Susie Gray Uphues, Dallas Makeup Artist

2011-05-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I had the privlidge of working with one of my favorite County & Western singers when I was growning up in the counrty...Janie Frickie...I worked on one of her CDs a couple of years ago...but yesterday, she invited me out to her home to do some promo shoots with one of my all time favorite photographers Kevin Brown www.kevinbrownphoto.com. He & I go way back to our hometown of Hugo Okla!! His assistant is the son of a hot girl I went to school with as well...Zac Switzer...small world I live and work in....anyway....so much fun to work the Janie...I'll post the real photos soon!!!
One of my all time favorite songs she did was...."It ain't easy being Easy"....

Contact me @ graysusie@yahoo.com or check out my facebook page: www.facebook.com/pages/graysusieyahoocom/Susie-Gray-Uphues-Makeup-Artist/267488895483

2011-05-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

Dancing with my Dad...
Please feel free to contact me by email for pricing or a consultation.
You can also reach me by phone: 214-455-6512

Welcome to Susie Gray's Home Page

2011-05-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm Susie. I am a professional Make-up Artist and Hair Stylist serving Dallas, TX and surrounding areas. I have traveled all over the world doing makeup. After eight years as an in- house artist for Neiman Marcus, I left to become a "freelance artist". That was thirteen years ago.I was lucky back then to be be personally trained by Bobbi Brown before leaving for London on tour for her . Bobbi taught me how to do "beautiful makeup" and recognized my talent as an artist. Hand chosen by Bobbi to be on the elite "beauty team", I was one of only 12 artists who traveled the globe as a "feature artist" and attended boot camp (an intense training session ) in New York.

My ultimate goal was reached however when I signed with "The Campbell Agency" and began fashion and commercial shoots with local photographers as well as photographers from New York, Miami, LA, Nashville, etc. One of the highlights was getting my first Magazine cover for D and opening a National mag, Food and Wine, and seeing an ad I had worked on in Mexico! My greatest experience however was traveling to India to do makeup for a wedding in the beautiful town of Kashmir, only open to tourists for a couple of years due to the turmoil there. I felt like Aladdin on a magic carpet ride.

I think the most nervous I have ever been doing makeup was for my on wedding! I married the man of my dreams in Beaver Creek Co. and became Susie Gray Uphues in '05. After years of doing bridal makeup I was finally the Bride!! Being creative is sometimes not always a blessing as I wore many designer hats for my wedding.I designed my own dress..did all the flowers and of course my makeup!! It was the happiest day of my life!..

I think the most "fun" I've had as an artist was participating in the Body Art Ball (see pictures below) and having my work of "art" come to life. My "Patriot " took 10 hours to paint and was the most detailed...my "Pimp" the next year and won The People's Choice award and an award for best design. A local producer made a film about the artists of the Body Art Ball and it played at the Magnolia during the Texas Film Festival that year. After the film the producers saw that I was there and introduced me to the crowd who stood and clapped...that was pretty cool. I love what I do!

2011-02-03T08:53:00.000-08:00

Polo Fashion

2009-04-08T20:34:00.001-07:00

What a fun shoot this was!!! Being a rancher's daughter I was thrilled when I was contacted to do a shoot in some Stables out in Rockwall!!! Rebecca Hargraves was the stylist and genius behind the theme...I loved it!!!

And I know...sometimes I have to be the "groomer" on models like the cutie below...my Dad never had ranch hands that looked like that!!! " I need some help over here!!

"

CD Covers :

2009-01-29T14:15:00.000-08:00

Some of the best times ever as a makeup artist is when I get a random call to do a shoot that is completely out of the ordinary... one such time was to shoot a CD cover...my first was Rebecca Henricks. www.rebeccahenricks.com ..shot by Kevin Jairaj www.kjimages.com We shot this on some railroad tracks out off I35...I loved Kevin's artistic eye...

Later I got a call to do another CD cover for a new up and coming Rock Band...my agent was a little afraid that I be offended that it was out in the boonies and with some pretty scrouly guys...I laughed and said...I'm in...see, I grew up in the country so any time I can get back there and still be creative is awesome!! We shot the next CD cover in Sulphur Springs and the guys could not have been nicer...I know I say I love my job all the time..but believe it or not...trying to dodge the cow paddies in the fields made me feel right at home..

The next picture ended up being the cover for the CD Fair to Midland...I wish I could take credit for coming up with the idea to put the guys in the pond...but it was genius...and the photographer (from LA ) wanted to catch the sundown...it was an incredible shot...

