Spooky That’s On The Spot

Her work as appeared at TerrorCon, The Rhode Show, Trinity Rep Theater, Hasbro’s DreamNight, RI Pride Festival, and even children’s birthday parties. From the prettiest of rainbow and animal face paintings to the most graphic and scary airbrushed monsters, Kara Andrews has spent the past several years fine-tuning her skills and working at various events under her studio name, Art on the Spot.

Halloween season is always a busy time for Andrews. “We’re in high demand, because of the quality of our work,” said Andrews. “But it’s the best time of the year, because we get to show off our skills.”

Providence’s Zombie Night has displayed many of her best works, particularly  on the host, Reverend Al Mighty. This year, her studio will also be featured at RI Comic Con in November, where she’ll offer face and body painting, tattoos and henna.

During this season, Andrews also puts together a charity event called Faces for Food, where children bring canned food in exchange for their choice of face paint design. “I felt like I was helping people directly. I was giving them my face painting and in exchange I was giving food to a pantry,” she said. “It’s worked out really well in the past.”  Currently, Art on the Spot is booking this sixth annual event with various markets and pantries and dates will be announced soon.

The multi-awarding winning artist has traveled internationally for over a decade to attend body art conferences and compete in shows. She’s taken first place at Master Level in Las Vegas and in Face Painting in New England, among other awards, and she’s gained entrance into both the UK’s The International Face Painting Association (FACE) and the World Body Painting Alliance.

Since then, her expansion into body art became an easy transition in her artistic growth. “The first time I went to see Cirque du Soleil, it got me into face painting, but as I went to conferences, and the art form evolved, [body painting] became more acceptable,” said Andrews. “I found [the body] to be another canvass I could work on. The human body lends itself to beautiful shapes and colors.”

The 20-year veteran with degrees in graphic design and chemistry is also a certified teacher in Massachusetts, where she teaches children’s fine art classes. At Art on the Spot, Andrews and her crew teach children basics, like drawing and painting, and more complex techniques, like 3D design and sculptures. She hopes to one day open a studio in RI, but until then she continues to attend festivals and private functions.

For information on workshops or to view some of her work, go to: artonthespot.com, facebook.com/artonthespot, and instagram.com/artonthespot.