Canvas Living Astoria face and body painter brings out inner child with colorful designs BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO For one Astoria artist, your face is her canvas. Lenore Koppelman, 39, is the owner and artist behind The Cheeky Chipmunk, where she has turned face and body painting into living, breathing art. Born in Queens and raised in New Orleans, La., Koppelman recalls that it was a tradition for her and her family to go to the French Quarter every Sunday after breakfast and get their faces painted. Koppelman said that every Sunday morning she would talk about what she would get painted on her face that day. As she grew up, she went to college for interior design, and her inner knack for art and creativity followed her throughout the years. Having lived in Forest Hills from when she was 3 to 6 years old, Koppelman decided to return to Queens eight years ago, and she made the move to Astoria. But her decision to make a career change did not happen until just last year. While on a walk by Astoria Park with one of her best friends, Pamela Bob, Koppelman pondered over what her true calling was. Realizing that she loved art and loved working with people, she put the two together. “We both realized at that moment the face painting business was going to happen. So I just felt this wave of calm come over me, like I had finally figured out what I was here to do,” Koppelman said. “I got goosebumps and said, ‘I am going to be a face painter.’” She began painting her friend’s children’s faces for free and realized that something was missing. “I was terrible. I was really bad. I had no idea how difficult face painting
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