The story so far...

I figure that this is perhaps a good time to tell (and show) you all a little bit more about how Scarlett got this far...

In her past life, Scarlett was a support worker, helping people who were seeking treatment and help for drug and alcohol addiction. Before this she was a worker in a young people's drop-in centre, offering help and advice about absolutely anything. She has done a variety of other things too, but most of them not all that interesting! The drop-in centre in where a lot of this really started - hanging out with young people and jugglers tends to have that effect. We started teaching circus skills as a way of boosting our young people's confidence, as well as how to relax and have a laugh... But Scarlett caught the juggling bug too.

But this line of work gets stressful and more and more difficult as time goes on. Other people's misery can only be tolerated for so long before it starts to rub off on you - but I will leave the arguments for why workplaces are so crap at helping their staff deal with the stresses of the job for another day...And it does seem that actually a lot of these places end up with staff who are needier and more difficult than the client group. Some people go into the 'helping' services to fulfil a need of their own, rather than to actually help.

And so, eventually, Scarlett realised that sitting in an office all day was not really her thing, and that a sensible grown-up job was probably never going to make her happy. Let's be honest - she isn't really a sitting quietly and doing as she is told kinda gal. And frankly her talents are wasted in an office all day! On top of this, most of her ex-workmates would not approve of Scarlett if they knew the truth - they find her enough of an enigma as it is.

Unfortunately for them, they will probably never know the real Scarlett...

But what made Scarlett change her career? Well, funding for voluntary sector work, especially with drug and alcohol users, is short term, and difficult to find the money to do them properly. And that is another stress - year to year contracts and constantly wondering if you will have a job by the end of the financial year. And never being told before March if you do... Its hardly secure and its really no fun.

So this combined with a close friend asking Scarlett if she would consider a trip to Austria to model for the World Bodypainting Championships led Scarlett to some very interesting thoughts. Scarlett used to have a real issue with her self-confidence... (don't make the mistake of thinking that this is all fixed and Scarlett adores herself - she has the same hang-ups as just about every other woman on the planet!) and the thought of dancing in front of a several thousand strong crowd in nothing but a coat of Dulux scared her absolutely rigid...

Sometimes I wonder why Scarlett said yes without fully thinking through the implications of such a plan... but maybe it was a combination of timing, and being in need of a change, and maybe a few other things that I will perhaps share with you one day...

But Scarlett did say yes. And then her friends rallied round to help her prepare. And thats where the photograhpy comes in. Scarlett used to be the one hiding from the camera, refusing to let anyone take photos of her, and on the rare occasions that they managed, she hated the result. But Austria is going to be full of photographers... And she would make a pretty crap bodypaint model if nobody was allowed to take a photo of her!

But having spoken to a friend of hers - who has been a keen photographer for years, she decided to give it a go.