Irina Filatova
www.face-painter.com
BIO
I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and moved to the USA in 1990. I never did any
face-painting in Russia. I studied psychology in college and worked in advertising and
consumer research.
My first "encounter" with face-painters happened in the summer of 1991 on Harvard Square
in Boston, where I was working for a local newspaper. There were these two Irish girls,
Catherine and Debbie, who were face-painters from the London Zoo on a summer vacation in
Boston. They were doing great artwork on kids and street performers, and I got my own
face painted and loved it a lot.
Thank you guys so much! I would never stop feeling grateful for your "initiating" me into
the trade! I was fascinated with the idea of travelling around the world painting people,
and in 1992 I started doing it in New York City, where I moved to in the fall of 1991.
I was working in the T-shirt Gallery on Lexington and 64th Street, and my boss -- "Finn" --
set me up with some local bars for Halloween '92. In the summer of '93, I was street
performing in Central Park. From '93 to '96, I was working only in New York City, as a
street performer in Central Park and South Street Seaport, and as doing lots of birthday
parties and corporate events, as well as all 5th Ave. parades.
Since 1996, I have been travelling to festivals in Florida and New Orleans in the winter, and
after 9/11, I became a full-time "nomad," working around the country. Sometimes I return to
New York City in the summer to work in Central Park, but most of the time I am working in New
Orleans and Atlanta. My other favorite cities to visit are San Francisco, Miami, Key West, Boston,
Seattle, and Toronto.
I would also love to venture to Arizona, Vermont, and Maine -- I've never been there before,
and I would love to work there to be able to visit those places. I am also planning a
"European Tour" in the future.
I am currently available for birthday parties in New Orleans and Atlanta, and for festivals
and large-scale corporate events anywhere in the United States and Canada.
To book me for a party or festival, please call: (504) 473-3581
The best time to reach me is from 9 to 11 p.m. Central Time.