Featured Artist from the Past

The Mehron Blog features runs regular feature postings on Makeup Artists who are making a name in the various fields of Makeup Artistry. On January 21, 2009, the Featured Makeup Artist was Mario Ceja, aka Mario Ink. Mario continues to refine his Makeup Skills and work in a variety of Makeup disciplines. The January 21, 2009 Mehron Blog was a short biography and recap of the work of this Chicago based Makeup Artist. Some pictures of his his recent work include:

Mario Ceja applying Makeup to Model Beata Piotrowska.

A Makeup Skeleton by Mario Ceja on Model Lauren Maria McKiddy

From the Mehron Blog, January 21, 2009:
The Art of Mario Ink

Chicago has become the focus of America's attention because of the election of Senator Obama to the office of the Presidency. The Windy City is in a whirlwind with the influx of the World's Media watching every move that the Presidential transition team is making in putting together the team that will lead the United States into the future. The streets of the Windy City are also in the midst of a cultural revolution in the Art of Makeup. One of the leaders in this cultural revival is Mario Ceja, a founding partner in Mario INK.

Mario began his career as an airbrush artist at Art Festivals painting clothing and caricatures. Born and raised in Chicago, Mario took a summer job at 6 Flags Great America in the Air Brush Booth. While sweating out commercial merchandise for Great America to hawk to their visitors, Mario knew he had an innate ability to use the air brush. As he sharpened his skills with the air brush his creativity began to burst through his soul and he sought other ways to express his artistic abilities maturing within him.

With ten years of air brushing experience Mario was discovering the fascinating world of Makeup and realized that painting bodies with Makeup would enable him more creative freedom than airbrushing clothing. Mario answered an Internet posting by Benjamin Moline, co-founder of Windy City Media, who was seeking airbrush artists to body paint models for a calendar. Producer Dan Baron, co-founder of Windy City Media, invited Mario and eleven other Artists to a Promotional Party where they would Body Paint Models Live, one for each month of the year. "Mario was the HIT of the party," Dan relates, “and from that day forward Mario and I became partners and created Mario INK. Together we created the demand for promotional body painting throughout Chicago." After the success of the calendar event Benjamin and Dan asked Mario if he was interested in being the art director for Windy City Media.

Windy City Media produces Glam Live, a fashion for awareness event promoting Breast Cancer awareness through an engaging evening of high fashion, extreme beauty and avant garde hairstyles. Glam Live is a collaboration of hairstylists, makeup artists, designers, photographers and body painters working together to present an evening of entertainment while highlighting the important cause of Breast Cancer Awareness for the Y-Me National Breast Cancer Awareness Organization.

The talents of Mario Ceja and the production acumen of the founders of Windy City Media were becoming well known throughout the Chicago area. Mario relates, "The concept that we had in mind was to create a team of trained air brush artists that would perform a variety of work with a style that would define Mario INK. With Dan as the Marketing Director we started to train a team that included, Scott, Leah, Joe and Leek just to name a few."

One of the biggest events in the World of Makeup is the Halloween and Party Expo which is attended by Award Winning Makeup Artists, Special Effects Artists and the Leaders in Makeup Production from around the world. "A couple of years ago I met Martin Melik, president of Mehron at a Halloween Show where they were exhibiting and featuring some Body Painters working with Mehron Paradise Makeup AQ. I was blown away by the colors of Paradise Makeup and by watching their featured artists applying it with brushes. After watching and talking to the Mehron Body Painters, I was determined to use brushes and Paradise Makeup to create new looks that I had in mind.", Mario explained, "I knew that I could combine the two, brushes and air brushes to create a totally different texture and look with Paradise Makeup, and after using it I was in love with Paradise Makeup."

Never staying in one place Mario and Dan have taken Mario INK even further by becoming the founders of Air Brush Academy, where classes are given in the art of Extreme Beauty Makeup and Air Brushing. Mario relates his vision, "With the advent of HD film Air Brush Makeup will become the standard for Makeup Artists in the Performance Industry. I want to be in the forefront of this next wave in Makeup, I hope to work much more with Mehron and their newest Makeup, Lux Air, which we are fortunate enough to have access to at the Air Brush Academy even though Mehron will not be introducing it till 2009".

Stephanie Ferreira, Marketing Director of Mehron thinks Mario INK exemplifies the artists that love Mehron, "We see Mario INK as the kind of innovative, cutting edge Makeup Artist that will use the high quality Makeup that we produce to create works of art. We are so proud to feature Mario INK on our Web Site as a Featured Artist and look forward to working with him on future projects and providing Air Brush Academy with the tools they need to teach the next generation of Makeup Artists."