CREATIVITY/ARTS , EVENTS/ENTERTAINMENT , GENERAL , PERFORMANCE/ENTERTAINMENT
October Highlights

October is always an action-packed month for us… & this one was very fun! From unicorns to creepy clowns… we covered a lot of bases at some fantastic events.
Here are some Highlights: 

October 6th- Noche en Blanc at the Sacramento Zoo
Our Party Animals made a special appearance at this global ‘white party’ event that rotates it’s locations (& keeps them secret from the 3,000 guests until the day of!) at the zoo in Sacramento.
Our ever popular Zebra stilt walker was joined by the new Unicorn Stilt Party Animal who actually stole the show… cause who doesn’t love unicorns??October 14th we did 2 special events…

For The Stand for The Redwoods Festival at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco (organized by Peridot Events) we sent 4 fantastic Face Painters & 2 giant Party Animals… the Butterfly & a new costumed character we created specifically for this event… the Stilt Owl!Later that night 3 of our Illuminated Walkabout Glow Go Dancer ladies were brought in by planner Mimi the Party Queen again for the Mill Valley Film Festival Closing Party in San Rafael at the Elks Lodge. First they were stationed along the route from the theater to the party to make sure guests didn’t get lost making their way to the venue… literally lighting their path. Later they brought quite a buzz of excitement & a flurry of paparazzi at the party and even ended up making the Front Page of the local newspaper! LINK here

On October 18th our Silk Stilt Butterflies were brought in to help celebrate an Anniversary event at the Bethany Center in SF by planner Robert Hunter Events.

On October 20th we were invited to one of the oldest wineries in the whole State of California… Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma- where our Wine Dress Hostess dazzled guests upon entering the courtyard & made for an irresistible photo opportunity. Our golden Rose Tarot Reader was also quite a hit with a long line all night waiting their turn for her golden nuggets of reflection. 

Also on October 20th we sent a Flapper Dance Duet & a Gatsby Champagne Skirt Hostess to a 20’s themed Wedding at the elegant Claremont Club in Berkeley 

& we also provided a Champagne Skirt Hostess for a celebration in Portland, Oregon- where we now have a skirt permanently stationed! (spread the word to any planners you know in that area!) 

Photo by Colleen Cahill- Event planned by Upstage Events 

On the last week of October our sister companies MagiKidz & Bedazzled Body Art were quite busy doing Face Paint for a whole slew of kid & family events including 8 artists at the Stanford Reunion Picnic (7th year in a row) & 2 painters at the SF Zoo for Boo at the Zoo.
*To learn more about the Kids Entertainment company- www.magikidz.com

On October 27th we once again had the honor of sending 6 Illuminated Stilt Walkers to the ‘Light The Night’ Charity walk event at Avaya Stadium in San Jose.

As well as 5 very Creepy Characters to a House Party in San Francisco thanks to Sillapere Inc.

& October 30th our Autumn Butterfly character brightened up a Mummy & Me event in San Jose

Photo by Santana Row

CREATIVITY/ARTS , Event Ideas , EVENTS/ENTERTAINMENT , GENERAL , HUMAN DÉCOR , PERFORMANCE/ENTERTAINMENT
October Event Highlights

As usual October is an Action-Packed month of exciting Events!

On October 5th Innovative Entertainment brought us in for a design firms soiree at the historical Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park to help animate their Summer of Love theme.
We had a couple of LED Hooping Hippies and a couple gorgeous Flower Child Go Go Dancers… with 60’s music playing and a backdrop of amazing Projections (by Obscura Digital) onto the building. 

On October 13th we brought a Mermaid & a Merman & a Glow Hoop Stage Duet to a fundraising event at the Ritz Carleton San Francisco.

 

On October 14th we sent 2 of our Drinks Dresses to an elegant Wedding at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in SF- one serving guests bubbly and one serving red & white wine for the Reception.

We also sent 6 LED Stilt Walkers to a Light the Night Fundraiser Walk for Leukemia Lymphoma Society in San Jose.
Our client said “We absolutely LOVED having you all out at Light The Night again this year. I’m so glad we were able to have 6 of you all decked out in glowing red, white, and gold. It was truly special. Thank you so much for the care and detail that I know went into building the outfits.”
So many great pics we put up a gallery in Recent Events 

On Oct. 21st one of our favorite charity clients Hack Cancer had us bring 2 golden Stilt Walkers plus a Champagne Skirt hostess for the VIP. One of the highlights of the night was our stilt walkers turning the dance floor into a game of Limbo!

On October 26th we were asked by the Legion of Honor to bring a special custom Living Statue to the Donor Reception for the Gods in Color Exhibition Opening… and so our white stone statue was also given some color.

October 27th we brought a heap of talent to a Monster Mash themed party for a Tech giant in Silicon Valley… thanks to Entire Productions. We had a Candy Skirt, 2 Stilt Walkers, a handful of support staff, & 5 black cat Face Painters.

& on Oct. 27th we also got to debut our exciting custom built freestanding Lyra at an event in San Jose booked by Innovative Entertainment. It was a Dr. Seuss event and we created customized costumes for our aerialists to be ‘Red fish Blue fish’ inside the lollipop lyra.

