Gratitude.

Having been in the fashion industry in the Midwest for a good five years now, I've been awarded many different types of friendships that have blossomed because of this mutual interest or hobby. Some of those friendships have been fleeting, some long lasting, and some incredibly toxic. By far one of the most important and fulfilling types however, are the friendships that I've gained with my clients.

(Image courtesy of Brittany Powers)

Now for those of you just tuning in, I own a hair artistry company here in Ohio called Synthetic Rebellion, and I style hair for all sorts of things: Photo shoots, weddings, proms, runway shows, films, hot dates- you name it, I style for it. Every Sunday I work at Laura Dark's studio styling hair for her many, many clients, and it's there that I have been able to gain the aforementioned friends. Not only do I get to work alongside my best friends who also work at the studio (i.e: Team Dark!), but I get to hang out with and pamper women of all shapes, sizes, and backgrounds for their photo shoots with Laura. It really is a dream, because nearly everyone who walks through our doors is just amazing. Their attitudes are amazing, their humor and perspective is amazing, and their investment in us as a company and as individuals is amazing!

(Image courtesy of Joan Nakamoto)

We're really fortunate to have so many repeat clients who come back to us non-stop, and who after every visit becomes more and more of a friend. It's refreshing how many people come in as strangers, and in just a few short hours leave us feeling as though our studio family just got a little bit bigger.

(Team Dark Pose Coach, Jackie Steinert, with model Anastasia Corpus)

For us, our Sundays at the studio are a chance to really exercise our creative muscles and think of new ways to bring someone else's vision to life. More than that though, our Sundays are a chance to build up our client's self-esteem, smother them with compliments, give them all of our attention and praise, and help them to realize that they are beautiful. They're beautiful without the makeup and the hair, and they're beautiful without the costumes, and the allure of Photoshop. To us, our clients are stunning from top to bottom, and we get the privilege of helping them see that for themselves.

(One of our regulars, Tracy Gantt and myself in Chicago!)

It's that part of our job that makes a blossoming friendship with our clients so special. We become bonded and supportive almost right off the bat, and there's a strong sense of genuine admiration for each other, be it for our creative talents, our personalities, or for our inner and outer beauty. It's a really wonderful thing to have!

(Me and my prom girl, Josie right before she got dressed for her big night!)

Some of our clients drive two or more hours one way just to see a show we're in, or to go to an event we're hosting. Some fly in from out of the country and hang out with us outside of the studio, and bring thoughtful gifts for our birthdays and/or holidays. Some clients show up to the studio when they're not shooting just to sit and chill for a few hours and catch up with everyone. It's just incredible. I feel so honored and lucky to have such a large group of people who have become really good friends, all because of the studio and what we do there.

(My best friend and partner in art, Jackie Steinert and myself during a studio day)

This whole experience has really taught me to invest even more in new faces, and to put myself out there as a friend from the get-go. Sometimes it doesn't work out, but I still have a lovely time getting to know someone I didn't know all that well before, and we still have a fun time working together. Other times it works out REALLY well, and we all gain another person we just can't seem to live without! This experience has also given me the chance to grow stronger bonds with those that I'm already friends with, and share my passions with them on a more one on one level. I could never be grateful enough to have so much opportunity to meet so many incredible people!

With that said, to all of those clients turned friends out there (and friends turned clients!), thank you. Thank you for making me feel so full and wealthy with your friendships. Thank you for supporting everything that I do, and for recommending me to your friends and family. More than anything though, thank you for the chance to get to know you! You really are amazing, and I hope that we remind you of that every single day.

On Being A Slacker...

February? I haven't updated this blog since FEBRUARY? Oh my god, I really have fallen off the blogging deep end. So much has happened in the last five months, way more than I could ever try to shove into one entry, buuut for the sake of all of the cool things that I've got going on now, I'll try anyway.

