INTERVIEW

When it comes to expressing herself through her art, Angela Whiteley is never without ideas or a place to create them on. Known as "Angie's Breathing Canvas", our Nova Scotia friend is a body artist whose wild and imaginative creations have become the talk of the town and have sometimes gotten her in hot water.

As a loyal Scribbles reader, we're certain you have seen Angie's work featured on our website over the years. Her wicked Skeleton Pirate was the acclaimed winner of last year's Best Halloween Costume contest and we've never missed an opportunity to include her latest creations.

But what do we know about the mastermind behind these living art pieces? Scribbles had the pleasure of interviewing Angie to find out just that.


SCRIBBLES EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH ANGELA (ANGIE) WHITELEY

SCRIBBLES: What inspired you to choose the human form as your canvas?

ANGIE: "Having a mom who's an artist, I've always been around the art world. I have tried my hand at drawing, canvas painting, rock painting, watercolors and all things "crafty" but never really LIKED any of it.

I was Google surfing one day and came across these incredible images of women who had these amazing works of art painted on them and just knew I had to try it. It was so different than anything I'd ever seen before ~ and it was Edgy .... which was right up my alley."

SCRIBBLES: How long have you been painting on people?

ANGIE: "I started out about 7 years ago doing Airbrushed Temporary Tattoos, then graduated about 5 years ago to airbrushed designs on the kids faces. I've only been BODY PAINTING for the past 3 years."

SCRIBBLES: Is there a creation you can say you are most proud of?

ANGIE: "There are so many pieces that I've been really happy with. If I HAD to narrow it down, I would have to say the Six Eyed Monster, the Mountie and the Octopus are three of my all time favorites. (sorry, I couldn't pick just one ... it's like asking me which one of my kids am I most proud of) "

SCRIBBLES: I recall that one time you ran into issues with facebook when you posted some pix of your work that featured nudes. What was the problem there and what was the outcome?

ANGIE: " Someone was reporting my body painting pictures. It was very frustrating as I never set out to offend anyone..The pics were never raunchy but yes, some did have a painted nipple or two. It was completely covered in a painted design but I guess some people just couldn't handle it.

I had to remove all images that had a questionable nipple, smooth the offensive nipple over with Photoshop and repost it. Haven't been banned since though!"

SCRIBBLES: Aside from the facebook fiasco, have you ever encountered any other objections or issues with any of your designs?

ANGIE: "Once I had a lady ball me out because she felt I was horrible for creating some of the stuff in my Special FX (18+) album. She felt completely offended and accused me of supporting violence against women. (which is SO outrageously false)"

SCRIBBLES: You've told us it can minutes to hours to create a finished product. What design took the most amount of time to create?

ANGIE: "To date, the Mountie probably took me the longest. It was one of my first full body pieces and so I was still fairly slow. It wouldn't take me as long now."

SCRIBBLES: Some of our Scribbles pals may not be aware that you also operate “Beautiful You Day Spa". How long has it been around and how did you get into that field?

ANGIE: "I was living in Victoria, BC back in 1999 when I ran into a friend who was telling me about this Esthetics course she was taking. As she spoke, a light bulb turned on over my head and I just KNEW that this is what I needed to do.

In 2006, I bought a house in a small community here in Nova Scotia. We gutted and renovated it to be Beautiful You Day Spa. It was a great gamble and I'm still loving going to work every day."

SCRIBBLES: “Beautiful You” or “Angie’s Breathing Canvas”...which is your favourite?

ANGIE: "Ohhh .... you're being bad !!! How can I chose, they are both so very different !!! I LOVE what I do either way. With the Spa, I get to help people feel better and relax. With my painting, I get to break out and be totally free to create.

Either way, people are always HAPPY around me ... isn't that great !?!? Honestly, I think I have the best of both worlds !"

SCRIBBLES: What does the future hold for Angie’s Breathing Canvas?

ANGIE: "I hope to still be creating for many years to come. I would LOVE to do some TV, film or stage work but unfortunately, where I live is less than ideal for breaking into that market.

I DO plan to get my website together soon though so my work can reach more people and I'll have more freedom to post what I want."

SCRIBBLES: We'd like to thank you for allowing us to interview you. You are such a creative person and we truly admire your work and free spirit.

ANGIE: "Thank you for taking an interest !!! I always love opening up the Scribbles [web] page and seeing that you've slipped one of my images in there. I hope your [readers] like it as well."

Angie's Breathing Canvas VIDEOS

You've read how and why she does it, now see the results of her work, with this special selection of videos from Angie's Breathing Canvas.  

Although we want you to watch each clip, we do caution that the first video is not recommended for younger or squeamish viewers, as it contains some very graphic images (watch for the 14+ notice flashing in the top left hand side of screen prior to the creative yet shocking parts.)

Angie's Breathing Canvas Collection  [14+]

Putting it Together by Angie's Breathing Canvas

Creating the Demon by Angie's Breathing Canvas

 Visit Angie's Breathing Canvas Facebook page - CLICK HERE