When Donna Nowak took 20 temporary-tattoo designs and set up at a Milford street fair in 1998, she hoped her artistic ability would take her places.
And it did.
Last Friday, Nowak climbed aboard an airliner and jetted off to China, where she’ll teach fantasy face painting techniques to college students.
The six-week trip’Nowak calls it the opportunity of a lifetime’will take her to the Kim Tom International Clown Festival in Shanghai, where she’ll work alongside seven other artists from around the world.
During the first two weeks, Nowak and her new colleagues will teach students the art of face painting, a craft students will practice during the four-week festival, and ultimately carry to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Nowak said she will spend the four weeks supervising students as they fine tune newly-learned techniques. She’ll also ride on floats, wave to spectators and otherwise take part in the festival.
When she’s not working, Nowak and her group will travel to shelters, children’s hospitals and other organizations to volunteer time and talent to China’s disadvantaged.
‘It’s an amazing opportunity,? said Nowak, who will travel as part of a team assembled by Tomfoolery Entertainment, Maryland based company supplying artists, performers, producers and technicians for special events and variety entertainment
‘I feel I got the job because of who I know,? Nowak said.
It was a message she felt compelled to deliver.
When she was young, skeptics and naysayers advised Nowak, an Independence Township single parent, to bank on a reliable career with a future.
Like computer programming.
But one person’a beloved aunt’made all the difference.
‘She believed in me when my own parents didn’t,? Nowak said. ‘So I learned if you believe in yourself despite friends and family who think you’re crazy, then you can do anything you want.?
So, shortly after the Milford street fair, Nowak opened Show Offs Body Art, a Clarkston-based business specializing face and body painting for all occasions.
Over the years, Nowak and her staff of ten have worked a number of impressive gigs; she’s painted faces at Super Bowl and World Series games. She’s worked Marti Gras, and now, in China.
But she’s not just about the big time. Nowak also spends time speaking to in local schools and volunteering time and talent to local non-profit organizations
And, as much as she loves to create her art, she is particularly passionate about helping others develop a sense of artistic expression.
As an instructor, Nowak likes to work up instructional materials before teaching a class, and said she finds teaching several ways to achieve one result produces confident, successful artist.
But, she said, success depends on more than know-how and ability.
‘I tell my students ‘you don’t have to be the best artist,?’she said. ‘In today’s world, people hire you because they like you. If you have the same GPA as the next person, what sets you above the rest??
In Nowak’s opinion, the answer is simple: honesty, integrity, social skills, and the willingness to take a risk.
‘You build confidence when you face your fears,? she said. ‘A lot of kids today aren’t encouraged to do that.?
And she should know’Nowak speaks from the experience of a troubled childhood, where, among other difficulties, her artistic inclinations were scorned, discouraged and left to lie dormant until later, when life’s lessons’and a few caring individuals’showed her that life, like art, is only what the artist makes it.
‘Art is not about green grass and blue skies,? she said. ‘Look at life and see what you can make of it, not what you’re told it should be.?
Young people, she said, can go a long way on a little faith and self-confidence.
‘I wish somebody gave that to me,? she said. ‘Why did I learn so late in my life? I want to share this.?