Gazebo investment helps Pam put on a brave face

Jun 10 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal

A FACE painter is ready to face the worst the North East summer can throw at her. Pam Dixon, who runs Fun for Faces, decided to buy her own gazebo to protect herself from the elements after attending The Journal Taste North East England Food and Drink Festival at Gibside near Rowlands Gill in April.

The event was so popular that there was no room for Cramlington-based Pam in a marquee and she had to ply her trade in the open air.

“All I could do was hope it would stay dry, luckily it did, although at times the wind played havoc with the paint and sponges but I did not want to disappoint any of the children,” she said.

“To prevent this happening again I have invested in my own gazebo. This will allow me to be self sufficient and not rely on the elements in the future, and it stops organisers having the headache of trying to fit me into their limited space.”

Pam, who has a background in sales, has been working as a face painter for a year after attending a two-day course to learn how to create widely-requested faces such as cats, dogs, tigers and clowns.

She said: “I have always wanted to do it. I was looking on the internet and I found a lady in Richmond who ran a training course. I took my daughters with me as my models.”

In addition to daughters Fern, eight, and six-year-old Sian, Pam says she is able to call on “a street full of kids” to act as her models when she wants to try out new designs.

Her new gazebo is expected to get plenty of use over the summer months at parties and events such as the Rennington Scarecrow Festival near Alnwick in August. She also face paints during the winter. In January, she was busy painting cat faces for the audience of Cats during its run at Newcastle’s Theatre Royal and was also booked to work at Sunderland’s Empire Theatre during the recent performances of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

“The winter days tend to be inside but obviously there are a lot of festivals in the summer,” said Pam. “It’s not like a job, I just love doing it.”