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Lipstick artist honors Olivia Newton-John
Catherine Hawley reports
SARASOTA, Fla. - A Sarasota artist is honoring Olivia Newton-John in a unique way. She created a one-of-a-kind portrait of the late singer and actress.
For the last decade, Alexis Fraser has been using makeup as her medium, transforming tubes of lipstick into colorful works of art.
"I will just draw with it directly, sometimes I’ll smush it on a palette, and I’ll use brushes," she explained. "And then sometimes I’ll put it on, and I’ll kiss my canvas and put my kisses in it."
The Sarasota artist is known as Lipstick Lex. Whether it is a portrait, word art, apparel or 3D cutouts, she wants people to feel happiness when they see her work.
"Evokes love and feel good vibes all around. It's very vibrant and colorful, and I’ll use any color I can get my hands on," said Fraser.
When she heard Olivia Newton-John passed away in early August, Fraser was inspired to create a portrait of the actress and singer.
RELATED: Olivia Newton-John, singer and actress of 'Grease,' dies at 73
"This piece of Olivia Newton-John is done with 100% lipstick," Fraser said.
The detailed 24x36 painting only took two days to finish. Starting with a sketch, then blending and layering the beauty product until the "Grease" star came to life in her signature role.
Fraser said she was drawn to Newton-John as a girl and always admired her talents.
"I wanted to create her in a way that was not sad, but joyous, right? So celebrating the joy that she provided, not just me, but everybody else that was inspired by her," said Fraser.
Fraser often uses her art to help others. In January, she created a portrait of Betty White and auctioned it off to raise money for the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.
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The Newton-John original was not crafted for a cause; however, Fraser said she would love to see the work benefit something the entertainer was passionate about.
"Do something where it can hopefully raise money and awareness towards breast cancer research. So that's still yet to be seen."
The Olivia Newton-John portrait is currently listed for sale. Prints of the artwork should be available on the Lipstick Lex site by early September.