This summer I traveled to Europe with my new Glitter Gels and created some intense designs for girls.  Learn to make your designs 3 dimentional and WOW the crowds!  Eye designs, masks and new tiger designs for boys and girls!  I will also teach designs from the Texas State Fair and show you how to create new designs from your existing ones, both boys and girls.  Learn shadowing for horns and teeth for snakes, and of course 3 dimentional flames!  This class is for intermediate to advanced but is great for beginners as well!

The class is $300 for 2 days and each student wil receive a Mark Reid #4 round brush 2 Glitter Mark gels and a Mark Reid Art Breast Cancer T-Shirt.

It’s been a year since Sturgis and it’s nice to really look forward to something that is looking forward to you. I remember Wiser and I showing up last year and the welcome was bland. We were excited, but treated just as another vendor arriving to set up. When we left, we were celebrities. Respected for going above and beyond the expectations of our employer by creating the most intense body art ever seen at a Biker Rally…..especially Sturgis.

When Léa and I arrived, we were greeted with hugs, warm welcomes, free beer, and Petra jumping into my arms. This was good for Léa to see and understand the relationship that can be established when you work hard for people and earn their respect through your art. It was great to watch her. She was getting excited and getting to meet a whole new group of people who couldn’t wait for the first body to be painted. My friend and my student…..I opened a new door for her and she walked right in…..scared to death, but her chin held high and a smile that wouldn’t quit.

The first day we spent setting up and were asked to paint EXIT signs and an assortment of other signs. It was good as we got Dinner tickets with the Production company. (The only “Real” food we had the whole week.)

The first day we painted the Promo Girls. We did Roses and Tribals I think. Lawren Alice painted with us. Léa’s first customer appeared later. I will never forget it.  “I have a customer and she wants skulls…..what do I do?”   “Paint her.”    “Where do I start?”    “Right there….just paint her.”    “What do…..”JUST PAINT HER.”………………….”ok.”

I felt a little bad about that but I knew I had to make her do it………….and she did it! Nothing in the world like being thrown into the fire.  I know it made her a better painter, gave her confidence, and opened her eyes to the real world of Body Painting for large events. I am very proud of Lea.

The coolest thing that happened to me the whole week was this guy walking up to me and asked if I was in Amsterdam last year at the AC/DC Concert. I said yes and he said “I knew that was you!” Then he showed me a pic on his phone of Xandra and Sabine in my painted jeans at the concert. WOW!! Small world we live in.

Painted Penthouse Pet of the Year and the Runner Up!

Well, I don’t know, it is a close race between that and getting to paint the Penthouse Pet of the Year and Léa painting the Runner-up. They were there signing posters and I went up and stood by them for a minute and she looked up at me and asked if I would like an autographed poster. I said no and she looked at me kind of sad and asked why. I said “I just want to paint you.” Well, one thing led to another and next thing I knew, we were painting them. We were invited by them to Los Angeles to paint them anytime.

Butch Lord with a painted Budweiser model

We also met this really cool Jesus looking guy named Butch Lord. (Go figure) He does a traveling radio show and interviewed us and hung out with us for a few days. Check out the Butch Lord Radio Roadshow website as he interviewed me and it should be up in his episode #4 on the Sturgis shows in mid August!

We painted promo girls for headliner Bands the whole week. Godsmack, 3 Doors Down, Stone Temple Pilots, and the best one we did was Guns N’ Roses on Friday. By that time, Lea was used to me and the flow of how this whole thing works.  We painted Sarah, Tasha, and Autumn in the morning with some incredible Roses and Banners. It was by far the best Promo art of the week. The layout was perfect and it prepped us for the insane painting on Petra later in the day. I drew out the design and told Lea what to paint. She did it without question or hesitation as if she had been doing it all her life. She was totally focused. It was nice to see now that I think about it because at that time, I was already used to her just jumping into projects without even thinking. It was good. We got photos of us and our art with the new guitarist from GNR. That was a bonus!

Front Row Guns 'n Roses!

Later that evening, Wiser came over and we had “All Access” passes that got us to the front row of Guns N’ Roses. What a treat! I got a lot of great photos and we just had a great time.

Our Promo girls had a long night on Friday and didn’t show up on Saturday so Lea and I went downtown for lunch and to go shopping for t-shirts. It was really an amazing sight with all the bikes lined up all up and down the streets. We did very little painting that day and Dawn Dewitt showed up in the afternoon for a nice visit and her and I painted Léa.

The night ended with a party for all the employees and vendors. John (The Colonel) ordering the bartender to line up drinks for everyone. After a few drinks, Léa and I decided to get tattooed…..that’s another story………………

Make sure you click the little arrows in the slide show windows on the bottom right to see the pictures FULL SIZE!

Enjoy the Show!

Mark Reid and Wiser Body Painting Sturgis @ The Monkey Rock USA

In August 2009, I had the insane opportunity to paint at the Monkey Rock in Sturgis South Dakota with my friend and fellow body painter Wiser from Denver, Colorado.  Every morning we would paint four beautiful models provided from the Monkey Rock, it was so tight.  We painted Petra in jeans with a black Harley vest, she stood out in the road like she was thumbing a ride and we painted girls to match custom motorcycles as you can see in my gallery… it was the coolest thing!

