Carolyn Roper is on top of the world and rightly so - she and painting partner, Carly Utting, are the new World Bodypainting Champions.  No mean feat.  But on looking at her fantastic back catalogue of work and her impressive client list, you can clearly see the world title was well within her reach. 

Says Carolyn, “Carly and I were absolutely thrilled with our win at Seeboden and we could hardly believe it. Because of our heavy work commitments it is the least prepared we have ever been so we decided to go along and just paint and have a good time this year, with no high expectations. So, coming home as the new World Champions was just incredible”.

 
Carolyn & Carly´s winning entries  (photos: pixdeluxe.com)

 
1st round – In the Year 2525 (photos: Hans Meier)

But it´s not the first time Carolyn being at her least prepared has seen her do incredibly well at Seeboden.  Her first visit to the Festival in 2003 saw her coming in 17th place overall – with her first ever body paint.  She has since competed five times at Seeboden and has been highly placed each time.

“I was still in college in 2003 when I saw the festival advertised in a magazine. I thought it looked like a really good event but I didn’t have any idea what to expect. I had a rough idea of what I was going to paint, but no idea if it would actually work as I had never painted anyone before.  I was amazed by the size of the festival and there were a lot of established bodypainting businesses painting in the same category as me. I had my sister as a model and no assistant so my only expectation was to actually finish the painting in the 6 hours and hopefully get into the top 35.  So, to finish in 17th place was a huge bonus and I was very pleased with my first painting. The welcome and encouragement given to me by the other artists and photographers was wonderful and I left the festival completely hooked”.

Her success in 2003 gave her the confidence to enter the UK National Student Make-up Competition the following year, “I persuaded one my fellow students to model for me, he was 6ft 3” and I only had 3 hours to transform him into the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. I was the winner in the full bodypaint category and the overall winner with the most points of any competitor as this was only my 2nd ever bodypaint I was absolutely amazed.”

Carolyn first became interested in bodypainting whilst studying for a diploma in specialist hair and make-up which included a bodypainting module, and it was a college that she met Carly Utting. 

After graduating, Carolyn started her own freelance make-up and bodypainting company, Get Made Up and Carly went on to work with Cirque du Soleil and MAC Cosmetics where she has been the key make-up artist at the London IMATS exhibition.  She has also worked with Kanye West at Wembley Arena.  She and Carolyn have collaborated on many different projects in addition to this year´s success at Seeboden.  “Our styles compliment each other perfectly,” says Carolyn, “we first worked together when Carly was my assistant at the 2005 and 2006 festivals and she has also worked with me on several other assignments for Get Made Up”.

 
Carolyn & Carly´s stunning oriental design from the 2005 Seeboden Festival (photo: Thijs Verstappen)

And the win at Seeboden will see them working together again in the near future, “we have received some interesting proposals since the festival and are hoping to be working together again soon”.

Carolyn, herself, has plenty of work in the pipeline including a television programme, overseas corporate events, and a photo shoot with a music celebrity.   In addition she´s been invited to teach at the January 2008 Face Painting and Body Art Convention in Orlando, Florida, “I’m really looking forward to that. The American Convention scene will be a whole new experience for me and it will also be a chance to meet up with several of the artists from Seeboden this year”.   
 

Warrior Woman from the 2005 Seeboden Festival

Carolyn inherited her artistic leanings from her mother who loved to paint, and has drawn and painted since she was a child, “I was lucky that there was always lots of paints and artists materials around when I was growing up”.

She enjoys the make-up and bodypainting sides of her work equally, but finds some of the bodypainting assignments more challenging and interesting as they require a lot more work and preparation.  “I like meeting new people, and working with clients and models is great. I also love watching the design taking shape and the reaction of the client”.  I prefer to use Paradise paints by Mehron. I love the way the colours blend so well. For the designs at the festival we used mainly Paradise with Mac pigments dusted over the top.

She draws her inspiration from many different sources including fantasy artworks, her collection of nature books, pictures from magazines, comics and greetings cards which she collects and plunders when looking for inspiration for a new project, and of course the internet. 

Although she enjoys working with her models, in 2005 Carolyn jumped at the chance of being a model herself when she collaborated on a project with American artist, Craig Tracy.  She met him at Seeboden in 2004 and he later contacted her to suggest painting each other.  “I think this is the first time that this has actually been done, we painted for 2 days and the results are incredible and actually for sale in Craig’s bodypainting gallery in New Orleans. I have always wanted to be painted and it was a great experience”.

 
Craig by Carolyn and Carolyn by Craig  (photos: George Kuchler)

The design they worked on was based on the wrought ironwork, which is a feature of the architecture of New Orleans, and the fleur de lys motif which is a famous symbol of the city.   It seems that Craig was just as pleased to work with Carolyn as she was with him, “I've found her grace and professionalism to be both refreshing and inspiring. She is always hungry for a challenge and seems prepared not just to meet, but rather exceed the clients expectations. I truly look forward to our next assignment together".

Will she be going back to Seeboden next year?

“I don’t think I will be defending my title next year, it is incredibly stressful when you are competing so it would be nice to go along and relax and enjoy the atmosphere next summer”.

Carolyn´s site:  www.getmadeup.com
Carly´s site:  www.carlyutting.co.uk
Craig Tracy´s site:  www.paintedalive.com