Body painting year to raise funds

In pictures: a year in body paint

A group of cancer survivors have replaced their clothes with a coat of paint to pose for a charity calendar.

A church minister, an airline pilot and a teacher were among 11 volunteers to strip off in aid of Cancer Research UK.

The imaginative transformations included a scarecrow and a patchwork quilt painted on to the skin by world champion body artist Carolyn Roper.

Esther Clark, from Sussex, organised the project to "distract" her from breast cancer treatment.

She hopes to raise thousands of pounds for the charity by selling up to 10,000 copies of the 2009 calendar.

Still life

The photographs were taken at Dunsfold Park airfield in Surrey and Sedgwick Park near Horsham in West Sussex to fit the calendar's title - Good Things in Life.

Mrs Clark said: "The treatment has been an absolute nightmare. The project has been therapeutic when undergoing the various operations and chemotherapy."

After searching on the internet she discovered the World Body Painter of the Year Carolyn Roper was from the UK and she offered her skills for free.

The photographs include a woman wrapped in flowers, one turned into a still life and another into a patchwork quilt.

I didn't want to qualify for the calendar Mike Clark

All models, who came from Sussex, Surrey and the Wirral, have had cancer, including Mrs Clark's husband Mike, who was called as a replacement model when another had to return to hospital.

He was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma while his wife was organising the project.

Mr Clark, an airline pilot who had a pinstripe suit painted on his body, said: "I didn't want to qualify for the calendar, but I feel that I am luckier than most models as my treatment has been a bit less invasive than theirs."

The project took 11 months to complete and generated £11,000 of sponsorship from local companies.