Media Make-up Student Showcases Scarily Good Halloween-inspired Body Art
As Halloween approaches, North Notts College HNC Performing Arts: Specialist Media Make-up student Kate Storey has been wowing her social media followers with creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky body-art on Instagram.
Kate, who studies at Retford Post-16 Centre, was inspired to create a full month of Halloween-inspired looks to showcase her make-up skills. She started the series after losing her part-time job as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Kate said: “I’m doing 31 days of Halloween, I was inspired by a couple of Instagrammers that I follow. They normally create a handful of looks, but I thought I’d take it further and commit to a look every single day throughout October.
“I love Halloween, and I think it’s a time of year that you can really create a look that’s a bit ‘out there’ without people questioning it.”
The series has taken a lot of planning and, as she is creating each of the looks on herself, has created challenges with ensuring that her skin has had time to recover from having body paint applied and the drying effect it can have.
She explains: “I started creating the looks back in May, and I still have a few looks that I need to create to be able to complete the 31 looks.”
Kate aspires to work behind the curtain, backstage in theatre and hopes that showcasing her work on social media will act as a portfolio of her work.
She continues: “I’ve been lucky to get involved in working with local theatre companies, I’ve been working with a friend who has a dance school, I’ll actually be doing her Halloween make-up, and the College has provided opportunities for us to gain experience in local productions – such as Alice in Wonderland at Retford Oaks Academy earlier this year. I’ve also been able to work with Worksop Light Operatic Society and I’ve worked on a few productions with them.
“I’ve gained confidence over the last few months, and this was a chance to put out work that I believe in. It’s been a chance to push myself out of my comfort zone.”
North Notts College Senior Curriculum Team Leader for Media Make-up at Retford Post-16 Centre Karen Connole has encouraged Kate to showcase her talent for body-art.
Karen said: “I’m so proud of Kate, she’s gone from doubting herself, to really having grown in confidence over the last few months, starting with a really strong performance in the Inter-College Competition between Grimsby Institute and Retford Post-16 Centre.
“I think during lockdown Kate really embraced the use of technology to showcase her work, but also to stay motivated with her course work. The group of Level 4 Media Make-up students have stayed in touch using Google Hangouts and have helped each other with ideas for looks.
“It’s great to see that Kate has realised how powerful a tool social media can be for networking and creating opportunities – you never know who is going to see your work and get in touch!”
You can check out more of Kate’s Halloween-inspired looks here.