The local domestic animal rescue centre organised a day of fun for the whole family. Donkey rides, demonstrations (dogs and birds), flea market, bouncy castle etc. I volunteered to paint faces.
The morning was foggy but warm. The weather varied: clouds, fog and sun. Quite a perfect winter day: the paints didn't melt in the sun and I was happy to sit on my picnic blanket and paint in a short sleeved summer shirt.
I don't pay much attention to what's going on around me when I paint, but it seemed things went well. At moments, I awoke from my concentration to hear a man's voice on a loudspeaker telling anecdotes of agility dogs, singers or birds of prey. I had time to chat with mums and friends, and to stretch my legs in the warm sun.
I didn't have kids queueing to be painted but had customers most of the time. I like having time to paint properly, so was pleased I wasn't being rushed. It would be stressful to paint for money, so when people ask for a business card I tell them I only work for charities. I don't think painting at kids parties would even pay for petrol, let alone the paints I'd use.
During one of the quieter moments, two township boys came to have a look. I suppose they were about 5 and 7 years old. Their parents work at the rescue centre, so they wouldn't have had any money to spend. I offered to paint the younger one's face, and painted a bat. Both boys were thrilled.
I looked around, and couldn't see many people. The singing competition was taking a break and some stalls had been packed away. The remaining stalls were mostly empty of both sellers and customers, and I could see little groups of people passing the day further away. As there were no customers just now, I said I would paint the older boy, too. He asked for a plain red face with a black stripe over the eyes; a version of a Native American war paint. I assumed he liked the striking effect of a red face, but didn't want to paint such a boring face. Painting a bad face for free has two negative sides: no money for charity and bad advertisement for the painter. I showed the other gory and scary options from my books, and after ten minutes he was a skeleton.
Did I make two boys happy? Well, for a few moments, maybe, but I didn't create happiness. I created disappointment, frustration and jealousy. I had created a bad feeling for myself and ten kids from the township. The boys ran to me, but I explained I couldn't paint any more faces for free. If I was busy painting free faces I would have no paying customers, and the charity would get no more money. It took a while, but the boys seemed to understand, and they left. I felt bad, but at least I had been able to repair most of the damage I'd created with my good intentions.
Two of them returned with one of the charity workers. I was to paint their faces. I ran after the lady to check what she wanted. She said I was to paint their faces, but only theirs. The charity worker's intentions were kind, but the situation had gone from bad to repaired to unrepairable. All the boys had returned before I was back on my blanket but their numbers tripled. I needed Heikki and Matias to help, as I couldn't control the situation. There were kids going through the paints, glitter, books, brushes, and the few scraps of litter we had around my picnic blanket. I painted a dracula and another skeleton, and Matias gathered my material. Within minutes I had been pushed out of the blanket by kids wanting faces painted for free. It was still two hours to go until the end of the event, but I had to leave. I would make no more money for the charity. By staying I would exhaust myself and my family. India and her friend would need a babysitter as Heikki would need help me instead of being with the girls, and worst of all, I'd achieve twenty painted faces and a hundred upset children.
I don't mind painting township children. I have done it before, and enjoyed it even though I like painting colourful butterflies, cats and princesses more than scary monsters. They mostly sit still, their faces are beautiful and easy to paint, and they are always amazed of the results. Unfortunately, I would not be able to paint the kids in an open field, as today. I would gather the children in a room and paint for a couple of hours. The children would need to be entertained until I had painted all of them, and I would be the first to leave. By the time they ran to show their faces to other children I would be long gone, and wouldn't need to disappoint anyone by refusing to paint theirs. Even if I was able to paint hundreds of children in one go, the first ones would be in the queue again after an hour, either to patch up the paint, or to have a new painting.
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