This painting was commissioned by my US  art gallery a few years ago; the Director wanted me to paint a naive version of The Birth of Venus which was originally painted by Sandro Botticelli in 1486.  My brief was just to paint the head but with various items hanging in the hair, however I would like to do the complete picture one day as I love that image.  The original painting is on display in Florence and was commissioned by the Medici family and depicts the goddess Venus having emerged from the sea as a fully grown woman, arriving at the sea-shore.  Venus supposedly had two aspects, she was a goddess here on earth that aroused humans to physical love or she was a heavenly goddess who inspired intellectual love in them.  Whatever it was she did have beautiful hair and that is my topic today.

FROM MODEL TO ARTIST

As you can see from the photos my own crowning glory has been fashioned into a lot of different styles during my modelling days.  The weirdest one was actually when my hair was made into a Christmas tree, sprayed green complete with ornaments for a hair show in Nagoya Japan.  Strange really that  both my professions has taken me there and here is a link if you fancy a look at my first art exhibition in Nagoya;  57. Art & Signing the Contract and   64. Art & Flying to Japan (continuation of Signing the Contract)

THE ART OF A GOOD HAIRDRESSER

One thing I don’t miss about modelling was all the hours waiting whilst having my hair done, so for a long time after becoming an artist I just kept my hair really long and just cut it myself.  Finding a hairdresser you trust is such a tricky thing and luckily now I have one again.  But that wasn’t always so, lol.  A while ago I decided to try someone else and the first giveaway should have been the dirty looking surroundings, all looked great from afar but on closer inspection (when I was firmly in the chair) I saw the whole salon needed a thorough clean, the toilets were even worse and I seriously debated whether to drink the coffee they made me!  By this stage I was committed and had to tough it out and the finished product i.e. my hair was terrible.  Don’t know what she had done but the blond streaks were yellow and the hair felt like straw and I had to pay a fortune at another hair salon to fix it!

ART AND ALCOHOL

My aversion to hair dressers probably started when I was 7 years old in Sweden when my mother took me to a Barber who unbeknownst to her was drunk and he cut my locks of into a crew-cut, by cutting one side uneven and then having to cut the other and so on, until there was no more hair left to cut. I remember the alcohol on his breath and a hip-flask in his Barber shirt pocket he kept swigging from.   I left that Barber in the back of our car with a blanket over my head and refused to go to school for days, no wonder since then I have for the most part always had longish hair!

ANOTHER PAINTING IDEA

However the worst hairdresser story comes from a girlfriend of mine who sent me a HELP text once; “Help Marie, my hairdresser is on something” so I texted back to find out what was going on.  Turns out the hairdresser really was “on” something or else had a psychotic episode and my friend who realized this too late was already in the chair and the hairdresser was both coloring and cutting her hair and talking a million miles an hour whilst frequently dropping the scissors and acting very weirdly.

In the middle of all this another client came in for her appointment but luckily spotted the commotion and made up an excuse and left.  My girlfriend was not so lucky but still her hair was not permanently damaged and could be fixed up by someone else when she eventually escaped.

A few months later we heard on the TV news that this particular hairdresser went missing, her car was found abandoned and there were serious fears for her safety.  However she turned up safe and well a week later much to the relief of her husband and children, although her salon had shut down.  Lol so choose your hairdresser carefully, that’s my advice.

Here is a quote I think fits well here by Dolly Parton;

“I’m not offended by all the dumb-blonde jokes because I know that I’m not dumb.  I also know I’m not blond.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and going to the hairdresser if you dare!!

Love Marie xxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.