And then along comes Winslow...what a breath of fresh air!!! Not only is she beautiful and talented...she is also smart and so sweet...what an honor it was to work on her first cover and publicity shots...she and her Mom had some great ideas as to what they wanted and it was so fun to bring those ideas to life!! Bode Helm was the photographer and he found some old cars that were perfect to shoot by...everything just kind of fell into place that day....

WinslowBright/myspace.com

Photographer: Bode Helm www.bodehelm.com

bodehelm

Lifestyle/Photographer: Troy House, New York

2009-01-28T17:50:00.000-08:00

OK, this shoot was definitely one of my all time favorites...being a country girl myself...we shot at a very upscale property called Escondido... a new development in Horseshoe Bay (outside of Austin)...all I can say is "WOW"....Troy has an incredible eye and more than anything...a great sense of humor..We shot for four days and I know we got some incredible stuff, but one of the hardest things as a makeup artist is actually getting copies of what I do...especially when you work with an out of town photographer who is super busy...it's months before anything is available, and then when it is...they have already moved on and busy on another project....oh well...

AD for Pearl Struck/ model: Brittney/ photographer: Scott Womack: www.scottwomack.com

2009-01-07T16:12:00.000-08:00

This was an awesome project with Brittney who had www.scottwomack.comthe longest legs I've ever seen! Me, being only 5'1" could barely reach her for touch ups after she put on heels...she is 6' without them!! Brittney lives in Austin, works as a bartender and models on the side....can you imagine the tips she gets??? The Ad was for a Pearl Jewelry designer out of LA...If you look at the picture above and then at the top of my website you will see her as though she is walking down a street..that was the art of Scott the photographer....gotta love that!!!

My next girl with Scott Womack is Megan..she is only 14 in these shots and looks it in the first couple...she looks like the girl next store..but a change of clothes and vamping out her makeup she's a completely different girl...

I just can't help it....I love these shots!!!! The skirt she was wearing was supposed to be tied in the back but for an added effect I tied it in the front to show off the six pack she has...WOW!!!! Very hot!!!

Tell me these are not HOT!!! They are hot!!!

Magazine print work

2008-11-22T18:37:00.000-08:00

This was a beautiful cover!! The inside layout was the 10 most beautiful women in Dallas...there was another artist so we each had five women to do...I loved hearing their stories!! When I was first asked to do the shoot...I was thinking...Wow! Wonder who made that list??? But after meeting each one and finding out they were nominated for their "inner" beauty, I was even more thrilled to be on the shoot...They were each as beautiful on the inside as they were on the out!!

Jamie O"Banion Yanci McGregor

Maureen Locus Marisa Huckin

Asusena Resendiz

Fashion/ Model: Natalie/Photographer: Kent Barker / www.kentbarker.com

2008-11-21T17:42:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when you do a shoot...you just know...you just know it's going to be beautiful...this was my first time to work with Kent and the absolutely sweetest ever and talented Peggy Wolf...his studio manager and love of his life. One thing I love about my job is being able to stand back behind the photographer and see what he is seeing...Natalie is amazingly beautiful!! I knew we were capturing some amazing shots but when Kent sent them to me....I was actually shocked!! I was sooo excited!! When I showed them to the Agency...the response was...Oh my God...I just broke out in chills...now that's a compliment!! So I decided to use Natalie as the face for my comp card...and I love them!!

Emily, a Ambercrombie model, chose Kent to do her wedding portrait. But being a model she wanted something different and on the edge. Emily is very down to earth so we started very soft and natural. Her dress was an antique that she found at a vintage store and had tailored to fit perfectly.

I'm not sure if she actually wore her cowboy boots on her wedding day, but they sure were cute for this picture on the stairwell at Southside on Lamar.

Before heading off to Deep Elum for a more editorial shot, I smoked out her eyes and went wild on the hair. Her furry friend was the ring bearer in the wedding and he is known by none other than "Johnny Cash".

Love this close up of Emily. It really shows off her amazing eyes and porcelain skin.

A great effect for the edgy look were the biker boots. Notice the hemline of her dress.... short in the front then trailing in the back.

Only a real model could pull off looking great in their wedding dress and biker in boots in Deep Elum. Do you see Johnny Cash? What a great, fun day with Emily, Kent, Peggy (Kent's awesome assistant), and of course, Johnny Cash.

