Marissa is a professional party entertainer based out of West Hartford, CT who began her career as a theme park face painter during her summers in college. After finishing her B.A. in Art from CCSU, she dove head-first into her love of face painting and completed her Special Effects Makeup certification from La Bella Makeup School in Danbury.
Marissa started at Kaleidoscope in 2013 and is available to entertain at your event for almost any type of party entertainment we offer including:
- Face painting and balloon twisting
- Caricatures
- All types of temporary tattoos: henna, airbrush, glitter, and flash
- Paint parties
- Tarot, palm reading, and runes
- UV and LED entertainment
- Glitter looks and hair art
- Mentalism (mind-reading magic)
Marissa also works in the Kaleidoscope office as the Head of Talent and is involved in hiring, training, and managing all of our amazing party artists, as well as with anything else the office might need. (If you’ve had one of our artists at your event, odds are they were trained by Marissa!)
See some of her verified face painting & balloon twisting reviews here:
When and why did you start Face and Body Painting?
I started working as a face painter alllll the way back in 2010 as a summer job for a theme park! I was in art school and had an on-campus job as a graphic designer but for the summer needed the extra income. The first time I picked up a face painting brush to practice on my arm felt electric–I think it’s hard for other people to imagine but I instantly wanted to do it as a career.
What’s your favorite art form (or performance etc) that you do here?)
I still have a huge love for face painting, and I think my favorite events are still face painting at birthday parties, but I think tarot and mentalism are my favorites now. I have less opportunities to do them and they’re far outside of my visual arts training, but I love how challenging those art forms are for me.
If you could only pick one, would you rather do face painting or balloon twisting forever and why?
Ahhhhh that’s hard… maybe balloon twisting (even if I love face painting more) just because I’ve mastered face painting, and balloons can be an endless challenge! I’ve been doing this so long that the challenge is really what attracts me most.
What are people’s reactions when you tell them that you’re a professional party entertainer?
They’re in disbelief that this is a real job! Most people don’t think that arts jobs exists, but they do and I wish we conveyed that message to the public–especially teenagers getting ready to pick college majors. The working artists I know aren’t “starving” or “depressed”. We love our work, we have financial goals, and we know how lucky we are to be here. I truly love being a face painter, and I have plenty of other artist friends who have equally niche and amazing jobs.
What’s one surprising fact about you?
I don’t paint or draw for fun anymore! When I was a kid that’s all I did 24/7, and now people assume that since is my job I must still do a lot of it, but just like everyone else I want to clock out of my job and leave work at work. I normally read or exercise for fun, but I also love to go to concerts, travel, and do volunteer work with animals.
What do you think your super power as a face painter or balloon twister is?
I love making kids feel good, even the shy ones! I used to be a classroom teacher so matching kids’ energy, being kind, and being patient is second nature to me. It makes me feel amazing when a normally very-timid-toddler will crawl into my face painting chair and the parents are shocked!
What’s the most memorable party you’ve ever done face painting or balloon twisting at?
I have a horrible fear of heights and we have one client in the Prudential Center of Boston MA. I didn’t realize how high up we were until the elevator started going up. I managed to get through the event, but I genuinely don’t know how!
What’s the biggest factor as to whether or not a large event will go well?
Honestly, parking and arrival! For college campuses or huge corporate offices, I’ve gotten to the GPS address an hour early… and still struggled to find the event. The more details we have, the better! Besides that, our part is pretty smooth.
Categories: Artist Spotlight