Wedding Hairstyling

What I love about wedding hairstyling, is that you get to meet wonderful people, and be a part of a day that is to be remembered for a long, long time. I consider it to be an honor to be a part of the day, but to help the bride find a wedding hairstyle that will bring out her regality, and compliment her dress and theme for her wedding.

I loved Lindsay from the moment I met her, Ease, Grace, and Kindness, are words I would use to describe her.  I think she looked just beautiful!

ShineForth Salon is now OPEN!

The idea for a new home brewed in my heart for about a year, as I struggled with the joy, and gratitude for being busy, and yet feeling I was unable to deliver my full attention to my clients.  I felt distracted by the "salon" environment, which has become norm out in the world.  I wanted to create beauty, in a place of beauty, without the usual hub bub of a salon.  The idea of moving had to happen, my soul needed it.

A colleague showed me pictures of his new, beautiful, studio in Southern California, and said he never looked back going out on his own, and working by himself.  And that meeting is what cinched it for me.

I knew enough that it would have to be a case of right place, right timing, and then leaping!  So I kept my eyes open, and then I saw it.

Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, CA is where I worked 15 years ago.  The street has changed in a good way, more going on, more youth, and yet classic restaurants like Bay Wolfe still thrive on the street.

I am happy to be in my new home, as we continue working on the last details.  Thank you to all my clients who have made this move with me, who continue to support my dreams, who give so much!  I want to give to you even more than what you expect, because I can.  And a special thanks to the clients who purchased services ahead of time to make the move possible.  Thank you to one of my best friends, Mary Anne McKearnie of MA Designs, who designed the space, and gave her time as a gift!  I love my new home.

We will have a Grand Opening in the Fall, so stay tuned.

Wedding Portfolio

Just uploaded my online Wedding Portfolio film.  Check it out, leave a comment, and share with your brides to be.  My passion is styling and finishing hair, and weddings are so delightful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPG4GXhBuW8

Audacity of Change

This year has been all about the visual.

I coordinated an Inaugural Fashion Benefit, called the Audacity of Change, for Destiny Arts in Oakland, California, Giselled Shepatin, and Keter Hair Salon.  I had six weeks to plan an event I had dreamt of doing for years. 

Giselle Shepatin sat in my chair one night, and we talked about new ways for her to market herself, and so I suggested she come to the salon and have an event...before I knew it, I volunteered to create a benefit.

Thank you friends, loyal clients, and coworkers for all your support! 

 

       

Hot Topics in the Chair

Topics were all over the board yesterday, all the while, awesome hair color of magenta and Special Effects yellow on Anne, level 3 and Special Effects yellow on Frankie, and cutting a client's hair, then needing to be in dialogue about, her still wanting it shorter.  And yet, I thought we were growing it out.  One needs to be flexible.  And in the end, the client needs to be happy, and sometimes this translates to me letting go of my vision. Suicide of a 24 year old on one side, people thrilled about Obama and the possibilities he represents on the other.  How is it our youth want to take thier lives?   Overworked, overwhelmed, over achieving women, women shaming men, pathos in full living color in the chair, and promotion of small business owners...also how women are afraid of calling attention to themselves, so they dress frumpy.  Why does anyone want to put out that kind of energy into the world?  It's for us that we dress.

The owner and I went to a book reading of another client, but we had the day wrong.  So, we walked to a restaraunt a client recommended.  This fabulous Cajun restaurant, Angenline's in Berkeley, has created an authentic, fabulous, inviting ambiance.  The restaurateur, Robert is friendly, and loves talking about the menu.  The food was delicious, and the music added the finishing touch!  We talked about business and possibilities for the salon.

Listen up for one of the interviews on Obama vs Clinton, by J. Rosenthal. Click here to download…

The Luckiest Hairstylist Around

I met Rowan Gabrielle at the Jennifer Butler event in Mill Valley.  I thought to myself, this is a woman who walks to her own beat.  She isn't trying to be somebody she isn't, and yet, she was open to learning (a quality I happen to treasure).  She dressed in a unique way, (untrendy), with garments that exuded quality, the made-by-hand kind of quality.  She stood tall, lean, and quick.  Her energy was fluid, her eyes soft.    She wore her wavy hair long, to the middle of her back, the crown was heavy, and limp.  She wanted her hair cut into a shape that would keep her length in tact, and yet freshen it up.  She was open to my ideas.  We talked, as I cut, and I was blown away by her large scope of vision.  In fact, one of her projects which came to her in a dream, was to photograph people in their color, in the elements, on a vision quest.  Check out www.rowangabrielle.com for photos that will blow your mind.  I trimmed her ends, shaped it, and softened the front.  Layers at the crown of the head about seven inches, connecting to the length, down to the middle of her back.  With the weight released, her natural wave moved into "S" curves all around her head.  I cut a soft fringe around the front, opening up the right eye, connecting down into the longer lengths on the other side.  Lovely.

