Firesky Resort Grand Opening Body Paintings

FireSky Resort & Spa
Grand Opening Celebration

Scottsdale, AZ - April 5th, 2007

 

The resort and spa formally known as Caleo has re-invented itself and unveiled it's new ambiance at the April 5th grand opening celebration. The facelift brought with it a new name: FireSky Resort and Spa. The posh Scottsdale resort has adopted the elements of Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water as the thematic elements that distiguish the character of the newly renovated facility. The resort turned to the promotional team at Got You Covered to incorporate these elements into the grand opening festivities wherever possible. There were two mermaids from San Diego doing synchronized swimming in the pool, the Russian aerialist Naughty Niki-ta from Scandalesque was doing her routine in a totally white room, and Dr. Stephen Strange and the Strange Family Circus were breathing fire on the back terrace.

My task was to paint four models with the four elemental themes. I was given complete artistic license to come up with the details of the paintings, but they had to clearly represent earth, water, wind, and fire. I had several ideas, but my main goal was to have the paintings make an impact from a distance and that there would be no doubt about their meaning when they were standing side by side. For earth I thought of several ideas to paint the ground or some form of dirt, but the more obvious answer was to take the word earth literally and so I painted the Earth. Water and Fire were the most strait forward elements to paint so I didn't really try to over-think these paintings. I deliberated with Wind a little and thought of going for a tornado, but the spa and resort seemed to call for a calm wind and so I painted a tranquil sky with big puffy clouds. A make-up artist was brought on-board and she did a fantastic job with the crazy hair and long lashes. Her contribution really brought out the best in my work.

I started with the fire painting on model Sarah Pirie. I thought that this would be the easiest and the quickest, but it turned out to be trickier than anticipated. Using Reel Creations bodypaints, I airbrushed the yellow flames on first. This loosely defined the design, but the yellow was fairly difficult to see against her tanned skin and it seemed that a lot of layers had to be added for complete coverage. Next I added the depth of the oranges and reds before completing the design with the black. One last finishing touch was to add some gold glitter spray from Kryolan. Here are two shots of Sarah's fire painting.

fire element at firesky resortfire bodypainting

Next up was Lindsey Electra who was to be painted as the water elemental. For this painting I called Fred Blau with Reel Creations to ask for his best deep sea blue green body paint. He sent me an absolutely gorgeous shade of teal. This painting was also accentuated by fluorescent Wolfe Brothers paints for the fish and the coral. The painting had a completely different look under the black light. Here are two shots of Lindsey's water painting.

Water elemental bodypaintingUV flourescent bodypaint

Third to be painted was Chatel Bickett and her theme was the wind elemental. While I was talking with Fred, I asked about a great sky color and he sent me a very vibrant blue. For this painting I borrowed from the style of Santa Fe artist Jim Alford. I first became aware of Jim's work when I was hired to do some touch-up work on the horse that he painted for the Trail of the Painted Ponies. I didn't have the time to be as detailed with the clouds or approach the level of realilsm that Jim achieves, but I think I was able to get the idea across. Here are some shots of Chatel's wind painting.

Wind and clouds body artWind element bodypainting

Last but not least was Lady Fontayne from the burlesque troupe Scandalesque. We were running out of time to have all of the models completed for the ribbon cutting so I had to rush a little more than I had hoped. I had brought pictures of the globe and some world maps that I intended on projecting onto the model. But as time was of the essence, I had to free hand airbrush the world. For this painting I used some Mehron paints and some Totally Tattoo. Notice the star fields on the arms and legs. Here are two shots of Fontayne's Earth painting.

Planet Earth bodypaintingearth elemental body art

The models were finished just in time to be propped up on the immaculate fireplace mantles at the resort lobby as the awaiting guests came through the doors. The night was a great success!

FireSky Resort and Spa Grand Opening


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Unless noted otherwise, Photography and Artwork by Mark Greenawalt c2007.  All rights reserved.
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