Bespoke Givenchy

SOME OF THE PHOTOS IN THE GALLERIES NEED A BIT OF EXPLANATION AS TO WHAT THEY ARE ABOUT, SO HEERE IS A RANDOM SELECTION OF ONE PARTICULAR PHOTO THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE MORE BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT IT!

This is the logo for a new perfume which Givenchy had just launched. They were having a media present promotion event. I remember it was held under the arches at Portobello Road in a Sultry cavernous club.

We were there to offer the privately invited guests to have airbrushed tattoos of their logo. There was a choice of colours, and the tattoos lasted for between 4-6 days. To make the tattoo we had to create a stencil using acetate film and cut very carefully until we had the finished product. It’s guite a process, and once youve got the first one right it has to be repeated until you have enough tattoo stencils to cover the amount of guests for the booking.

Having a tattoo airbrushed on is quite good fun for the recipient. It also looks almost real, and gives the client a moment to sit and relax and feel pampered.

They are also then a walking promotion for the new Givenchy perfume for the next few days!

The first thing we saw when we walked in was one of the most intricate and fabulous ice sculptings I had seen. It was an almost life size carving of a cross legged Buddha figure. There was also an impressive dragon curling its way around the buddha. I wondered how long it would be before these splendid works of art became puddles - they were cordoned off so they couldn’t be touched, which I suppose prolonged their life span somewhat.

It occured to me how transient Ice sculpting is as a form of art - just like face painting. A beautiful work of art is painted onto a face, enhancing their beauty, promoting their event, then it runs off never to be seen again, no chance for you to admire your work! No. chance for any form of egotistical attachment! Good for the soul!

The event went very well. We were planted in the main room among the tables where guests were sitting before a stage. There were lots of performers. The best one for me was the fire twirling trapeze artist. Wow! The guests were various members of the media - and each received a goody bag with a bottle of perfume to take home.

Now, may I say that several years later, the very same perfume is still going strong, so I would count that evemt as a successful promotion!

The Colour Orange…

My favourite colour is orange There’s a good reason, and it started 26 years ago, when I was pregnant with my first child, Zenith, now known as Zen Fire.

Back then, I had a beautiful orange shirt with purple flowers which my Auntie Sofia made for me, I put it on, and got busy with a ladder, a roller and a tin of deep vibrant orange paint. I painted my living room in this colour, and called it the ‘Womb Room’. I put my birthing pool in the corner of the room, completed all my nesting tasks and waited for my son to arrive.

This is by the by really - roll forward six years when I had just started home schooling. I took Zenith and Raven to an event where we met a lady who was dressed top to toe like a tiger in an orange onesie with black tiger stripes, complete with a tiger tail. She was playing with ribbon poi, which attracted Zenith’s attention. The Orange Lady spent hours playing with Zen and showing him how to spin poi. This was his first introduction into the world of poi. I knew exactly what to get him for his birthday present which was soon after. He played and played and soon began to build his skills.

A couple of years later I bought him a pair of UV poi. We had been invited to Spain to entertain at a friends 40th birthday party. I set up a UV Face & Body Art stall under a beautiful canopy and adorned all the guests with Ultra Violet works of art. As the sun went down, I sat and watched from my vantage point as a crowd gathered round Zenith, who was spinning his UV poi under the UV lights in the gazebo set up as a dance floor. It was amazing to watch my eight year old son not only skilled at spinning poi, but commanding an audience like a pro!

After ten years of practicing poi, at the age of sixteen, I bought him his first set of fire poi. We watched safety videos and made sure we had a fire protection kit to hand and that he knew what to do with it. From there on in it was fire art that he was obsessed with. His A-level photography project focused on taking photos and creating special effects with fire, including writing his own name with fire and taking photos of each letter for part of his exam work.

Ten years later, at aged 26, Zen is now a pro fire-performer. His skill-base is extensive and impressive. He goes all over the country performing, and often puts together teams - he was recently asked to train the fire performers attending The Burning Man Festival in Phoenix, Arizona.

Did I mention, orange is Zenith’s favourite colour? He didn’t know he spent the first two years of his life in the orange womb room…just a coincidence I suppose!