My most recent entry was about my behind the scenes shoot with Crys Darling of Label Yourself, Art Cat, Trulie Scrumptious, and of course the hair structures from my hair company, Synthetic Rebellion. Just a few short months after that shoot had taken place, we debuted the entire sweets collection during a massive runway show at Drauma. It was spectacular!

(Image by Shadow Services.)

You can view the full collection here.

I was then interviewed in the Columbus Alive featuring the hair pieces at Drauma, and it was an amazing experience. If you click on the link above, you can read the full interview on their website! 

(Image credit: Tony Bentivegna Photography)

In April I debuted an entire collection of clothing made entirely out of synthetic hair at The Alternative Fashion Week 2014, with the help from my assistants Kaylen Jackson, and Jackie Steinert. I had announced that we were doing this on the blog in January, but nothing really prepared us for what we eventually created for the show. You can see the full gallery of looks by clicking here. The event was an amazing experience that really pushed my creativity to an extreme that I hadn't known I was capable of achieving. My models were amazing, and the amount of support that we got from the community left me in awe for weeks after the whole thing ended. To be truthful, I'm still riding that high a little bit! 

After Alternative Fashion Week ended, I started up my next massive project, which was The Boyfriend Project- an interactive, original comedy set to become a YouTube mini-series about modern dating. Our cast and crew is comprised of talented, hard working people, who have really embraced the script and the characters to their fullest ability. It's been SO MUCH FUN filming each episode, which takes place all around Columbus, Ohio. It's a very ambitious project, totaling a hundred pages of script, dozens of locations, a cast and crew of over twenty people, and twelve episodes total. The amount of support and excitement we've gotten from the local film community has kind of been out of this world. Every time we shoot, I'm left with this overwhelming sense of gratitude that this idea that we created almost two years ago is finally coming to life- bit by bit. It's been totally awesome! 

In the middle of all of this, Equine Partners moved to a new facility just fifteen minutes away from the old one, and we had about two days to move over forty-two horses and start over fresh... In the middle of winter. It was CRAZY. But, through the move we gained a wonderful and happy new home that has perked everyone's spirits sky high. The actual farm itself is stunning, with a swimming pool for the horses, an indoor and outdoor racetrack, open and bright stalls... It's really quite a sight to see. May now has her own stall, and is busy being a silly little diva. She's been getting handled so much now that we've moved, and I can tell that she's improving and learning every time I go out and visit her. Truth be told, I haven't been able to go to the farm as often as I'd like to, and working with May (beyond general grooming time) has been minimal. And that's something I'd really like to change in the next few months once things slow down a tick. I very much miss my beautiful girl. 

Now, there are TONS of other things that have happened, too. I started a brand new job at a private practice, my sister had her first baby, and I got to spend four whole days loving on my brand new nephew, Corbin (aka, the cutest baby ever). Dan and I got to see Eddie Izzard perform at the Palace Theater, and in just a little over 48 hours, we sign the lease to our brand new apartment together. 

Life has been GRAND! 

I'm sure that there are things that I'm forgetting, but for now I just leave you with what's above. I've carved out time in my crazy busy schedule to write more often, as I'm still the lead blogger for The Alternative Fashion Blog, and I've been a total slacker there, too. Luckily, there are a handful of amazingly talented writers who have been great at contributing solid content. Still, it's time to commit to both blogs, and write more often. 

Hope you all have been well! I've missed you!

Behind the Scenes- Label Yourself

So, this is the top secret hair piece in the works that I was busy creating last weekend for Crys Darling's clothing line, Label Yourself. We had spent months designing wigs and hair pieces for her Sweets collection, and it's finally all come together! Crys gathered an amazing team of individuals to capture her sweet treat fantasy, and these are some of the behind the scenes images from that shoot! I was so excited to see everything come into place, and to see Trulie finally try on her hair piece. It. Was. Magical. 

