Makeup
Blanche Macdonald Makeup Artistry Graduate Jenna Kuchera: Makeup Artist on Top of the World
There are plenty of great makeup artists, but not many can claim the title of World Champion. That’s one of the highlights of Blanche Macdonald Makeup School graduate Jenna Kuchera’s resume after she claimed first place in the Beauty/Fantasy category at the 2009 International Makeup Artists Trade Show (IMATS) in Pasadena, California. Widely considered the Olympics of Makeup, her victory at the big event wasn’t exactly unexpected. Jenna had already placed first at the Canadian Makeup Show in Vancouver earlier in the year in no less than three categories – Glamour, Fantasy Runway and Body Painting/Airbrushing.
“I’d been out of school for six months when I received an email from Karen Esprez and Jennifer Powell at Blanche Macdonald about the Canadian Makeup tradeshow,” she recalls. “They said a trade show was coming to town and they were looking for students to represent the school in the various competitions. They sent me the details of the four categories and I said I wanted to do all of them. Eventually I did three. Four was stretching myself a little too thin. I did the Fantasy and Body Painting competitions in Vancouver in one day, which was six and a half hours straight of makeup. I felt like I’d run a marathon.
“At the IMATS I was competing against makeup schools from all over the world. About 400 people sent in sample work to apply. And out of those the judges selected eight artists to compete. There were all these huge makeup stars walking around like Dick Smith and Ve Neill. All these people were watching me. Winning those competitions enabled me to get my career moving.”
Jenna’s career has been moving in the right direction from an early age.
“Makeup has always fascinated me,” she admits. “I’ve always been interested in the possibilities of transformation using makeup. I’ve been reading Vogue for as long as I can remember. When I was in Grade 2 and 3 the Spice Girls were the big thing. I remember buying blue lipstick and white lipstick and doing makeovers on my friends so we could look like them.”
Growing up in Penticton, BC, Jenna’s opportunities to use her self-taught makeup skills weren’t plentiful. Even so, the high school student managed to take significant steps towards carving out a career for herself.
“In high school I met someone who became a good friend, Owen Bruce, who was really into fashion photography. We started doing shoots in his garage, which he eventually turned into a studio. We started working with Allan International Modelling Agency, doing creatives for new models, with me doing makeup. At the time, getting paid to do something I loved sometimes won out over going to Math class. When I was 16 I did a shoot for Orchard Park Mall that appeared on billboards and the sides of busses in Penticton and Kelowna. After that, it really clicked for me that I could turn this into a career.”
The young Jenna was making inroads into the professional makeup business. But she was smart enough to appreciate that to take the step to the next level, she’d need some formal training. She chose the yearlong makeup course at Blanche Macdonald.
“I had studied all of Kevyn Aucoin and Bobbi Brown’s makeup books and was always experimenting and learning with a lot of trial and error,” she recalls. “I was good at doing research and seeking out people who could give me advice, but I still felt I was doing things blindly. Going to Blanche Macdonald seemed like a totally natural progression. I moved to Vancouver and started at Blanche in September 2007. I went with a friend from high school and had one of the best years of my life.
“I knew I had an interest in fashion and editorial and advertising, but I also wanted to learn about effects makeup, which I had very little experience with. I needed to know about different products and how to use them. I learned how to be resourceful, how to create a makeup look or effect using many different techniques. As long as the end result is the same, the steps you take to get there can completely be your own. I remember a teacher saying, ‘This is how I like to do it, but this is just one way of doing it.’ I thought that was so interesting.”
Graduating Blanche Macdonald led to a busy work schedule for Jenna. When she’s not entering (and winning) makeup competitions she can be found working on print campaigns, movies and music videos.
“Makeup artists who’ve been in the business for years will ask me where I graduated from,” she explains. “When I say Blanche Macdonald they usually tell me that they used to work there, are friends with one of the teachers, or studied there themselves. The instructors at Blanche are professionals in the industry. A lot of the jobs I’ve had have come from my teachers.
“I've had the great opportunity to do work for Blanche Macdonald instructor Jonathan Hennessey and his agency, Nobasura. This month I’ve been working on a video for a great electro-disco band called Fan Death. There are so many fun makeups in the video. All these look-alikes of famous musicians from the past appear. There were two Princes – Purple Rain Prince and The Artist Formerly Known As Prince – Axl Rose and Marilyn Manson, Siouxsie Sioux. The list went on and on!
“One of my favourite jobs this past summer was working on a movie called Alice. There were tons of extras and all the girls were in glamorous 1960s makeup. The key, Lisa Love, had won an Emmy for Tin Man, so the chance to work for her was amazing. I learned so much from watching what she was doing on set.”
Jenna has proved that a passion for makeup, combined with some formal training and a hefty supply of natural talent, can take a young lady from a small town to the top of the world. And like all great makeup artists, she’s happy to share the benefit of her experience with the next generation.
“Don’t be afraid to make big mistakes,” she suggests to future students at Blanche Macdonald. “Don’t be too worried about the outcome. That way you’ll learn how to correct yourself. You don’t have to be 100% right the first time you do something. And put as much effort into your time at school as possible. When the instructors see that you’re really motivated and driven they’ll keep you in mind for jobs.”
Only one important question remains. When the young Jenna was making up her friends as Spice Girls, which Girl did she reserve for herself?
“I liked Ginger,” she laughs. “I dyed my hair with red Kool-Aid to look like her.”