The Body Art Ball

2008-11-21T14:47:00.000-08:00

OK....this might be one of the greatest experiences of my career as an artist !!!! When I was first asked to be an artist in the Body At Ball...I was a little compressive..but I am always up for a challenge so I said yes..I am so glad I did..I think I really realized my true talent as an artist...(I mean I could always draw and paint and stuff like that...but this was beyond...)...so my first ball was to paint Kyle.."The Patriot"....it took me 10 hours to paint him....and I called a friend (Cathy Hardick) to help with the solid stuff...I had no idea what I was getting myself into..it took ten hours to paint!! When Kyle took the stage...it was one of my proudest moments!!! We got a standing ovation and I was so teary eyed!!! One of my shining moments....

But it gets even better..when I was asked to create "The Pimp" I was truly challenged..but it proved to be a shining moment because my dancer Damien brought my idea to life...we won an award for Best Design and of course Best Dancer that year...then the next year the Body Art Ball went on tour with the best of the best and my design was chosen to be the picture on the tickets!! That was very cool...as mentioned in my bio... a local film production company did a documentary on the artists and and the dancers titled Anatomy of the Canvas and showcased it at Magnolia...it was fun to see myself on that side of the camera...since I am always behind...if you ever get a chance to attend....you should!!!

Taking my bow...

Model Head shots

2008-11-20T17:27:00.000-08:00

These are just a couple of models I helped with their head shots for new comp cards. Typically they just want clean pretty makeup which is always easy for me...beautiful makeup is a combination of the artist and the model...it always helps when they have beautiful skin, but I also learned along the way...how to make skin look beautiful...even it they have on a ton of makeup.....if it looks like skin...that's great makeup!!..

Bride... Elisa

2008-11-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

Bride... Heidi

2008-11-19T17:52:00.000-08:00

Bride: Lauren Pearson

2008-11-19T17:49:00.000-08:00

Bride... Melissa Williamson

2008-11-19T17:48:00.000-08:00

More Brides... Jennifer Premeivera... Photographer: Edward Rameriz

2008-11-19T17:36:00.000-08:00

Bride: Sally Ash Dire

2008-11-19T17:34:00.000-08:00

Weddings... Mindy Mann

2008-11-19T17:18:00.000-08:00

Fashion/ Photographer Cindy James

2008-11-19T12:42:00.000-08:00

I love Cindy's style...she is so relaxed and easy to work with!! She just shoots, shoots, shoots....really fast and then says..."we got it!" These are new faces at "Campbell" .. how cute are they?

Fashion/ Photographer: Tom Hussey

2008-11-19T11:01:00.000-08:00

This was such a cool shoot!!! We had thousands of dollars worth of clothing from Barney's and such incredible jewelry pieces from Mathew Trent...all those "little" things make such a difference in getting the look that you want...so many of my shoots they just want "pretty" makeup it's fun to be able to "play" and just do what I want... look at the difference the lighting makes...and how you can make a photo look old and almost antique..we were going for a "40s" look...I think we got it!

This is the same girl...just different makeup...

How fun is this??? The hair was so crazy...everyone loved it...I really don't know how I came up with it...it just happened but was so fitting with what Tom was going for...whimsical, funny, ...I do wish we would have taken a few serious pictures because the makeup was beautiful...but I was so caught up in the moment I forgot to ask...

Dave Spataro Photography

2008-11-18T16:23:00.000-08:00

I was able to get a couple of pics from this shoot...but it was by far the ultimate...location..Playa del Carmen Mexico and a week long.. but I was never able to get actual tifs from Dave...he is so nice and great work with...but getting anything afterward was not happening... specially the sunset pics of the bride and groom...which were awesome!!! If you follow this link you can see it on his website, but the thing you would never know is that we actually did that shoot at 5:30 am!! See with the way the sun set we could only get the shot with with the sun rising..but it gives the illusion that it is sunset...well you just automatically think its sunset..what bide and groom would be standing out on the beach at sunrise? Anyway, it was all for the Iberostar Grand which was an incredible resort..I hope to take my husband back to someday...I know this is a long story...but nine months later, after not seeing any of our work..I am in the car with my husband readying Food and Wine and turn the page and find the Ad that I worked on for Iberostar...that was a great moment...seeing my work published in a national magazine was a huge accomplishment!

Dave Spataro Photography just click on the link to see the ocean sunrise shot...

2008-11-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

One of my all time fav weddings!!! Loved the Mom, Cindy too!!!

Fashion with Kent Barker

2008-11-16T17:04:00.000-08:00

This was such a fun shoot with Emily, an Abercrombie model...this is her wedding dress and we started as you can see in the pictures at the top, very soft and pretty...but being a model...she also was up for doing some more cutting edge stuff...like the biker boots and if you look close you can see her dog Elvis...