Life & Work with Claire Mints of Nashville, TN

Today we’d like to introduce you to Claire Mints

Hi Claire, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I went to college at Texas A&M thinking I wanted to animate for Pixar, and after one semester I discovered I hated sitting behind a computer. I grew up painting and drawing, so I was searching for a job in the film industry that allowed me to be more physically creative with my hands. I never thought I could be a makeup artist and make a living until I was watching some behind the scenes of a movie that was special effects makeup heavy. So I decided to go for it! I found the Academy of Make Up Arts here in Nashville, made the move and studied beauty, special effects, and wig making and styling. It’s been the best decision!
I moved to Atlanta, GA and focused heavily on movies mainly doing special effects, but I picked up wig styling for theaters and operas and loved doing all of my best friend’s hair and makeup for their weddings. After getting married and starting a family I wanted to shift back to beauty and bridal. AMUA offered me a job teaching the beauty course and I jumped on the opportunity to move back to Nashville! I’ve been teaching and doing mainly bridal and commercial gigs… but I am excited for another special effects job this fall!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Starting your own business is never easy. Having a freelance lifestyle means I’m the CEO, operations, social media manager, writer, researcher, etc all under the umbrella of “makeup artist.” I love to say that I never wanted to work a regular 9-5 job, so now I work 24/7! I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I moved to Atlanta just months before COVID hit, so right as I was starting to get my footing as a new artist in the area everything shut down. I was blessed enough to work for a production crew once, and they kept hiring me back on their smaller movies. So not only was I able to work, but that’s how I met my husband!
This type of work is feast or famine, which can take its toll. But I love using those “famine” times as time to rediscover my passion and creativity, so it’s never a waste. If you’re ever in a creative rut, I highly recommend getting out into nature and reading John Paul II’s “Letter to Artists.” Exploring my faith always reignites my God-given creativity and reminds me why I am an artist.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I love that as a makeup artist and wig maker, I get to use multiple creative outlets within one job! So I can be a beauty makeup artist for brides, do historically accurate makeup for films, create blood and gore effects, transform someone into an other worldly creature, or build a wig from scratch, OR teach a class. It really pushes me to be the best artist I can be.

I’m most proud of being makeup head for a movie that let me do (almost) all of the above! “Bandit” was an incredible experience where I got to design and plan the makeups for an 80’s movie that included period accurate hair and makeup, as well as making and applying the prosthetics and hair pieces for Josh Duhamel as The Flying Bandit. I was sculpting and molding prosthetics, styling wigs and facial hair pieces, creating 13+ disguises, and applying makeup all for one set. I had a small yet incredible team helping me every step of the way. It was the hardest film I’ve worked on and I’m the most proud of it because of that.

I was unsure of becoming an instructor, but I’m so glad I took the job. Not only have I met some really amazing aspiring artists, but I’ve also become a better artist in the process. Breaking down looks and techniques really drives home the design aspect as well as the muscle memory involved. It’s been fun to return to the Academy of Make Up Arts to inspire the next generation of artists!

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Growing up on a farm there were plenty of adventures to be had, so it’s hard to pin point which one of those may be my favorite. It’s hard to rule out the shenanigans that happened while I was a theater nerd, singing my way through those awkward teenage years. There’s one memory that always makes me laugh though – one night my parents had all their friends over for a BBQ (my dad makes the best smoked brisket) and so all of their kids came too. As a group of mainly 4-6 year olds we were taking advantage of our parents being distracted and living large. Large enough to drink too many sodas and finish off a family sized bag of Cheetos. Someone in the group thought we’d get in trouble for eating all of the Cheetos before dinner, so I took everyone to my room where I passed out orange paper, orange crayons and markers, and scissors. We filled that bag with our new “Cheetos” and put it back and never said a word. To this day I’ve never brought this up to my parents and I think the only person I’ve ever told is my husband. It’s a moment in my life that I cannot explain, but it always makes me chuckle.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.clairemints.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clairemints_mua