Painted Personalities will be at the Cajun Steamer on Mardi Gras 2008 for the Parade and Party! Cajun Steamer is in the Patton Creek Shopping Center at 180 Main Street. The parade will be at 6:00 through the streets and around the shopping center. We’ll be there painting faces and offering masks that won’t get lost! Come out and see us there On Tuesday February 5th.
There are a number of upcoming festival in the area that Painted Personalities will be painting at.
The Alabama Butterbean Festival is September 1st in Pinson, AL. The festival runs from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
The Magic City Blues Society will hold their annual Blues Fest September 2nd at Sloss Furnace in Birmingham, AL. This festival will open the gates at 11:00 AM and run through 8:00 PM.
Art in the Parking Lot at Crestwood Shopping Center on September 8th.
The Barber Vintage Festival at the Barber Motorsports Park is October 20th & 21st. I’ll be inside the museum that weekend, so if you have the opportunity, come in! If nothing else, stop by the museum and see all 5 floors of motorcycles that they have on display there.
I’ll be painting faces, applying henna, and painting temporary tattoos at all three festivals. We’re also going to be doing airbrush temporary tattoos at the Blues Fest and the Art in the Parking Lot.
If you are looking at having Painted Personalities be an attraction at your birthday party, please call early! I’m booking dates several months in advance for birthday parties, and festivals are also taking time slots. So call and reserve your times today.
We’ll be heading to Louisiana for LAFFEST, or the Fete. I’m taking a class from Mark Reid and will be looking at airbrush options for the business. Mike and I will be networking with other painters while we’re there in Lafayette. Then Saturday there is a side trip to one of the local plantations and to New Orleans for the St Patrick’s Day Parade! I’m looking forward to the weekend.
Wishing everyone a Happy Mardi Gras / Shrove Tuesday / Pancake Day / Carnival today! Where ever you may be today, I hope the weather is decent for your festivities and that you have a fun and safe day of celebrating.
Rain or shine, Painted Personalities will be out at the Cajun Steamer in Hoover tonight for Mardi Gras. Come see us and say hi! Think good thoughts for the rain to stay away. But it doesn’t matter, we’ll be there.
I’ll be doing masks at the Cajun Steamer Tuesday night, along with other painting. Here’s a mask that I did recently, using Wolfe Brothers paints and shimmer powders. The mask is painted on my favorite model. 
I’ll be taking feathers and stuff to the Cajun Steamer, so those masks will be even more fun!
I decided to play kickball Sunday. Yes, I am going to turn forty in April. And this is a group of adults playing kickball. No, I haven’t actually played kickball in over twenty five years. But after reading a friend’s blog about the local kickball league and being invited to friend their myspace page, I decided that I could use the exercise and talking to new folks. Besides, it was set up to be Costumed Kickball. 
Sunday afternoon before I left I doubled checked the web page and got the official rain plan, since that nasty rain line was getting close to coming through town. Old clothes? check. Nasty tennis shoes to get mucky? check. Towel to protect the inside of the car? check. Small paint setup? check. Mad Scientist lab coat and safety glasses for costume? check. Water to drink when I start gasping for air and dying of thirst? check and check. Do I actually know any of these folks? maybe one, if he shows up. Mike had bailed on me and was staying home taking a nap. If it rained heavily or dangerously, we would all go to a local pub and to drink and eat.
I got to the park before any of the people who are a part of the league and looked around at the ominous skies in the distance. There was a reason I chose a heather gray shirt and not a white tshirt. Finally some folks who play kickball showed up and I introduced myself. I got the lowdown on not only the group, but the anti-kickball group. Evidently there is an anti kickball group, though I’m guessing that it is about as serious as the kickball folks. The teams aren’t chosen, you sign up for one of the two teams. I signed up for one and started to warm up. Which consists of throwing a couple of kickballs back and forth while trying to keep your footing in a field that is already muddy and slick. The organizer was pitching to someone else who was practicing kicking, and we all fielded for a bit. I had the chance to practice kicking a couple of times, and didn’t embarrass myself. There are advantages to having played soccer in my past, I can kick a ball decently.
The game finally started, and I was on the home team, so the other team got to kick first. I ended up playing first base. As the second person was kicking, the rain started. It was just rain, so we kept playing. But then it started to rain harder. After we got the third out, we went to the dugout to line up for our turn. At that point, we heard thunder. The other team didn’t go out on the field, and most everyone agreed it was time to call the game on account of the weather. And it was a good thing we did. The bottom fell out of the clouds and the rain came down! The field was already muddy, and it suddenly became a pond. It was definitely time for a strategic retreat.
It took me a while to get to Rojo, since I didn’t remember exactly where it was located. But it gave me the time to get dried off a bit. By the time I got in the door, other folks had won the costume contest. It was ok, I got to meet and hang out with some new fun folks. And next month, the paints will come out and we’ll play!
Oh my. One of my entertainer e-acquaintances has sent an email with a link to a youtube video. He is at the Denver North Stapleton mall, with Giant Puppets and Dancing Christmas Trees. I don’t often recommend videos, but I am recommending this one! Bill does a great job, and if you enjoy this, check out his website, Stilwalker.Com.
I still want a good pair of stilts myself. Maybe one day Santa will bring me a pair.
Oh my! I have been introduced to a very amusing online comic series. Mike and I were watching Howl’s Moving Castle on TV this evening, and I remarked that it was set in a steampunk universe. That sparked a memory for Mike of an online comic series created by Phil Foglio, who is an artist that he’s been a fan of since the first volume of the Dragon in 1978. The comic is “Girl Genius.” It’s set in a steampunk/gaslamp fantasy world. The FAQ defines the genre as a cross between Jules Verne and H Rider Haggard influences.
The story is a very funny one with a smart heroine. You gotta love a great story and one that is willing to have a smart girl! Go read it and enjoy! I’ve read the first story up to the current posting date. The stories are collected and published in 5 books already. I think these may end up on my wishlist for Christmas. I’m now officially hooked.
