Her talents have always been used to create cosmetic portraits on the faces of many performers, and now she’s using them to step onto the stage for the first time.

Jaime Wood, senior in performing arts, is accustomed to using her artistic abilities to create and articulate the way cosmetics will be applied to a performer’s face during a production. She also decides how the wigs will be cut and stylized accordingly to the actor’s role. But now, she’s doing something she said she would never do: she’s acting.

Wood’s passion for theater began with cosmetics design. When she started out as a painter in high school, she never took it seriously until a teacher at a theater meeting asked her to help out in the theater department at Central Community College. From there, it led her to Iowa State. She considers cosmetics in performing arts a passion of hers because of the uniqueness of it.

“I love creating, that’s what I live to do. And I love the challenge of each person’s face — it’s something different every time,” Wood said. “I like the secrets that people don’t know about and notice every day. It’s my passion.”

The process of learning this skill hasn’t been easy for Wood. She said it’s a lot of trial and error along with much practice. In addition, she has had help from a few teachers here at Iowa State, including Rob Sunderman, associate professor in music. Wood has taken many of his classes and worked with him on past projects.

“Jaime is a fantastic student who is very creative and hardworking. Her makeup designs and wig designs are very outstanding and she puts a lot of thought into what she does,” Sunderman said. “I can’t say enough about her. She’s a great student.”

Wood said that the art of applying stage makeup is picked up most easily by artists and painters. She said a good makeup designer needs to know the bone structure of the human face.

“That’s what you’re highlighting and shadowing. You have to study the face,” Wood explained. “You can shadow a neck if you need more meat or to make it look skinny. You can do the same to someone’s cheeks, forehead and nose. I can make a broken nose in two seconds. It’s very simple, once you know the contours of the face.”

Along with cosmetic design, Wood has decided to start performing on stage. She said one of the reasons she never wanted to act was because of her stage fright, but when it was a requirement for her directing I class, she found herself with no other option.

Wood explained that she was horrified the first time she had to act, but after she did it, her peers told her she how well she did. Her professor also advised her to start auditioning for shows. She said she gets a little nervous, but she is starting to enjoy it, too.

Wood will be making her debut as Thoreau’s mother in “The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail.” Because of the way the script is written, a lot of her lines don’t really involve interaction with the other characters. Jane Cox, director, said that this type of role takes a lot of dedication from the actor, who has to be very careful to listen to their cues and be ready to go on at the right time. Cox said Wood has that dedication.

“She’s been really faithful about coming on stage, speaking her lines, and I think she’s worked hard on the character. And this is her first time that she has been on stage — and she’s doing a very good job,” Cox said.

Even though Wood enjoys acting, she can’t see herself doing it on a daily basis. Wood now has plans to attend graduate school for directing and possibly teaching theater in the future. She said that someday she would also like to own a theater company.