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Ambulance becomes spooky studio for mobile makeup artist

Grand Falls-Windsor makeup artist Wendy Morgan is using an unusual base for Halloween makeovers this year: an old ambulance.
An old ambulance is covered in Halloween decorations, like caution tape and cardboard Beware signs, on a lawn of a house.
Makeup artist Wendy Morgan took an old ambulance and turned it into a spooky studio for Halloween. (CBC/Troy Turner)

Wendy Morgan loves Halloween.

More specifically, she loves doing people's makeup for Halloween. 

The Grand Falls-Windsor artist says this time of the year is one of the busiest for her. 

Morgan owns Get Faced Entertainment, hosting birthday parties and other events throughout the year.

When she was thinking about where to set up her private appointments this spooky season, the perfect idea came to her: a mobile makeup studio in an old ambulance. 

"Halloween is all about bringing scary things out into the light. I think there's something a little ominous about an ambulance to everyone," said Morgan. 

Morgan and her partner originally bought the decommissioned ambulance to build as an off-grid home. 

That plan never came to fruition, and the vehicle had been parked in her yard. 

A woman smiles as she paints another woman's face.
Morgan says Halloween is one of the busiest times of the year for her face painting. (CBC/Troy Turner)

Now, surrounded by caution tape and a fake graveyard, Morgan says she has the Halloween makeup studio of her dreams.

The ambulance does not have a siren or working lights, but Morgan has created a post-apocalyptic theme with homemade decorations inside and out. 

As for what she'll be painting on people's faces, Morgan says she loves to hear what her clients come up with.

"I've gotten a lot of requests for scarecrows. I get a lot of requests for popular characters each year. For instance, one year I painted the Joker. And Pennywise is very big," Morgan told CBC News. 

WATCH | The CBC's Melissa Tobin gets in on the spooky face-painting fun: 

This face painter works out of an ambulance — and it is decked out for Halloween

1 year ago
Duration 2:50
Wendy Morgan in Grand-Falls Windsor gives the CBC’s Melissa Tobin an up-close-and-personal tour of her post-apocalyptic workspace — AND a spooky makeover, too.

Morgan has been a makeup artist for years, starting when a local clown, Cookie, needed help with his makeup one year. 

She says painting a face isn't that different from a canvas, other than the possibility of someone moving around while she works.

But she does have advice for those who want to do their own makeup at home.

A woman gets a skull painted on her face.
Morgan says she's gotten a lot of request for scarecrows, the Joker, and Pennywise from her clients. (CBC/Troy Turner)

"My paint is water-based. It works very nicely, but you will not find it out in the store. So don't leave it last minute to try and find your face paints. It's not readily available most times of year," said Morgan. 

"The cream face paint that we're used to coming in our little makeup kits with the little sponge, those ones don't dry. You'll feel it on your face all day and and it just won't get the painted effect that you want. So if you want any lines or details, that's not the paint for you."

Morgan also cautions against using alternatives like acrylic paint to get the desired look. 

"That's very bad. You practically have to peel it off," she warned.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Melissa Tobin is a reporter based in Gander, working for Weekend AM and CBC Newfoundland Morning. Reach her at melissa.tobin@cbc.ca

With files from Weekend AM

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