it's just fun to play with the kids. To give them whatever they can think of in the moment. Look at how cute this boy is. Can you imagine how satisfied he must have felt? He really wanted that half-skull, so I painted this:



But, just like those other boys, he still wanted that Spiderman. I didn't think it would look good to break the face up into two halves - One half skeleton and one half Spiderman. So I made a balloon. I love boys:



And while I'm at it, look at what I created for this little girl. Pearls and pretty, girls are pretty wonderful too:



to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Spiderman

Three different boys. They all wanted it, but they each have their own minds. Their own personalities. Their own sense of self. Three different boys - all thinking they're asking for the same thing. "Paint me like Spiderman." But I had to approach them all differently. Here's the basic:



And this boy wasn't sitting still enough for me to paint too closely to his eyes, so I did this:



And this boy didn't want it on his face, so I did this:



Three different boys, all thinking they're asking for the same thing, all playing Spiderman. And they were all happy with their face-painting.

to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Niiice

to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Expanding my Horizons

Looks like a standard heart-balloon-wand. I make lots of them. Can you tell that this one is so very special? I was Sooo Excited when I made it!!! Wow! I did it! Magnificent!



Lol - what it was that I did - doesn't look all That much better than the usual beautiful balloon-wands. But can you see that there is a balloon Inside a balloon?? There is a pink heart Inside a clear heart. That was Sooo hard to do! There I was, standing alone in the very middle of New York City - just me grappling with these here balloons - and Voila! Victory! If I can get a better handle (hahaha)- I mean, the handle was easy for me - If I can get better at doing a balloon Inside a balloon, there's no telling where this will lead.

Oh - and here is a picture of David. A juggler who was not too far away while I was making the balloons that day. Here he is holding a dog-balloon that I made - a little more complicated than the ones made from just one balloon.



to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Each Person - Unique

Look at this litl girl - Oh my goodness - what she brings to the beautiful face-painting that I did:





Oh - I remember. She came by, adorable herself - said she wanted a butterfly. "I'll make one just for you", I told her and her mother. This one was made to match the flowers on her dress.

to hire this artist
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Face Painting in NYC

Just a fun day - full of wonderful people
all with their own dreams:









I particularly liked the Mario one - because I know a young adult
who liked video games so much as a child - that his teachers thought
his name was Nester - - Anybody else here know where that comes from?

to hire this artist
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Here are a few people from a recent Corporate event.
Big differences in complexity of design - based on
what the guests wanted. The Vampire, btw, was thrilled
with her transformation. She was there with a younger
brother and a few friends - she was so animated with it.







to hire this artist
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Wild Animal

Isn't this adorable? Just a few strokes of paint, and
Voila ~




A Wild Animal. Just a little paint. This woman didn't want Full-Face.

to hire this artist:
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

Individuality

Each person is unique.
Each relationship is unique.
So each painting that I put on different people
is unique.

I might paint 10 butterflies
on 10 different people
and each on is a new experience for me
as well as for my 'Mona Lisas'.



We will live to paint again tomorrow.

We will live to eat that same breakfast again tomorrow.
Yet we will be hungry for it, and we will eat it again.
Enjoy it again. We do basically the same things over
and over, yet each time it satisfies a need, a desire.

to hire this artist
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706

to hire this artist
optidust@gmail.com
(516)579-4706