World Body Painting Association

Artist in focus / Künstler im Visier

Interview: January 2008

Julie Oliver & Clair Pick
Publisher
Illusion Magazine

www.illusionmagazine.co.uk

Illusion is the new magazine driving the body art world. Here we take a look at the faces behind the pages.

How did you get involved in Bodypainting? Julie: It was a natural progression from face painting. When I started it consumed my every waking thought. For me, working on a bigger canvas with more interesting contours and different challenges was the natural next step in my artistic development. Claire: I started out as a face painter, and was nervous about the idea of spreading my art onto the body, but once I started there was no looking back. Painting on a living canvas is an amazing feeling. Julie and I often work together on a body paint, we are really in tune with each other. We work well and together and it is great to bounce ideas off each other.
How did you reach the decision to produce a magazine?
Julie: I have to come clean right from the start. We conceived the idea of this magazine one wet Tuesday afternoon over a few glasses of wine at a face painting conference. We were bemoaning the fact that we had trouble sourcing ideas, finding out about current events and about how few opportunities we had to network with other artists. Before we could change our minds we contacted artists we admired to feature in a magazine and before we knew it, there was no turning back. Illusion was born. Claire: We were frustrated with the lack of books and magazines for face and body painters. There are so many talented artists out there and not enough places for them to publish their work. We started Illusion so that we could really spread the word about face and body painting and give every artist a place to publish their images. We are proud that, although we had never done anything like this before, we managed to bring together painters from all over the world in the first issue. And I am sure your readers will agree that the magazine has gone from strength to strength. In every issue we feature the best artists from all over the world, publish amazing original cover images and provide an international forum for painters working within all aspects of our industry.
Has producing 'Illusion' had an effect on your own art making?
Julie: We are in such a privileged position. Every day when I open my Illusion e-mail I see incredible, original images of work from all parts of the globe. I have had my eyes opened to so many different styles of painting and this has really helped me to think “outside the box” and not be afraid to challenge myself artistically. Claire: As Julie says amazing pictures are sent to us every day. Every time I see a new image or read about a new artist, I am inspired. I am a newcomer to body painting and I am constantly amazed at what the face and body painters in the world are achieving. The standard of art being produced is phenomenal.
Which conventions and events do you represent the magazine at?
Julie: We strive really hard not just to sit in front of our computers immersed with the administration of the day to day running of having our little publishing company. It is so important to travel and meet face to face the artists that we feature, and to introduce ourselves to those that we would like to get to know more about. In 2007 it was our first time at the World Body painting Festival. We fell in love with it instantly. The energy level was so uplifting and exciting. So much so, that we are now going to compete. For this year, we have more conventions and festivals planned worldwide as well as our teaching workshop tour in Europe. Claire: Illusion had an amazing year in 2007. We travelled to the Face and Body Art convention in Florida, The UK Convention, we taught face painting classes in the Netherlands and visited the World Body Painting Festival in Seeboden. We were fortunate to meet so many artists from all different parts of the world, many of whom we will be featuring in future editions of Illusion. We will continue to travel to as many events as possible in 2008.
In which countries is the magazine available?
Julie: We like to think that Illusion is an international publication. Whilst it is written in English, we have readers from every continent. We aim to have something for everybody. Claire: We sell Illusion all over the world from our own online shop and also through a network of retailers worldwide, currently from UK, USA, Europe, Australia and Korea. We have had incredible support from face and body artists everywhere.
How would you like to see Bodypainting develop as an art form?
Julie: I see body painting becoming more and more part of everyday life. If you look in magazines, books and the covers of CDs as well as advertising there are an increasing number of images which had no place in mainstream publications a few years back. I feel that this is such an exciting time to be a part of this fledgling industry. Long may it continue… Claire: It is fantastic to see that body painting is becoming much more mainstream, I would like to see gallery exhibitions dedicated to body art to make it more accessible for the public to see. Events like the World Body Painting Festival are doing a great job in making this industry really high profile.
What are your plans for 'Illusion' in the next year?
Julie: Our goal is to carry on producing the leading face and body painting magazine, Illusion, and to spread the word to as many artists as we can. By publishing our magazine we hope to unite artists and make our amazing industry a more colourful one. We have so much in store for Illusion this year and the whole team are really excited. As well as the magazine, we also publish face painting books. We have got some fabulous books lined up for 2008 by inspirational painters. One of the artists was in the finals for the world body painting category, sponge and brush. We work so hard here at Illusion, we have such energy and enthusiasm and our primary mission and goal is to make face and body painting THE industry to be in. Claire : As Julie said, we just want to keep producing a high quality magazine and face and body art books. We would like to feature artists from many different countries, there are so many artists out there that we don’t even know about yet. The exciting part for us is when we meet a new talent and can publish their work for all the world to see.