(Pictured from left to right: Quiana Tenise, Crys Darling, and Trulie Scrumptious) 

We are thrilled to put together the other 4 pieces for her collection, which will be debuted to the public on April 19th at Drauma Columbus! I will have the distinct honor of designing her pieces (with the incredible help of Kaylen!) AND wearing one of the pieces down the runway. I'm thrilled! Let me know what you think of Trulie's cupcake hairpiece! 

You can see all of the images from behind the scenes that day here. All images courtesy of Art Cat. 

Synthetic Rebellion 2014

(Image by Laura Dark)

Okay, okay. So I've been pretty silent these days here on the blog. I've been so ungodly busy for the last few months trying to get what feels like a billion projects up and running at once, and I've put the blog on the back burner. Again. But NO MORE! Seriously. 

Instead of trying to recap everything that's been going on, I figured that I'd just jump into talking about a major project that I'm working on right this very second: Synthetic Rebellion's next venture into this years Alternative Fashion Week as designers AND hair stylists. That's right! We're submitting our own collection of costume wear in addition to elaborate and extreme hair art structures. It's like we've absolutely gone insane or something.... Which I often argue that we have.

Regardless! It's official and we're excited about it. If you're interested in what we did last year, just click on the links above. They have all of the awesome work that we put into the finale runway show as hair artists, and now we're contributing even more. It's honestly a complete dream come true to be able to tackle such a large goal in such a short amount of time. Alternative Fashion Week is coming up in just a few short months (April 19th-26th to be exact) here in Columbus, and we've got TWO collections that we're debuting. That's a HUGE leap from our First Runway Show Ever last April. It's amazing what a year can bring.

Speaking of, that beautiful girl on the right in the picture above? That's my hair partner in crime, Kaylen. Without her I would never have had the confidence to do anything beyond studio work. She is an amazing addition to Synthetic Rebellion and I'm very lucky to have her by my side in all of this. 

Anyway, to give you some confidence that I am in fact going to be writing more often, check out the Alternative Fashion Blog that I am a contributing writer for (lead in fact!), which will have a TON of updates on AFW 2014, the designers, fashions, and events that surround it. You won't be disappointed! 

Oh! And check out some of our recent work on our Facebook Page and tell us what you think! 

Amy Koller Anderson

The coolest part about doing photoshoots and being a part of the industry is when things like this happen. This is a painting by Amy Kollar Anderson that was inspired by an image I had shot a few years ago with Photographer James Hayden. 

It was amazing to watch the transformation from inspiration to a solid piece of art, and after months and months of waiting, she put out a time lapse lapse video. I can't count how many times I've sat and watched this, each time being more impressed with her skill and imagination. It was an unbelievable honor to be part of her collection!

Now she has limited edition prints and jewelry with my face on them! You can check out her etsy store for those and for dozens of other pieces of exceptional art!

Picking Up Your Feet.

 

I'd like to apologize for the exceptionally grainy images for this post. I had decided to bring my new camera to the farm to document May and I, and the settings were never adjusted to the arena's light, or to May's movement. I'm working on getting a photographer to come out and take images specifically for the blog, but these will have to work for now. 

 

 

Anyway, onto the training session! Mandy was kind enough to pull May from the pasture and place her in a stall until I could get out of work. Once I was there, I guided May around the arena for a few minutes, walking a relaxed path and exercising some basic commands until we came to a complete stop. I was touching her all over, running my hands over her feet and lifting them a little (which I've done every time I'm around her) when she decided to bite the top of my head. Mandy took that as a good indicator that we should start working on getting May comfortable with letting someone lift up her feet.

 

Now, it is incredibly important that horses learn not only this but to also learn to be comfortable standing on 3 legs at a time. Farriers need to tend to horses hooves, vets need to be able to work on an injury, and an owner needs to be able to pick up the foot of a calm horse to see if there's a need for a vet or farrier in the first place. May hasn't had much success with the farrier in the past, so it was time to finally nip this uneasiness in the bud.

