Article Last Updated: 09/23/2006 08:31:34 PM MDT colorado sunday | you oughta know Painter has body of work By Dana Coffield Denver Post Staff Writer

Who: Body artist Kelsie Young-Ibarra What started out as a little face-painting gig at Casa Bonita has evolved into a full-on artistic pursuit for body-paint artist Kelsie Young-Ibarra. Though the 32-year-old Lakewood mom says she was always interested in makeup, industrial design, special effects and prop building, it wasn't until a friend encouraged her - again, and again and again - to move the airbrush off kids' faces and onto models' nude bodies that she found her real calling. Next weekend, her work will (Post / Glenn Asakawa) be showcased in The Body Art Ball, where her work will parade down the runway in a kinetic performance art extravaganza. You're highly enthusiastic about costuming other artists in a coat of latex paints and glitter. Why? I love replicating art pieces, like work I did for Van Gogh Vodka, and clothing replication. I get so much artistic satisfaction out of it. How is costuming a performance artist different than working on a painted Halloween costume, for example? It's been an upstream battle for me to get people to notice the art form, how beautiful it is and what an honor it is to use a body as a canvas. Seeing a passionate performer in your paint, using it to the fullest, is amazing. They are as into it as I am. How long will it take for you to create your performer's costume on Sunday? It's a whole-day affair. All of us are there at 10 a.m. There is some down time during the day. By around 9 p.m., we'll start an hour of live painting in front of the audience, where we're putting on the finishing Advertisement .. language=JavaScript1.1 type=text/javascript>GetAd('tile','box','/coloradosunday_article','','www.denverpost.com','','null','null');..> touches. Do you paint by the seat of your pants, or do you try to plan your outfits? Last year, I did an Army girl and they kind of threw it at me at the last minute, but they gave me everything - the materials, the basic picture that they wanted. Artistically, I can bust it out, but I'm going to smile so much more this year if I have time to plan. Any goals for the future of body painting in Denver or in general? I want people to appreciate it for the art that it is and not say "Gosh, she's naked!" This is not a boobie show. It's something I worked hard on; please appreciate it! WATCH A BODY ARTIST Kelsie Young-Ibarra will be one of 15 body artists transforming performers into living works of art for a runway show Oct. 1 at the Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Denver. Because the event is sponsored by Tuaca, the only way you'll get a ticket to the show is by cozying up to a barkeep in a joint that sells the Italian spirit. For details , visit the bodyartball.com. Catch a glimpse of Young-Ibarra's work at myspace.com/glitterfreckle or theglitterfreckle.com.

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