Hellooo, Kiera here
I am an awkward, shy and silly mother from Adelaide ( South Australia).

At the start of 2016 I had decided to try out facepainting. With a very small kit and a couple of beginner courses under my belt I was taken in by a fellow facepainter and added to a heap of Facebook groups.

At the end of march I saw advertised in one of the groups that an exciting facepainting challenge group named *Inspiration To Paint* had started where anyone from beginner to professional could join in the fun
… the 3 rules – paint every day, paint to the daily challenges and be kind to each other.

I decided to join the group and sign up straight away , received my first member number for April and my calendar and I was off.
I struggled sooo hard to paint myself, paint clean lines , paint my face and couldn’t do a tear drop to save my life .
I had sooo many grace days but tried my best to complete the month and it felt soooo good when I did.

The following couple of months I was unable to join in due to some unfortunate personal events and even had a month with a heap of grace days but once I was back in August I was determined to keep to the challenge and refuse grace days.

I’ve found that in the time that I’ve been a member of ITP it has introduced me to a world of artists I never knew of who I now fan girl over, I’ve made a heap of international friendships with a great support network and finally ,have improved my skills from practice and painting every day.

I now find that the ITP challenges are apart of my daily routine :

-toddler wakes me up

– we have breakfast

– I paint while she watches morning cartoons lol … and

If I have to work or be out during the day I just make sure I get my paint done before midnight.

Yes there are incentives like the mini competitions and of course the winner of each month but this group is so much more than that and I encourage everyone to give it a go. If you can’t get through painting everyday,that’s fine . There’s always the next month. Just do what you can and enjoy the ride

-Kiera Ellana Taylor                                                                                                                    Adelaide, South Australia

Little did I know the drastic turn my life would take when I signed my name underAbby’s random facebook post about a group she was starting that would be painting every day for a month. I didn’t know Abby or anyone in the facepainting world, but I knew I needed an incentive to practice so here was my chance. I was shocked when she actually let me join!! My goal was to better my skills and to paint my own designs and not to copy designs. So it began. I have to say that my first month was very stressful. It was rocky and I was discouraged much of the time. One day I would be on cloud nine (like the first time a famous painter “liked” my post, thank you Heather Green!) and then other days I felt worthless. I rarely painted on myself, mostly on practice boards or on other people. In looking back, I was painting every day, I was coming up with my own designs, but I wasn’t trying very hard. I almost quit at the end of March, but something inside me (and Abby’s encouragement to do it again) told me to give it one more try. So I signed up for April and made up my mind to pull out all the stops and give it everything I had. I began to paint mostly on myself, started to include props (thanks to Hanne Nordmo who inspired me), entered contests (thanks to Margi Kanters encouragement to enter my first one), and tried to interpret the theme in a more creative way, sketching out my ideas ahead of time. But what I really owe my growth to, is the encouragement and love I recieved from all the members of this amazing ITP group. It was overwhelming. It was the push I needed to keep going and to think outside the box I had put myself into. Now my brain was saying…Hey Pam…why don’t you try this…see if you can do it! A year has passed and I have participated in 7 ITP challenges. I have grown so much as a painter. I have found out I can do so much more than I thought I could do! How has my life changed? 1. I have gained so much more confidence in my abilities because I practice and am so much more comfortable with my tools. I can even take requests from customers which scared me to death a year ago. 2. I am connected to a family of painters from all over the world. How awesome is that! I have friends, yes, I consider you friends even though I have not met you all. You have given so much to me with all your kind and encouraging words. We support each other and learn from each other. I love to see everyones work…just think of all the inspiration we get every single day!! Confession: I took screen shots of all the comments I recieved in April because I wanted to be able to look back one day and read them all again. They mean the world to me. 3. My business has increased because my name is getting out. People are sharing my work, they are spreading the word and telling others about me! More jobs, more exposure!! 4. I no longer feel limited to what I can paint. I have found that anything is possible, I just have to give it a try. What do I have to lose? It is just face painting not rocket science! I feel so very blessed to have had the experiences I have had this past year…things I never dreamed would happen to this small town girl. I finally found an outlet for the creative soul within me and am so fortunate to be doing what I love to do. Thank you to Abby and my ITP friends for this amazing year. I look forward to what will happen next!”

