She creates art on living, breathing canvases

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (FOX 13) - In St. Petersburg, Nicole Hays is living a life most people could only dream of. She's taken her passion and turned it into a business that's getting attention from people across the country.

"Some people might not get body painting because it's a temporary artwork. It's only there for a certain amount of time and then it's gone," Nicole said. 

Her craft is using the human body as a canvas to create a work of art. "The process is, I choose my model and I make sure that I have a relatively hairless canvas. Hair can kind of mess up the design a little bit."

Her art has even taken her to Hollywood. "I was on a body-painting competition show called 'Skin Wars' and I've gotten a lot of exposure through that show,” Nicole continued. “One of my favorite pieces I actually did on Skin Wars. I painted a guy's bald head that was coming out of a table." 

She eventually finished in the final four. But for Nicole that wasn't the end, it was the beginning of new adventures just on the horizon. 

"This July, I'll be competing at the World Body Painting Festival in Austria," she said.

%INLINE%

And she believes anyone can achieve their goals if they have the courage to dream big.

"Just keep putting it out there and eventually you know, you'll make something amazing and it'll all work out,” she added.