Tools of the Trade: Body Painter Georgette Pressler

In this installment of Tools of the Trade, we meet artist Georgette Pressler. Georgette prefers working on a canvas that lives and breathes. “While in college I worked at a costume shop,” she recalls. “The clowns that came in introduced me to a whole secret society of body painters. It was fascinating.” Today she runs Devious Body Art in West Palm Beach, a full service body painting, face painting, and makeup business that she created out of her love for body painting. “What better canvas to express my passion for art than on a living, breathing form?” she asks. “The human body is so beautiful. Every one is different. Every one is fresh and new. You can create a piece of art that flows with that person. You can only make the canvas move so much, but you can make a person dance, and then your painting dances.” For this particular piece, model Brittany Johns got 22 piercings in her back, from collaborator Shorty from Hellcat Tattoo. “She is such a trooper,” says Pressler. (The piercings formed the framework for a “beautiful corseted lacework with chocolate satin ribbon” on her back.) Body painting is one of the oldest forms of body adornment, according to Pressler. “This is the body that God created. This is what you were born with. It is a perfect creation. The body is something beautiful, and I think painting it makes it moreso.” (Bruce R. Bennett / The Palm Beach Post)