We also painted this guy as a living Monkey Rock Logo!  Every day at 5pm he’d run out on stage with his airbrush monkey upper body and face – the crowd loved it!

Petra in painted Jeans in Sturgis 2009

The people who attended this event are really what made it so special for us.  The amount of people who became fans of body art was awesome!  We painted a constant line-up of eager models right from the crowd.  We met so many amazing people from all over North America, and painted the most beautiful, strong and vibrant female canvasses ever at this event, each model more inspiring than the last.  This year Wiser will be joining me again along with Léa Selley from Calgary Canada. 

We are all looking forward to painting you there!

View Full Slide Show with Large Pictures

Sturgis 2009 Gallery

Fans! If that’s not enough photos for you – check out the Monkey Rock Gallery for more body painting pictures at the event!

Woo-Hoo!  My new signature brushes by Mehron have just arrived!
Check out the Mehron website, they should be adding the product info there soon, if you can’t wait, call them up (1-800-332-9955) and place your order over the phone.

I’m on my way to Florida to teach and paint my heart out at FABAIC, I will provide more details soon!

WOW! Amazing how we change and how our work improves over the years. This is Kasey and my first pair of painted jeans about 5 years ago. Notice that there are no folds on the sides of the legs. It’s crazy, but I actually thought they were really cool back then. I did figure out on that first attempt how to get the effect of worn denim.

I think I’ll shave…………….

Mrs. Regalado

On May 12th, I went to Dexter Elementary School to paint faces for Mrs. Regalado’s Kindergarten Class.

What a great treat for their last day of school!

 The 5 girls all wanted butterflies and the boys an assortment of super heroes and skulls.

What a great day!

Class Pictures

Although this was depressing for me, and my students, as I wasn’t able to make my UK tour this May… I did learn alot from this experience.  I got to see and experience things that people only usually see in a movie.  Someone once told me that if tragedies don’t become comedies really quick, you’re in deep trouble!

Here I am all excited to teach in the UK.  Love it there…..especially the mushy peas and fish and chips.

Because of the 8 hour time difference I am used to and the 6-1/2 hour flight from the East coast, I always try to time my sleep patterns so that if I arrive in the morning I have at least 4 hours sleep prior to landing. I got it and pulled out my laptop to listen to some music and fix some photos from Essex, VT.  Little did I know, I was sharing my screen with a flight attendant (Kristi) on break. 

She showed a lot of interest in my art and shared her photography from a cemetery in Paris with me. Kristi was great to visit with and quite the personality, not to mention an incredible photographer. She took my cards and promised to keep in touch.

As we start the descent into Heathrow, I take some pics of the beautiful landscape full of greens and bright yellows….fantastic! We’re here!! The second we land, I send pics to my Blackberry friends as I’m making my way to Customs. The long walk in my Ariat’s is not something I enjoy, but getting through Customs and seeing the smiling faces of my dear friends is always great.

 I approach the Customs Officer and hand him my passport and the questions begin. “Why are you here?”  “Are you being paid?” “Who are you staying with?” “How much money do you have access to? Cash on you? Credit and debit cards?”

“How long will you stay here?”……..”Until the 14^th, then I go to Amsterdam.”

” I need to see your return flight documents.” …….”I don’t have them printed, they are in my computer.”

“I need to see them.”………”I can only show you if I turn on my computer  and have internet.”

“I am not satisfied with that. Do you have a wife and children in the US?”………”I am divorced and my children are grown and moved away.”

“Take a seat over there. You know you may not use your phone here. I will be back.”

I can tell by now that this is going over like a fart in a spacesuit. So I sit here for 45 minutes and 2 officers come and get me and take me to get my luggage and the search begins: first me, then my bags. Then through some back doors to another room. Search again. Then we go to a large lobby with chairs, a TV, some snacks and interrogation rooms. Whiskey Tango, Foxtrot?? I am in there with an old lady from Libya, a young man from Brazil, a young lady from Kansas, and 3 young girls from China. We were all rotated and questioned several times by different Officers. I was finally told that I did not have proper documents to enter the UK and that I would be sent back to the US and it may take 2 days and they would only send me to Philadelphia and I would have to get back to Albuquerque on my own.  OK…..so just let me shower and have something to eat and get to “Happy Hour” before I leave. I am totally in need of a double Jack and Coke tall right about now. Maybe even straight up for that matter.

After about 5 hours, I finally got to call Paul and let him know the status of my….well, status I guess.   The old lady gets a rug from a bookshelf with Bibles on it, places it on the floor and kneels and starts to pray. For some reason, I’m thinking this isn’t a bad idea, but they’re out of rugs and I’m not too keen on kneeling on the hard floor. Damn the luck and God bless the Old Lady and the 3 Chinese girls as I know this has got to be confusing and hard on them.