 

 

We chose to use a lead rope to pick up her feet so that it was less dangerous to us, and began just by gently rubbing the rope against her legs. Once she was relaxed and accepting of the rope, Mandy then put it around the back of each leg, one at a time, until she was comfortable with that, too. She was less than happy to comply with this, and she paced in circles while we made ourselves pivots and slowed her down with "woah" commands.



It's at this point that I feel like it should be said that I am still terrified of May. My trust in her has grown exponentially, but I still question everything that I do and everything that she could do, and that uneasiness spurs a lot of hiccups in her attitude to happen. Every time I'm with her, I see how much improvement she's made with being handled, and being well mannered, and it makes me feel instantly better. Still, I dwell on previous experiences and I put expectations out there when we're together that something bad is going to happen. Those things make her great improvements seem like tiny little spurts of luck to me, instead of the moved mountains and huge victories that they actually are.

This fear is really prohibiting me from becoming a strong leader and companion to May, and I realize that every time that we're together. Since Mandy and I have talked at length about this (and she knows the signs of me panicking), she will often switch from teaching May something, to teaching me instead.

Now, I have a fear of standing in front of May to get her to stop when she won't stop otherwise. It's not that she's ever hurt me when we've worked together, or that she's temperamental when I'm standing there, but I still get excessively nervous. Often when I throw my hands out and shout a booming 'WOAH', I'm shaking. Being that this is something that I need to work through, Mandy makes it a point to consistently teach me how to confidently stop any horse that might be moving towards me. It always takes a few dozen tries to get over my nerves, but I eventually get there. By mid-session I was throwing my hands out to stop her, and my hands were as still as ever.

The other form of stopping May is using the 'traffic sign'. This makes me equally as nervous, but again, by the time we had reached mid-session I was doing it and May was listening.

Now, I'm going to make another post about this that goes more into detail, but I have learned to back May up with just my finger. Mandy reminded me to use this in addition to the other methods if May is trying to walk into me. Every time she listens to this command and backs up, I nearly fall over in pride and excitement. I cannot believe, even for a second, that we mastered this trick.

Anyway, after about 30 minutes of getting May used to the lead rope on her legs, Mandy and I were finally able to lift up each of her legs, one by one. She fought it a little, as any horse would at first, and then she slowly started to get used to one of her legs being off of the ground. She did so well that we didn't push her to do anything else, and just enjoyed the moment of victory.

After our training session, we walked May into an open stall and Dan and I spent a chunk of time grooming her. I was so grateful to have him at the farm to witness a training session in person, and to allow him some time to get to know May a bit more. He hadn't been to the farm since I first adopted her, and seeing them together made me extremely happy.

 



Cue awkward half-family photo!







My Birthday!

Holy Hannah, have I been a terrible blogger lately! It's been two whole months since my last update, and I feel like such a slacker. So much has happened since September, and it's crazy that I've neglected giving any updates! So first let me say that I'm sorry, and THEN let me say that I already have a ton of updates written to publish over the next week... So you'll be all caught up! More or less.

At any rate, let's start with my birthday! This past Monday I celebrated turning 26, and I had an amazing day. Actually if you want to get technical, we celebrated my birthday the whole week beforehand, too. One night Dan made me a gigantic meal and cleaned the entire apartment (top to bottom!), and the next day he took me to a concert (or two), then the next he had beautiful flowers delivered, and nearly every night we'd go out for fanciful dinners with friends... I was exceptionally spoiled. For the actual night of my birthday we got a group of friends together and went to Level Dining Lounge to eat like kings and party the night away. It was amazing.

Two very sweet friends (Heather and Colleen) handmade my birthday cake, which was this awesome steampunk floral delight that made everyone super excited. It tasted fantastic, and the pictures just really fail to do it any justice. 