CREATIVITY/ARTS , EVENTS/ENTERTAINMENT , PERFORMANCE/ENTERTAINMENT
Halloween & Autumn Entertainment

Face-Painting & Stilt-Walkers Available for Halloween Events!

Let Catalyst Arts spice up your Halloween party! Our talented face-painters will take any Halloween costume to the next level—whether you’re looking for a fantastical, sexy or gruesome… we do it all!

See some of our past Halloween stilt walker characters (below) that you can bring to your event for a ghoulish good time.

More STILT CHARACTERS Here.
Contact us  to inquire for availability and pricing!

Our Top Notch Professional Face/Body Painters can be brought to public parties Halloween or Day of the Dead– and can now also be booked in private sessions in our brand new Catalyst Airship Studio!

Friday Oct. 31st Halloween Day  1pm-6pm you can book a Private Face or Body Paint Session! $25 & up
Location- Berkeley, CA (3 min walk from Ashby Bart Station)

Day of the Dead ‘Sugar Skull’ Painting will be available in the Mission district in San Francisco on November 2nd. Location TBA. Contact Us if you want to be sure to get a slot.

SUGAR SKULL FACE PAINT WORKSHOP!

Learn the supplies and techniques to paint beautiful Sugar Skulls that won’t take you forever! This experiential 3 hour workshop will teach 3 different sugar skull designs, including a half mask face.
Friday, October 17th 3-6pm or Sunday, October 19th 6-9pm.
Berkeley, CA
$40

Call if you have questions- 415-717-2372 or Email if you would like to Sign up for the Class!

CREATIVITY/ARTS , INSPIRATIONAL , PERFORMANCE/ENTERTAINMENT
6 Costume Tips from a professional shapeshifter

Costume Closet

I have been playing dress up pretty much my whole life.

I have been being paid to play dress up for about 10 years now.
(I’m a performer, stilter, & face painter)

My inner child is thrilled about it.

Dressing up in costumes is fun, creative, and occasionally truly glamorous, tranformational or therapeutic.

I go out in public in costumes on a regular basis. I love Halloween because everyone else shifts shapes and comes to the party as something new (& hopefully) interesting. So maybe you are not a dress up type but you just want some ideas for Halloween costumes so you don’t feel left out. Or perhaps you are a clothes horse and want to up your game in terms of costuming yourself.

THE TIPS

1.) Choose a character direction that is currently genuinely inspiring to you.

It could be compellingly attractive or compellingly disturbing, but it should be compelling. If it is tired, or more true to the old you, it won’t make you come alive when you wear it. If it doesn’t have juice for you, you won’t really rock it

2.) If you don’t have a great idea, use your friends.
If you are drawing a blank then make a brainstorm game out of it with some friends and bounce off each others ideas until you get one that makes you really excited. Or you could ask everyone you know what their all time best Halloween costumes were, and then just steal your favorite idea. (provided it meets tip 1 criteria)

2.) Give it time. Don’t wait till just before the party/gig/event to pull it together.

If you know you are going out for Halloween or are invited to a masquerade ball or need to pull a _____ themed costume out of the hat for an event soon to come, give yourself as much time as possible to daydream ideas, shop at stores, yard sales & thrift stores, and pull it together. This way you won’t feel stressed and be tempted to sucker out. This way the magic and synchronicity have time to help you get it together. (costume fairy’s do exist!)

3.) Strive for Originality. Don’t go for a made in China ‘costume in a bag’.

Oh it can be tempting to go online or sneak into some halloween superstore and just grab yourself one of those one size fits all costumes in a bag. If you do really want to be a sexy nurse or a vampire or a pirate or some other trendy character- find a way to do it so that you don’t look like the other 20 people at the party who bought the same cheap-o costume. Browse google images for inspiration. Repurpose fabrics & clothes in new ways. Bribe a friend who can sew to actually make you something. It is worth the effort to not look like you came off the assembly line.

4.) It is all about the Face Paint and the Attitude.
If your face paint looks great and you are totally in character, it can make up for a shabby costume. It goes a long way to actually try to be the character your costume is indicating. Get into it. Have a different accent and do things you wouldn’t normally do. That is a huge part of the point of costumes in the first place. Intimidated by the face paint part of this tip? Find a friend who is good at it or look up videos on you tube. (or hire someone like me:))

5.) Bring a Prop and have a Schtick. *
This is crucial for having a fabulous time in your getup and contributing greatly to the overall social dynamic. You will have a lot more fun if your character has some sort of playful gimmick or way to engage other party goers. IDEAS & GENERAL EXAMPLES: If you are a geisha, bring a fan and cool down the sweaty folks on the dance floor. If you are a giant banana, bring a banana and tell people they have a phone call on it. PERSONAL EXAMPLES: I was once a princess of hearts and I went around painting hearts on people with my red lip liner. Last year for Halloween I was a genie and I had this super cool lamp filled with yummy oils and I asked people to touch the lamp and make a wish and they smelled the oils and closed their eyes and made their wish and I told them it would be granted. This was infinitely more amusing than just wandering around looking like a genie. It is all about interaction. Schtick Schtick Schtick.

So, I hope this helps and I hope you have fun creating  another costume for your arsenal.