Eventually all are weeded out. I wanted so bad to talk to the Chinese girls and tell them all would be ok. As they were leaving, I smiled, waved at them and patted my heart. They did the same and turned and left. I later learned that they were seeking asylum. They had enough for a one way ticket to escape whatever hardships they were dealing with in China, and they won’t be sent back for fear of what might happen to them. This was the hardest part of my entire episode just knowing that things like this really happen, and that these girls may never see their families again. I think I really had to see this for some reason. I witnessed something that most only see in the movies and on TV. In real life, it will change you.  The lady from Kansas talked with me a while. She was there to visit her fiancée and I guess was denied entry for fear that she was there to get married without proper documents.  After being questioned 1 more time I was told that I would be detained and sent back to the US in the morning. I waited as another young lady from Las Vegas was brought in and had no idea why she was there. She was selected from a group to be questioned and was in tears. I talked to her and tried to explain the process and let her know that no matter what happened, as long as she did nothing illegal, she would be treated well and in no danger. The worst they could do is to send her home.

About 11PM I was taken to retrieve my belongings and escorted through security and to a van with 2 guards and a cage inside. OK….this is starting to feel like Con Air here. After picking up 2 more inmates (wait….did I just say that??) we drove for 3 or 4 miles to a very secured building with 3 entries. I mean unlock the gate, drive in, lock the gate, unlock another gate, drive in, lock the gate and unlock yet another gate. OK….what the Hell have I gotten myself into here?? We get out, unload our baggage, unlock a door, pass between 2 buildings and I notice a very high wall with friggin barbed wire curled up around the top of it. I say to the guard “Wow…this looks like prison.” “This IS prison” he says. Thank God for me growing up in a bar and being a bouncer at age 18 that I am not afraid. The fact that I am not a skinny pretty boy is a bonus as well.

Here we go….Search again…..my luggage in the last 24 hours has seen more action than me in the last few weeks. I’m jealous! They feed us and issue us sheets, a blanket, towel and some toiletries. I get a cell with a man from Mexico which was good for him as he finally had someone to talk to. It is a tiny cell with bunk beds, a shower, a sink, and a toilet with no seat. (I guess this is my payback for making all of my models squat to do business.)The shower and toilet were in the same space 6 feet from each other……how convenient. Talk about a turd in a punchbowl! OK…let’s stop at that!

Amazingly enough, I was so tired that I slept very well that night. 8 hours of great sleep and I feel so sorry for the man sleeping in the top bunk as I know I snore very loud. Bang on the door at 8am and cereal and juice is presented on a nice gray tray. I know this place does not have a Five Star Rating and I truly am not looking forward to lunch. Thank God my plane leaves at noon. At 9AM I am taken to a place with about 8 guards and some offices and a recreation room to wait for my plane. I met a female guard there who talked with me a while about why I was there and of course I told her what I did and showed her my card. She got all excited and let me get my portfolio out of my bag and in 2 minutes I had 8 prison guards surrounding me looking at my work and all wanting a card. Soon it was time to leave with handshakes and a hug from the female guard all wishing me the best and good luck on my return.

I was driven to the airport for another search and escorted to the gate by 2 guards. I talked with one of them as he still had many questions about my career. I got to be the first one on the plane!! How cool is that!!?? As I took my seat, I noticed that all the flight crew were the same ones on my flight there. This was a bonus as I got 4 free bottles of wine and a whole 5 seats to myself. (I mean, who wants to sit next to a criminal?”) This whole “Escort to the plane” thing really made it seem like Con Air. I got to visit with Kristi again for a while and look at more of her photos. It was a great flight home.

My adventure didn’t end in Albuquerque… in a mad rush, I drove to Denver to meet with the British Consulate – like the immigration officers in the UK advise me to do.  After a short sleep and a 6 hour drive to Denver,  I run into a sign saying the Consulate’s Office is closed for the day!  Fortunately using the emergency number I am able to call and set up an appointment for the next morning… unfortunately during the appointment they told me there was no hope to get the right paper work lined up to make it back to the UK in time to teach!  I believe that trip just wasn’t meant to be…

So I get back in the car and drive back to Roswell to attend the Walk for Hope Cancer Fundraiser – I feel blessed that I was able to attend and see some friends from last year’s event.

I think a lot about this whole adventure and try to make sense of it. I believe I was just not supposed to be there at this time for some reason. There is no sense in being upset in it as that only wastes energy. I accept it and move on, only to wait for my next adventure.

I will be returning to UK in June and then to The Netherlands and Austria in July. As for now, I joke that I am on “Work Release” and doing Community Service. HA!

Here are some nice shots of the drive to and from Denver:

Consulates Office

Cloudy Day

British Consulate's Office

The Rocky Mountains

On May 7th, I attended a “Walk for Hope” Cancer fundraiser in Roswell, New Mexico. It was a small event with a lot of Cancer survivors and Families that have lost relatives to cancer.

The neatest thing was that I got to paint little children that have survived cancer or are currently undergoing treatment. Some as young as 5 years old. I did this last year for the “Relay for Life” in Roswell and it was a very touching event.

This is Amber, she is 5 years old and is currently undergoing treatment, she was so excited to turn into a puppy that day!

This is Joecelyn she is also 5 years old and is a cancer survivor – I painted her last year at relay for life an she was so excited to get painted again!