`The body is my canvas'

You could call Carole Ward an artist because she works in paint with a paintbrush, or you could almost call her a clothes designer because her canvas is the human body. In fact, Carole is Ireland's first full-time, registered body artist who spends her days painting people to look like statues, bunches of grapes, waterfalls or flags. You name it, Carole reckons she can probably do it.

After a degree in design, Ward went into arts administration, working in centres like Dublin's City Arts Centre and Project Arts Centre. When a friend asked her to do some face-painting in the Ilac Shopping Centre and she made four times as much money as she would in arts admin, she realised it was time to change careers. "Because it was all so new, I was always doing jobs that were bigger than anything I had done before. The first kids party I did was for U2; the first body-painting I did was for television. I just jumped right in and did it."

Now, with over 30 commissions under her belt, Ward is launching her own studio in Wicklow Street where she can plot out her designs, as well as make the headpieces, props and costumes that go with them. For the most part, her clients are corporate ones - if a business wants to launch a new product in a novel way, they will call on Carol to create a moving work of art to suit their needs. She has created a snake for An Post, the Statue of Liberty for Waterford Crystal and a water sprite for Marathon Sports.

When a client comes to her with a commission, Ward will do up some sketches and email them back. Once designs and price have been confirmed - a full body work will cost approximately £300, plus materials and props - she starts her preparation. "About two-thirds of my time is spent in preparation, making templates out of acetate, paper or card and making hats or skirts, so it's all ready to go on the day." She reckons that a full body takes her five hours to paint on her own, and she keeps scrupulously to a time-table: "I'll allow half-an-hour for an arm, more for a leg, working down to the time of the photocall."

There's no special preparation needed for the skin, except that male models (or they could be dancers, fire-eaters or actors, depending on the job) need to shave. She uses up to 40 different colours of water-based body paints and some 40 glitters from all over the world, which she says are "tougher than you'd think". "The only real problem is sweat; if the models get hot under the lights that can cause lines."

Although the finished model may look as though they're naked they will always be wearing cotton underwear painted beforehand by Carole; "I wouldn't want them to feel vulnerable or they won't perform well." People's reactions to Carole's work varies. When she created a human statue for the Ulster Bank's millennium party, a lot of the guests thought it was real and got the fright of their lives when it moved. Then there was the time when Carole painted a model with silver metal panels exposing patches of sinews, and dressed her in silver hot pants to advertise the advent of DVD. Eight businessmen crossed the lobbie where the model was posed and stared in silence until one whispered bashfully "Did you see her shoes?"

For Carole the best bit is coming up with the idea and imagining how she will put it into practice. "Then I also love the bit where I step back, let the photographers take over and just watch people's reactions."

This and other articles on this page are on The Irish Times website at www.ireland.com

Carole Ward's work can be seen at www.bodyartist.ie