Cosmo: Hair Design Photo Shoot

Today I had the opportunity to create a look for a model (my wonderful classmate Dani) and manifest it for a photo shoot.  Dani has a love for succulent plants and so I decided to pair that with her amazing green eyes for a natural look.  I made a head band of real and fake succulent plants and moss.  I also hand constructed flowers out of fake hair to add to her head piece.  What you see was all done by me... hair, make up and floral inspired head arrangement.  I had so much fun and Dani is a beauty so she really made the look come to life.  These ARE NOT from the photo shoot.  Those are still to come and I think they are going to be amazing.

I LOVED this project!!!

Sketch for the design...

Poochi-LA: Seahorse commission piece

This is a commission piece I just finished.  Acrylic on canvas, approximately 3.5'X4.5'

Personal: "False Evidence Appearing Real", acrylic on matte board & wood, 2009

Cosmo: Hair Cuts, "Bobs"

Two DIFFERENT variations of the "Bob" I did this week...

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cosmo: Up-Do's Week 1

Today marks the end of my first week in Hair Design, which is basically Up-Dos and thermals  (blow drying, curling, or flat ironing the hair to accentuate the cut once it's done).  One thing that I find really interesting about my Cosmetology school experience is how one minute I can feel really confident and then be completely humbled regarding something new... and then slowly go back to building confidence only to be humbled again.  It is a reoccurring cycle, but it is a good one.  I guess that is what learning is all about.

Here are my first week's "experiments", front and back:

Personal: "Eupheginia... (Doubtfire, dear)."

So those of you who know me best are not at all surprised at this post.  Yes, I am 31 years old.  And yes, Mrs. Doubtfire is still one of my favorite movies.  At some point in my life I watched it consecutively for weeks.  I'm obsessive-compulsive like that. 
But this piece is special and it isn't just about the movie.  It was inspired by one of my favorite students when I worked at First Street Gallery Art Center, where I was an Art Instructor to adults with disabilities.  "Josh" came to our studio with a passion for his artwork and a great sense of humor.  He was a bit reserved and shy... but that all changed when, somehow, the movie Mrs. Doubtfire came up.  We probably drove the studio nuts quoting all of the best lines from the movie, but we had a time.  So it's no wonder that when the "Staff Selects" Show came up (an annual art show featuring a staff piece along side a student piece) that Josh would be my partner.  For months we both worked on our pieces, exercising attention to detail.  Meanwhile, I saw my student's art skills and confidence flourish.  This is one of my most favorite pieces to date because it reminds me of the hard work, the laughter and the goofy vision shared between a student and a teacher.  I think we brought out the best in each other.  :)

Good Luck on all of your endeavours, Josh! 

Cosmo: Ode to my doll heads...

I truly do think that the Cosmetology doll head does not get enough credit or appreciation from us Cosmo students, or the public for that matter!  Who do you think gets the butt-end of that student's first cut hundreds of times, before you do... haha!  No but really, I owe it to my dolls for allowing me to slowly develop techniques.  Learning to properly blow dry would not be possible without my doll head. (after all it never cries out after getting repeatedly scorched like whimpy humans do)  ;)

So here are some different things I have worked on with my dolls having to do with cuts (shears and clippers), roller sets, blow drying and styling.

 This is my man doll head, Dylan.  He started off looking like a biker-Jesus, but after about 10 different cuts, he ended up here: nice and presentable with an impeccably tidy beard!  I think I was inspired by my friend/old coworker, Seth, for this look :)

"Sam" took on a more contemporary-1950's cut here... kinda sexy! It's all about those bouncy curls!

 This "Sam" was at the end of her hair cut road at this point, so I performed a experimental short cut on her... okay, okay... so I used her to do a guy cut... but I think she pulled it off perfectly!  "Thanks Sam!"

This was around the time of the Death Cab For Cutie concert, so it could explain the Zooey Deschanel inspired look: