Last weekend I attended the International Make-Up Artist Tradeshow in Alexander Palace. I had a wonderful trip to London, delving into the many facets of the city…I spent some time wombling around the shopping mecca that is Oxford Street. Popped into MAC Pro in Soho, which is just around the corner. On the hunt for nautical inspired clothing for a friend, I delved into the alternative shopping destination that is Camden. They cater to every taste vintage, character, goth, neon madness and cheap/nasty.

Image courtesy of Rob Inh00d

Having recently given up dairy and being a vegetarian, I thoroughly enjoyed the delights of the vegan cafe InSpiral Lounge. They had really funky tunes playing on the Saturday evening and a really friendly atmosphere. I had a yummy Vegetable Bake with Nut Cream Sauce yum! If you are in London, check it out!

Photo courtesy of www.quarrygirl.com

I also went down to Southbank for the first time and met some friends in the British Film Institute, it was a hive of activity and is far superior to our little Irish Film Institute I just love the way that London has so many personalities, there is definitely something for everyone, from the hippy to the corporate type every taste, pocket and desire is catered for.

Image courtesy of theboybg

Anyway I have kind of gone off point there, as this isn’t a travel blog, back to the IMATS. I had a fantastic time and really shopped till I could no longer wedge anything else into my back pack and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to make it home with the weight of the thing! I will do a different post about all the things that I bought. I really liked looking at the fantastic work of all the talennted sculpters, make-up artists, model makers in the SFX display. Here are some photos:

Ape Sculpture
I hate to be negative, but I was a bit disappointed with the IMATS this year. My main goal was to attend some talks and learn some new techniques and listen to people at the top of their game. All I can say is that the lectures were badly organised, I felt that there should have been more talks spread across the two days and that they should have repeated some of the classes that they knew would be popular.

Nightbreed:
Queued for half an hour only to be told that it was full. Was very disappointed.

Eve Pearl:
She was very funny, charismatic and seems like a genuinely nice person, but I felt that her make-up just wasn’t up to scratch. Maybe it was because I was watching everything on the blown up monitor (I was right at the back of the hall) her Make-Up was not very tidy, the blending was off and the lip line was all over the place. The model’s skin looked extremely shiny and the make-up looked like it was sliding off her face. I kept willing her to fix it, but she just kept missing all her flaws. In her defence, she did say a few times that she couldn’t really see what she was doing. It was very disappointing as I really wanted to learn something new from the “masters” but I felt like anyone could have done that make-up…if it was a lighting problem and she couldn’t see then IMATS should have fixed it for her…did they not do a practise run?? I felt sorry for her, because loads of people kept leaving her talk, if that was me I would have been really unnerved and I thought that it was a tad bit rude of people.

Tom Savini:
I made sure to queue extra early for this talk learning from earlier experiences. This was the saving grace of the whole trade show. I felt that it was so inspirational to hear about his journey and how he had become such a phenomenal artist in the slasher film genre. Tom brought up some excellent points in the discussion and one of them was that you should always have your portfolio with you…you just never know who you will meet, this lead to the prolific statement that kept ringing in my head after the talk…I think this will become my new motto in life:

“Success is about being in the right place at the right time and being ready.”

Some of the stalls were disappointing. Compared to 2006 which is the last time I attended the show, it is a lot bigger. However as the old adage goes, bigger isn’t always necessarily better. On alot of stalls the prices were not that good, in particular Charles Fox weren’t offering any discount on the day, which I thought was a bit crazy seeing as it was a “trade show”. I did have a great experience getting a few bits in MAC, even though they were crazy busy, I still got the personal attention from one of the artists who helped me get everything I needed, I just wished that I had gotten his name so I could thank him publicly. Also I got a fantastic deal in Mouldlife, where I got huge discounts and a couple of free products to try at home.

I bought a DVD of the World Bodypainting Festival whilst in the IMATS. I watched it the other day and it looks AMAZING. I think that it is the last time that I will attend IMATS London, next  trip I am off to the Boden for the Bodypainting Festival where it would seem spectacle and entertainment play a big part in the procession.

Anyway I would like to hear some other opinions on the Trade Show In the meantime here are some more photos of the event:

Photo courtesy of http://www.istoleyoursoulforthis.com/

Photo courtesy of http://www.istoleyoursoulforthis.com/

Photo courtesy of http://www.istoleyoursoulforthis.com/

Witch

Fancy a quick one

I would love to be part of his project http://www.rankinlive.com/

Rankin is “shooting the public”, he is going to photograph the general public all in the name of charity. He is a master who has shot tons of models and celebrities. There is no way that you would be able to afford his talent until now. The once in a lifetime opportunity for only £50, with all profits of participants’ fees going to Oxfam.

Hmmm….might be worth the trip to the UK