-Pam Kinneberg

Fargo, North Dakota

It has been just over 1 year now since I joined the 1.T.P. Group, and that was just because another member sort of coaxed me into it. Her name is Andrea Louise Johnstone and she will never know just how much getting me to join the group has changed my life. Before I joined the group I was the usual very busy, not much time to myself person. Things, like looking after my ancient dad (90 this year), running a home along with looking after grumpy, working and being at the beck and call of everyone else, as well as chief baby sitter, I was pretty much in a rut.

So I would like to tell you all just what the I.T.P. Group means and has done for me since I joined. And how it has changed not only me, but everything. When Andrea suggested that I should join this newly formed group of face painters from all over the world I said NO.

NO!… because I just didn’t think that I was good enough, I didn’t want to, and didn’t feel confident enough to put my work out there for the world to see.

NO!… because I thought that everyone would laugh at me and what I done.

NO!… because I didn’t want to expose myself and my thoughts and ideas, because people would think I was crazy. BUT!!!! Andrea persisted and I joined, and it has been the BEST thing that I have ever done.

I found that NOBODY laughed at my work, or made nasty remarks. NOBODY thought that my ideas were crazy (they called them creative) and my work has blossomed ever since (still not fantastic, but better). When I first joined the group, I wouldn’t paint my own face, I had practice boards, now I do paint my own face and think nothing of it. In fact I have painted everything except my naughty bits and the bits that I can’t reach. I read posts from new members who all feel as I felt when I first joined, but it dosen’t take them long to realise that we are all the same and we are all here to help in any way we can.  Thanks to Abby Soledio who created this group, I now have more friends than you can shake a stick at. Friends who all share the same interests as I do.  And my everyday friend’s and family all accept me for what I am. Now when they come in and I am sitting at the table with paint slapped all over my face, they just look and roll their eyes (their sure that I’ve lost the plot) and they even help me when it comes to taking my photos when I ask them to. They never know what to expect when they walk in, it can be anything from a Zombie to a Power Ranger. Even the post man never knows what will answer the door to him any more. At first he didn’t know what to think, now he asks what I’m going to be that day, so dose the window cleaner. In fact when I am out now, no matter where I am people stop me and ask what my challenge is for that day or what I have done.  I.T.P. Has helped me to grow from a very reserved, conservative and unsure lady (ha ha) into someone who now believes in what she can do. Making me a very happy and comfortable person, by that I mean that I am comfortable with what I do and who I am. Not what other people want me to be.

I.T.P. Is a community where we can relax, I can relax. I like to post everyday if I can and I love to see everyone else’s posts and comment if I can (without being blocked). But I don’t get my knickers in a twist any more if my paint isn’t up to scratch. The point is that I have painted it may not be brilliant, but practice makes perfect. There are still lots of things that I am hopeless at, but I.T.P. Is a challenge, and the challenges will take you out of your comfort zone from time to time and that’s one of the good things about it. It takes you to places that you would normally avoid. I used to get dishartened if I didn’t get many likes or comments on my posts (because we all like to get some sort of reaction to our work). NOT any more, I have learnt that we can’t all be good or brilliant or even fantasticly awsome all of the time, we all have off days. So now I think “ what the hell, it’s not going to hurt me, it only goes to show others that being perfect isn’t as important as some think it is”. Its a learning curve and a good one. If you learn this you will relax into your art, and you won’t get stressed out. Years ago, the best piece of advice that I have ever been given was from the world renowned artist Conrad Atkinson (who I was very privileged to meet), he said “If you ever bother about what other people think of your work, you will never do anything”. I live by this advice now, and it is this, that has helped me to create, think as I want to think, do what I want to do.