She had so much to say, and yet she exuded a quiet strength, a noticeable regal quality. She was somebody you want to know, and talk with, about everything.  She is a photographer, philanthropist, the head of a eco-leather business, called Organic Leather, founder of Urth.TV, and so much more.  She is from the UK, and has great ideas, but they don't stop there. 

 I've never met a woman, who does exactly what she has set out to do in the magnitude that she does, she travels the distance to see her projects through.  And still, she is full of graceful, solid, energy that is not weighted down by her journey, and she looks forward to the next adventure. 

After a completely satisfying, and compelling conversation, she gave me a copy of a book that her and her husband, Ayman Sawaf, self-published.   This book has me completely intrigued to read, it's called Sacred Commerce:  The Rise of the Global Citizen.  I'm anxious to give it to several people I know.  Check it out.  www.SacredCommerce.com

I have the best job around.  Thank you Rowan.  I'll look forward to the next time.

Balancing Life

I've got a lot of questions today. The balance of writing, working behind the chair, daughter time and partner  time, let alone time for myself is one that is fit for the finest circus.  I mean and I love everything I'm doing.  Is the doing about the doing though?   What would it be like to not do for a change, or are doers always fantasizing about the possibility of not doing?  Is the doing a cover up, for fear nothing will happen?    Some would say, "Get yourself to a therapist, quick."  But I feel done with that for now.

I heard, while traveling in India for six months, years ago, "whatever you are here to do, will be done through you, whether you are consciously working on it or not." 

So does it happen unconsciously?  Is it magic?  Does it happen while I sleep?  A simple guided tour map of our life handed to us as we slipped into the world, would be helpful.  We wouldn't have to know all the details, that would be dull and boring.  But if we knew that we would be doing exactly what we are to do this life, we could relax.  Take a vacation, read a book with our feet up on the sofa, take more walks and breathe in more fresh air, snuggle with our lover, play with our kids.

So, do you think hearing that from the teacher has helped any?  I mean, I'm supposed to know it, right?  But I do what I do, what I think I'm supposed to do, creating my own reality, full of it's limitations, every minute.  Am I running from something, or to something?  If I stop long enough, I can see I am still with me.

How can I stop, when there is so much to do.  So many things in life I have yet to experience.  I want to do hair the rest of my life and do it well, masterfully.  Maybe I don't need to stand behind the chair 4/7.  I want to travel to Baja, with my family and see the whales birth, and visit the Rodin museum in Paris, visit Africa and look into the eyes of a gorilla, and smell the earth, visit my mentor in Japan and see the cherry trees in bloom.  I want to experience having a real conversation with my mother, without her talking over me, I want to meet with teams of highly creative people, talk to them, create together.  I want to finish my book, I want to...the list is long.  How can one stop?

I will continue to do because I have to.  A life not verging on insanity will have to come some other time. 

Creativity

I had a dream, a most luscious dream.  Giselle and I were at her friends house.  The friend had wild fuscia and purple, frizzy hair, that pushed out from her scalp about four inches, then dropped into some length.  She wore flowing layers of similar colors to her hair. She appeared to be part of the surroundings, as the art, the walls, the furniture were all about color.  Not a square inch of the house was free of stuff.  Collections of various artists lined table tops and bookshelves. Abstract paintings in vivid reds,blues and yellows draped the walls. The back door was open to the backyard, and I don't remember lots of windows, but her home shone in a warm light.  Everything looked yummy.

There were even little plates of food in every corner. Pomegranate this and plum that, stacked on top of thin toasts, and sprinkled with cheese. The friend prepared more heaping plates of delectable treats and handed them to us to place on the table in the living room.  She prepared a feast for us. I wanted to taste everything,to touch everything, to let my eyes rest on every possible corner of this scene.  I felt at home.

Giselle and her friend have mastered creativity.  They are in touch with their own voice and their own expression of it, then they offer it to the world.  There is huge risk in the offering.  What if the world doesn't accept it.  But my mind couldn't even go there.  As I wiped the sleepers from my eyes come morning time, I realized that I am after my own expression, and be able to offer it to the world. 

This is where perhaps coming up with my own collections and photographing them might come in.  Editorial work interests me, and I've studied it a bit.  I've got to work on the stories behind the shots first.  I'm going to go get some make up training in February.  I'm inspired.