Dena D’Angelo

Legions of hairdressers, makeup artists and fashion designers may become crazed as they poof, polish and tuck Hollywood glitterati into seemingly flawless form for the Academy Awards on Sunday night, but countless others, like this scenic painter (moonlighting from her day job with Los Angeles Opera), have already put in long shifts to make the big event happen.

That Oscar glow: First the [decorative] statues are cast in white fiberglass, then we give them a base coat of yellow and four coats of gold. We have to mask the bottom or base of the statues, because that’s painted pewter. If we need to make a small repair, we use Bondo -- a fiberglass repair substance.

A standing O: Most of the statues are used to line the red carpet or stand on the stage.

He ain’t heavy: The statues are pretty light. Of course, the giant ones are 1,200 pounds -- there are four of those, huge ones, each about 24 feet tall. Then there are 16- and 8-foot-tall ones and one mini-statue used as a prop during interviews.

Short-timer: The job only lasts about nine days in January, but it’s fun. We’ve created like 25 new ones [Oscars] and repaired some of the ones that have gotten damaged.

Tools: Other than my paint overalls, shirt and bandanna, all I need is my spray gun.

Perks? Well ... We’ll get paid. And a T-shirt. But no, we won’t get invitations to the ceremony.

Caryoln Patricia Scott