May 12th, 2015

With upbeat music pumping in the background, chatter and laughter filled the marquee last Friday on the opening day of the Paintopia Festival 2015. The pro artists were intently working on bringing their designs to life, with six hours of body art stretching ahead of them. Entry was split into two categories – solo and assisted – and the quality of work was fantastic across the board. The results had all the elements of skill and passion that the musical themes demanded.

As the competition ran, we were lucky enough to chat to some of the demonstrating artists working alongside the contestants – including bodypainting legends Alex Hansen, Nick Wolfe, Matteo Arfanotti, Pashur and Carolyn Roper. The multi-talented Gemma Horner demonstrated an intense eye make-up look at the Kryolan stand, next to representatives from Illusion Magazine, Mist FX, Luke Smith FX and Funtime Faces.

The jubilant atmosphere continued on through on days two and three, with the Face, Glitter, Students and Professor’s Apprentice categories showcasing more stunning designs.

Here are the 2015 Paintopia winners and runner-ups:

BODYPAINTER OF THE YEAR WITH ASSISTANT 2015 – Sponsored by Mehron UK
1st – Karen Harvey assisted by Clare Jeffery, Model Rosey Lee
2nd – Brierley Thorpe assisted by Vanessa Lee, Model Claire Hindle
3rd – Suzanna Forrister-Beer assisted by Viviane Buser, Model Sapphire Golightly

SOLO BODYPAINTER OF THE YEAR 2015 – Sponsored by Kryolan UK
1st – Roxanne Horn, Model Simmone Taylor
2nd – Sarah Smith, Model Jo Kawasaki
3rd – Katy Groves, Model Karla Doyle

FACEPAINTER OF THE YEAR 2015 – Sponsored by Face Paints Direct
1st – Roxanne Horn
2nd – Karen Harvey
3rd – Naomi Gay

NOVICE FACEPAINTER OF THE YEAR 2015 – Sponsored by Funtime Faces
1st – Stacey Erotokritou
2nd – Venice Marshall
3rd – Vanessa Lee

GLITTER BODYARTIST OF THE YEAR 2015 – Sponsored by Glimmer Body Art
1st – Sabine Vogel, Model Genevieve Plunkett
2nd – Roxanne Horn, Model Tara Innes
3rd – Brierley Thorpe, Model Mel Rose

PROFESSOR’S APPRENTICE – Sponsored by MistFX
1st – Alison Bessant, Apprentice Karen Harvey, Will Shave
2nd – Helena Skhurovcova, Apprentice Dee Enright, Model Debbie Tolley
3rd – Sabine Vogel, Apprentice Louise Maclachlan. Model Emily Quantrill

STUDENT BODYPAINTER OF THE YEAR 2015 – Sponsored by Illusion Magazine
1st – April Hernandez, Model Ruby Trix
2nd – Carla McKenzie-le-Roy, Model Sarah Worthy
3rd – Abigail Hamilton, Model Lucy

We’ve posted all of our photos to our Facebook page here, but here’s a small selection. Feel free to tag yourselves and your friends in our album! We’ll be adding pictures of the winning looks shortly, so check back soon.