I'm made up to land a job Down Under

A YOUNG make-up artist has landed her dream job Down Under less than a year after graduating.

Kayleigh Sutherland, 22, has been given a hair and make-up artistry position in the Sydney Opera House, working with the Australian Opera Company.

Miss Sutherland, from Clifton, near Newbridge, will be moving to Australia on Tuesday.

She landed the position after working with the Australian Opera Company last summer during the Edinburgh International Festival, when she was given the opportunity to do make-up and wig work.

When a position came up with the opera company just a few months later, Miss Sutherland - who had kept in contact with the head make-up artist - was offered the job.

The James Watt College graduate will be working in theatrical and special effects make-up artistry, firstly in the Melbourne Arts Centre then on to the Sydney Opera House.

She said: "It is a fantastic opportunity for me and one that I am extremely pleased to be doing.

"The job will have me working with colleagues from all around the world and from a range of backgrounds.

"I think the experience will be inspirational and extremely rewarding for my career.

"I'm getting to do what I trained in so I'm very lucky."

Miss Sutherland, a former Craigmount High School pupil, is no stranger to working on big projects, having worked with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama on War and Peace.

She has also worked on other recent theatre productions such as Porgy and Bess, and Bliss, which showed at the Festival Theatre last summer.

Her portfolio includes work for the BBC, the Bafta- nominated feature film Electric Man and T in the Park.

Miss Sutherland, who studied HND make-up artistry and graduated last June, said she owes her lucky break to her college lecturers.

She said: "A few days into the course, I knew this was the career I wanted to pursue.

"It merges all my interests and I love how there isn't a focus on one thing. You learn everything from wig-making to understanding how the make-up works with the outfits.

"Initially I wanted to practice in special effects, however later I realised theatre work was where my interests lay.

"I found the lecturers brilliant and really encouraging. They supplied us with industry contacts which we would get work experience from.

"If it wasn't for this, I wouldn't have been given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with the Australian Opera Company."