so, how did i get here? let me start at the beginning...i am terrified of clowns!! not because of 'IT,' granted i've never made it through that movie in it's entirety. (and i'm totally telling my age) but when i was little i adored "the bozo show." cooky was hilarious, plus i always wanted to play the grand prize game & win cool prizes. i never really put clowns into a whole "scary" catergory. clowns are funny & nice, right? then, it happened...i saw 'Poltergeist.' now, people, when a movie comes out, a scary movie, do not let your children watch it! i was like 7 or 8, (i just remember it being a vhs rental from the video store) and the freaking clown doll in that movie has haunted my dreams ever since. while i watch horror movies & love psychological thrillers...if there is a damn clown, i lose my mind...to this day! that is until i met a very unexpected friend.

once upon a time, this clumsy girl right here played an awesome sport called flat track roller derby. seriously, i did! anyways, i am always amazed by events & people that are introduced into our lives. i don't know why, but i have stumbled upon some pretty cool peeps that have impacted my life in some shape or form; at the risk of over-analyzing, i'll leave it at that!
in october of 2009, i was getting ready for a bout with my derby team, the richland county regulators (http://www.richlandcountyregulators.com/). i remember being super excited because it was the hubs & my anniversary, so i had a little special something in the program & everything. i had been working hard & feeling in sync with my other teammates. finally, i was confident in myself & this was a big bout for me! but what i didn't know at the time, it would also be my last. an hour before the first whistle, we're all in the dressing room. last call for numbers sharpied on arms, threatening eyeliner painted on, one more banana for the road, & just getting pumped in general. now, i had seen "the clown" before. he's an incredible announcer for the sport. but from far away...a distance. not too too bad. this day i would see him even closer, as in, at the door of the dressing room handing out stickers for our helmets, bags, whatever. "holy crap, holy crap...don't look, don't look...breathe, breathe"...serious panic. i know it sounds really dumb, but this is my fear! i did not cry...or physically fall apart though. i couldn't. i had to play roller derby, remember?
i don't recall much between my first jam & the brick wall that i ended up sliding into. it's on tape somewhere, that i never revisited. i did, however, see this picture about a week later.

photo credit: A Boy Named Tsunami

this is "the clown" kneeling for me while the e.m.t.s checked me out track-side, or rather off of the track where i landed. i was used to getting the crud knocked out of me, & jumping back up. that day, i did not!
for some reason, this picture was quite possibly the least threatening thing i had ever seen. maybe it was the black & white shot...maybe i couldn't worry about silly fears as i laid leg up, iced, & with an intense dependancy to ibuprofen! but i did know one thing, i was a jerk face! i decided that day that "the clown"...that clown was the only one i couldn't be afraid of.

fast-forward to over a year of a new friendship with martin. who is, by the way, 11 years into special fx makeup. i have seen several pictures of his work on himself & other people, so it was only fitting that he help me overcome this crazy phobia once & for all. i was ecstatic when he agreed to my proposition. & as a bonus, he was gonna throw in a zombie makeover...yay, cos well, i'm not particularly fond of them either. too slow...creep me out! & so i was the walking dead for trivia night at a bar in west columbia (above) & ahh, a clown at, none other than, a roller derby bout. poetic, don't you think?
i was curious as to how he got interested in all of this..."the clown" persona; turning someone into a scary artistic vision...

i was fascinated by the makeup and i wanted to try my hand at it.

he also adds:

once i was bit by that bug, i looked everywhere to learn everything i could and i still pick up new things. i have miles to go before i will ever become satisfied with my techniques and skill set.

spoken like a true artist!! i wonder if martin knew when he first applied to be a monster in the netherworld haunted house in atlanta, ga. that he would fall in love with this world?
i think you're pretty dang awesome, friend!
**oh, & me as a clown??

me & martin...friends forever :)