P H O E N I X

c2001 Painting and Photo by Mark Greenawalt

Welcome to the "Phoenix" bodypainting webpage.  This was a "live" body painting demonstration for an eclectic organization of art lovers called Spirit of the Senses.  This Scottsdale based group holds what they call salons that explore the arts and sciences through a vast array of speakers, performers, and lecturers.  This particular salon was held at a posh clothing boutique called Red Velvet at Scottsdale's Gainey Ranch Shops.  This session marks the third time that model Alison I worked on together.

The project took place on August 4th, 2001 in front of a crowd of approximately 20 people and my demonstration began with a slide show of progress and final shots of completed body paintings.  After the slide show, the painting and subsequent photoshoot lasted about 2 hours.  Earlier in the day, Alison had her hair and make-up crafted by the very talented Dori Randall who has worked on numerous high-profile print and film projects.  Writer Jackie Dishner was on hand during the evening salon and put together an excellent article for The Arizona Republic that was printed on August 25th.  The article is included below for those interested in checking it out.

If you are interested in ordering a print from this photoshoot or would like additional information on bodypainting, please feel free to contact mark@futureclassx.com and visit my website at www.futureclassx.com .  Thanks for visiting!

Body painter's 'canvases' open eyes

Valley artist's work attracting national attention

Jackie Dishner
Special for The Republic
Aug. 25, 2001

Guests at a recent Spirit of the Senses salon might have been fooled by the face paints set out on a table, but Mark Greenawalt had no intention of painting balloons on baby cheeks. He appeared before this group of art lovers to paint a tropical bird on a model, transforming her bare breasts into wings.

Greenawalt, a Valley artist who learned how to paint on the typical white canvas, today paints only on live nudes - male or female - an art form that is becoming more and more popular with the mainstream public, and one used in commercial advertising, print magazines and on CD covers.

He is among fewer than 100 body painters worldwide. Of the few that reside in Arizona, he (less than a year into his weekend career) is already attracting national attention. His photograph of a nude woman painted like a leopard - one of four "paintings" commissioned for a New Year's celebration at the Axis-Radius nightclub - appears as the August centerfold in Airbrush Magazine.

Greenawalt, who is "happily married with children," speaks of his unusual canvases as tools, and to watch him at work it is clear there is nothing perverted about it. In fact, he says, painting private parts may be more awkward for him than the model. Working with precise brush strokes, he quickly covers what the model might not want exposed for long.

"I don't know what they're thinking . . . so I try not to dabble (on the private parts) . . . but sometimes there's no safe angle," he says, explaining how he stood behind one woman who got down on all fours so he could paint her bottom.

Fearing goose bumps will spoil the finished product by causing the face paints to flake, he says a cold "canvas" is one of the main drawbacks of body painting. 

"Sweat," Greenawalt adds, "is another," explaining that he prefers painting indoors during the summer. "If the model sweats, the paint, especially latex, won't stick."

And when you're painting latex swimsuits or full body animal prints on naked people, the paint needs to stick - especially when the models pose for pictures afterward.

Such are the dilemmas Greenawalt faces as he approaches each "canvas" to be photographed and then featured at his Web site (www.futureclassx.com). He's hoping to follow the same path as his mentor, Joanne Gair, whom he read about in Airbrush Magazine.

Gair, a makeup artist, is best known for the "tuxedo" she painted on Demi Moore in 1992 for Vanity Fair as well as the swimsuits she painted on the supermodels in the Sports Illustrated 1999 swimsuit issue.

Greenawalt's hope is that he can turn what is currently more like a hobby into a profession. He'd like to leave the world of electrical engineering (his day job) behind and see his artwork appear in commercial advertising and print magazines. He also envisions himself painting bodies at spas or salons, if he can convince the owners that body painting is a form of therapy.

One of his models seems to think so.

Kay Kochman, an audiologist who lives in Chandler, volunteered to be painted as the Queen of Hearts in February for the "2001: An Exotic Odyssey" event at the Alwun House art gallery. It took Greenawalt five hours to complete the full body painting, the majority of paint applied with airbrush. In spite of being cold at times, Kochman says, "It was a pleasurable experience, similar to a massage, and relaxing."

So if Greenawalt has his way, instead of designing the next spa, he'll be painting nude women in it - as long as his wife agrees.