Cats Creations facepainter body artist UK East Anglia Norfolk Suffolk information about us

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About Us:

Cat Finlayson

Cat & some friends

A trained artist and science teacher, Cat discovered face-painting as an alternative method of interesting children in wildlife. After years of comments on the high quality of her work, she began this business.

She has been employed by air shows, HK Rugby 7's, music festivals, zoos, car dealers, councils, P.R. Agencies, Wildlife Trusts, weddings, private balls & parties, for 10 to 100,000 people!

Her work appears on national & international face-painting websites, winning critical acclaim and a few prizes too. She also writes for Facepaint UK and is a often a featured artist in Illusion Magazine, and the new online Brushstrokes Magazine as well as other international publications.

Cat won the UK Face Painting Convention 2005 Fancy Dress & Face competition - and liked her fairy self so much it is now her uniform!

She came 5th in the World Face Painting Awards, and assisted Bibi Freeman to 14th place in the World Body Painting Awards 2007, in Seeboden, Austria.

Her latest successes were being named UK Face Painter of the Year at the 2007 National Face Painting Convention, and winning her bodypaint category at the Welsh Face & Body Painting Festival 2008. She will be teaching in face & body art conventions in 2008.

Some projects Cat did for the HK Youth Arts Foundation: Site Specific Body Art at the Urban Dance Fest; helping schools make 20,00 Dream Catchers for the eye charity Orbis

An Excellent Bio/ Interview Published in Brush Strokes Magazine Nov 07- click here

Cat's Blurb on her career and how to become a face painter.......

After art college & a later art/ science BSc, I painted coats of arms antique reproductions for a year. Moving to visitor services/ schools work at London's Natural History Museum, I saw 'living statues' - painted models and was intrigued. By 2001, in zoo education, I was face-painting and teaching. Only animal designs were allowed, but I was hooked: I kept it up at big events as part of my next job. Competition wins, and interest from businesses, led to my own part-timeface art company, until I stopped teaching and began professionally.

We moved to Hong Kong in 2006, and I'm told I'm the only professional face-painter here. I have worked at the Rugby 7's, Youth Arts Foundation Events, Rockit, Lamma Fun Day, regular Markets, private parties, and body-painted for corporate clients around the region, even being flown to Shanghai.

I'm an Advanced Member of FACE, the Face Painters Association, who set standards of skill, hygiene, and insurance in the industry. No qualifications are needed to become a face-painter (YET), but its not as simple as you think. It is often viewed as "mummy's hobby", not a skilled art, so getting paid work can be hard. A lot of 'face-paint' products used by the uninformed - acrylics, poster paint - are not safe for skin, and stain, cause rashes, or worse. Beware cheap Halloween kits, they mark faces for days! (Instead, buy small sets from Snazaroo or other good brands). I use top quality products, designed for skin: even my glitters are cosmetic and won't scratch eyes like craft glitter can.

I have 100's of 5 minute designs, but I prefer creating something special for each client, and am known for "Beautiful Nothings' to match clothes or settings. Many ideas come from nature, although a bit of abstract fantasy creeps in and I love dots! International competitions and conferences are really inspiring for me and at the moment I'm enjoying expanding into full body painting.

My problem is finding people to try new ideas on - painting yourself is hard (you know how you can always make-up ONE eye perfectly but not the other?) and my husband doesn't like it! I wish I had more time to take photos, as this art form is so ephemeral, but customers smiles are remembered. I like making them feel better or more beautiful! And it's great for meeting interesting people, or having random conversations.
e.g. You want to be painted as a yellow button? Why?

Want to know WHY you should book a PROFESSIONAL painter like me, when you have a friend/ mum/ teenager who 'can paint a bit'? Click here!