So I.T.P. Has brought me lots of things, confidence, self belief, humility, inspiration, and most importantly (to me anyway) FRIENDS. To me we are one big happy family, we all look out for each other, encourage each other, pray for each other and LOVE each other. Xxxxxxxxxxxx

Ann Holmes

The Inspiration to Paint Group has changed my life so much. Painting every day is such an intense and thrilling experience! It was SO pushing me to think out of the box, to try our new ideas, organize self-learning process and the most exciting, to meet new like-minded people! So many inspiring and wonderful people in one place with many of them I am proud to be friends now. I have completed a few full months with a couple of months breaks and each time I was pulled in so much. The themes given made me engaged with the group even better, the first thing in the morning I was checking out what other painters came up with on the same idea, and I wasn’t disappointed: it was like a worldwide brainstorm on the same topic! ITP is definitely one of the best creative experiences I have ever undertaken! Special thanks to Abby, you are such a sweet soul and always so approachable and helpful person!

-Ulianka Maksymiuk

Aberdeen

In March 2016 I was sitting around my house being very sick with Lyme disease and waiting for a treatment that wasn’t available for another 8 months. I was so down that I knew I couldn’t go another day just focusing on how horrible I felt.  Randomly I decided I would try to learn face painting. I needed something to challenge me but not anything to strenuous.

I started watching YouTube tutorials and I bought myself a little paradise palette with 8 colors in it. I enjoyed it but sadly I wasn’t making much improvement. Then I stumbled upon Abby’s Colorful Creation’s page. Abby was so talented and sweet! She helped me choose products for my first real face painting order.  Soon after that I noticed her posts about a group that was doing a 30 day face painting challenge with a different theme each day. I watched and I wanted to join in but I was afraid that my design weren’t good enough.  A lot of the artists were pros with years of experience.  I started reading the comments and realized what a safe place it was. There was no criticism, only encouragement and love.  I saw artists grow by leaps and bounds just by painting things they normally wouldn’t paint and pushing themselves to paint every day.

In April I bit the bullet and signed up. I learned so much by watching the other artists and then trying out the techniques for myself.  Instead of crawling out of bed and enduring another day I was jumping out of bed to see what my painty friends from around the world had posted while I slept.  I felt my heart open to a whole new community of people that I never knew existed.  For the first time in a long time I felt happy and hopeful.  Finding Abby and Inspiration to Paint completely changed my life. It sounds dramatic but it’s true!

After only two months of painting everyday something unbelievable happened…I won the May challenge at Inspiration to Paint! AND I was lucky enough to share the honor with my wonderful friend Natalia. I was in complete shock! How could this be? I wasn’t a “real” artist! I was just a sick girl messing around with some face paint! Then I realized that I wasn’t just a sick girl anymore. I had changed into something new. I wasn’t defined by my illness anymore. I could still live my life beyond the walls that my sickness had confined me to.

The summer after joining ITP my husband lost his job and we were able to pay all our bills from my face painting income alone! My work has been featured in The Colored Palette Magazine and SkinMarkz magazine seven times in the last year and last week I was offered a spot as an Artist Representative for The Face Paint Forum Shop. And now I’ll be going to Fabaic at the end of this month! I owe so much to Abby and all my fellow artists at ITP.  The supportive environment along with the structure of the challenges is the perfect combination to elevate seasoned artists and newbies alike.  If you are thinking of joining…JUST DO IT!!! It can change your life.

 

Christina Pope / Paint Girl

Grand Junction, Colorado

I have the good fortune of participating in a magical artistic adventure , ITP group have change my life in so many ways , in the group I have gain  confidence , it helps you think out the box , learn new techniques and come out with your own style, is a way to make you chine and notice , in the group you find inspiration and also you give inspiration to other artists, it have help me in getting more jobs by posting and keeping my business page update with new designs everyday.

Friendship: I have made really good friends in the ITP group , some of them out the country , we exchange ideas , we encourage each other , if you have a question or concern there is always someone ready to help. ITP is a big extended family and I love being a part of it .

Thank you Abby for creating this awesome group .

Scarlett Diaz

Scarlett’s Facepaint World