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Local artist swipes World Body Painting Championship title

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    Local resident face and body painter Lucie Brouillard can relax for a while now, she has finally achieved a long time ambition.
    On Sunday, July 18, in Austria, she became the World Champion Body Painter in the brush/sponge category, a title that had eluded her for the past three years, coming third place on each of her attempts.
    “I don’t know, I felt very confident this year. That’s the one I wanted. So it’s all done. I have the feeling it is done now,” she told inSide Drumheller.
    When Brouillard featured in our February, 26 edition of inSide Drumheller, she had just come back from Las Vegas, where she had won the first North America Body Painting Championship and brought home her 13th award at top championships.
    She set off for Austria determined this was going to be her year, working with the same model as she painted in Las Vegas, Viktoria Law.
    “When we won in Vegas, we collaborated very well together, we get along and I like her because she has, in my eyes, the perfect body for painting. The feeling of winning as well creates a great bond. She has been doing this for seven years and has never won the first place, so for her, too, it was really nice,” said Brouillard.
    Good choice, some might say, as models were affected by the heat in Austria, in the high 30s everyday. “I was lucky because my model was half Asian so she didn’t sweat as much as the other models. Working in this heat becomes quite a challenge,” she explained, adding many models fainted during the contest.
    While body painters could work in teams of two, and for each theme were allocated six hours to paint their model, Brouillard decided to do it alone, and that got her a new nickname: “The Painting Machine”. 
    The themes for the painting this year were “Sub Cultures“ and “Sources of Power” and Brouillard won by nine points in the brush/sponge body painting category.
    “The competition was close,” she said, “There was a lot of good quality work there.”
    At the World Championship this year, Brouillard slid down one place in the face painting category, coming second.
    “Actually, I was happy to get second, it gives room for another person. A Mexican artist won first place. She really did a beautiful piece.”
    With the world title for body painting under her arm, Brouillard is now concentrating on her longer term plans: to teach body painting at an international level.
    “It’s looking good. So far, I am booked as an instructor in Brazil in January, and I am going to Australia to teach and to judge a competition in February. And that all came in the last week, before I got this title... My aim is to be a good instructor, enough that people really want me and I’ll say, ‘Okay, I’ll go, but you don’t need to pay me, just pay the fare for me and my family [her partner and her two children]. That’s my big plan, so I can bring my family with me to visit the world.”
    Brouillard said she will not be entering the competition next year. “You need to give the chance to other people. I have had everything I wanted, now I just want to teach. I am happy, I got my wish.”

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DORVA prepares to host Motocross racing August 7-8

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    The landscape overlooking the Drumheller valley has seen a dramatic change especially for motocross riders.
    The signature finish line on the motocross track at the top of the South Hill, which stood for more than 20 years where bikers flew across to claim the checkered flag, has been removed. While it was a recognizable landmark to many, the change excites members of Drumheller Off Road Vehicle Association (DORVA).
    The jump’s absence is a sign of progress as DORVA prepares to host races this summer on August 7 and 8.
    It has been about five years since the track hosted a race. The club expects 400-500 entries for the event. On top of that, there will be 300-400 spectators.
     “We’re hosting Round 1 of the fall series,” said race director Casey Christensen. “It is one of the seven rounds, and all seven are points races for the Southern Alberta Championship.
    The Alberta Dirt Riders Association sanctions the race.
    He said while there is a big crowd of racers and spectators coming to the event, expect to see some local riders from the club competing at the event.
    To prepare for the, event Christensen said they have done extensive repairs and renovations to the track to make it race ready and safer.
    “We’ve done a redesign and rebuild of the track to incorporate a bunch of safety standards and new jumps,” he said, adding the direction of travel has been reversed.
    The race is a signal of a dramatic turn around for the club, which clawed its way from impending doom to vibrancy.
    “Things are really opening up with the club, it’s been great,” said Christensen. We are looking at having in the area of 90 members. We are starting to get recognized around Alberta.”
    Along with the renovations to the main track, they opened a peewee and intermediate track, and installed a playground.
    “They (the tracks) have all been redesigned, rebuilt and refaced,” said Christensen. “They incorporate all kinds of different challenges for all different riders.”
    He explains the safety is built into the track and designers and builders pay attention to blind jumps near corners, and pinch points coming out of the curves.
    “On the volunteer side we have a strong core of volunteers, things are happening,” he said, adding they have received strong support from businesses in the community through sponsorship. 
    Christensen explained the moto-crossing image of breaking bones at breakneck speeds has changed a lot in the last few years.  The sport is now more family oriented. The race format has also changed. Rather than pulling bikes off a truck and hitting the track, families roll in on Friday to set up camp. Saturday is designated as a practice day to learn the track and gain experience, and Sunday is race day.
    Christensen said volunteers are always welcome, and those wanting to get involved in the race or in joining up with DORVA contact Christensen at 403-820-1574.

Jenn Beaupre to share new and old songs

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    Local followers of the career of Jenn Beaupre will have another chance in the near future to see and hear her on the stage doing what she does best.
    Last time inSide Drumheller caught up with Beaupre, she completed a stint with the Moscow Ballet and was getting ready to perform at the Vancouver Olympics. Today she is set to take centre stage at the University of Calgary Theatre.
    “My tickets just went up on Ticketmaster on Saturday for a show October 7,” Beaupre said. “ It is a 500-seat theatre, so it’s ambitious.”
    In 2008, Beaupre released her most recent CD, Lullabies for Grown-ups, and has been working to support it. This year she breathed new life into some of the tracks after heading to Kentucky to re-record. 97.7 FM Radio in Calgary funded the trip.
    “Some of the songs are the same, and there are a few new ones,” said Beaupre.
    “It’s a little more mellow. The tempos are down but it is crisper and cleaner.”
    Another exciting development, she tells inSide Drumheller, is she shot her first video.
    “I have two dancers who are just beautiful. They have both been involved is So You Think You Can Dance Canada and they did a lyrical dance to one of my tunes called 'What If'," said Beaupre, adding while it is an older song in her repertoire, it was one she re-worked with Duane Lundy of Shangri-la Productions in Lexington, Kentucky.
    “It’s a really simple piano vocal,” she said.
    She hopes to include the video as part of her performance in October. She envisions live dancers on stage as she performs while the video plays as a backdrop.
    She also hopes to invite some of the artists she has worked with during her career, so the show has a cosy atmosphere of friendship.
    Her recent experiences of recording and the shooting of her video have moved Beaupre artistically to a point that she has begun to start writing again. This excites her and she is about to embark on an ambitious direction with her music.
    She said this might be the last “album” for her for quite some time. Because the music industry has been moving towards singles, she is following suit.
    “Hopefully I’m going to be releasing a new song every two months, be it through iTunes or the internet,” she said. “It seems to me the industry is moving towards singles and really quick turnaround. People can look forward to hearing new stuff very soon.”
    Those wanting to learn more about what Beaupre is up to can go to www.jennbeaupre.com or visit her Facebook page.

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