I was really touched by everyone's gifts, and kind words during the party. I had honestly felt like everyone's presence was a huge gift to me, because every single person that sat at that table was just as busy as I usually am, and have just as much going on as I do, and they all made the effort. Plus, they are all so freaking talented! I spent about an hour talking about each person's abilities, whether it be with singing, or dancing, or sculpting, or styling, or acting... I mean, it went on, and on, and on. My friends are all incredible, and I'm super lucky to get to spend big moments of my life with them. 

This birthday might have been the best one yet. I was so thankful for not only my party, but to those that wrote huge posts about our friendships, and sent cards, and letters, made videos, and wrote songs, and sent me a bazillion messages online. My phone exploded all day, and I loved it!  

It was so effortless for those around me to stop for a second and celebrate with me, and I think that that was just the coolest thing ever. You know? 

Happy 26th!  

Manitoulin Island

I was able to visit Dan's family cabin on Manitoulin Island in Canada for the summer, and I brought Tuesday along for the ride. The island is located in Lake Huron, and is the largest lake island in the world. It also has the largest lake on an island in a lake, Lake Manitou, which has two islands itself. Therefore, "each is thus an island in a lake on an island in a lake." Anyway, the family cabin was built by Dan's great grandfather, and was just incredible. It sits on a peninsula where one side is home to an unceded indian reserve, and the other has similar cabin properties like this one. Here are some snapshots of our great Canadian adventure.

Summertime Happiness.

I'm having a really hard time adjusting to the fact that summer is almost over. It feels like January was just a few weeks ago, and Christmas seems like it should still be eons away. And no matter how many hot, sweaty days go by where I get sunburned, I just don't feel like I'm ready to say goodbye yet. With that said, we've been spending a lot of time on summer activities as of late, and it has been amazing. 

We've gone on summer vacation (update on that soon), we've gone camping, swimming, we've laid out on beaches, grilled a billion things on the new grill, lounged around pools, ate enough ice cream to fill a whale, and utilized splash pads whenever available. Our dinner parties, and patio dining in the Short North has absolutely spoiled me rotten, and I've eaten better than I ever remember eating before. Miraculously, I haven't gained any weight from all of the food and the cider (and the Wakefruit drinks!). Yet. 

 And I may love the fall, and the spring for that matter, but this summer was special. I fell in love every day, I had a wealth of opportunity find me, and I evolved into someone I'm proud of. Things might not be perfect, and things might fall apart sometimes, but I'm still grateful for the few months that granted me this amount of happiness. I can only hope that the rest of year continues on this merry little path, and we can be ushered into a new year that is better than this one. For now, I'm just going to focus on the remaining days in August, and embrace them as much as I can. Even if it means that I'll be overheating, and forced to wear my hair in a bun for the foreseeable future.

xoxo.

My First Shoot with May.

A few weeks ago I joined forces with the ever talented Staley Cook to capture May and I in the pasture. Staley has a history of making me look better than anyone else can, and so I knew that once May and I were ready to be photographed, she would be the one to do it. All in all it was a blast! 

We spent the first half hour or so just hanging out with the horses, which prompted lots of curious licks and sniffs. At several points we were just calming ourselves down to be as relaxed as possible, and because of that, the overall experience turned into a mini therapy session. I think that because we took the time to really embrace our moment, the horses were easier to work with, and more fun to pose around. We were all (photographer, trainer/manager, and myself) able to morph into a mood and atmosphere that was just beautiful, and the afternoon drifted slowly into an evening that I won't ever forget.

And you know, I was really proud of my girl. She stayed in place longer than I ever thought she could or would. She posed, took treats, and allowed me to be in her personal space despite her being wildly confused by my hair and dress. Seeing how much we've progressed and how comfortable we're becoming around each other fills me with a kind of joy that I really can't explain. These images remind me that while we've come so far, we have so much further to go, and through it all we are going together.

This shoot stands as one of my all time favorites, and every time I look at them I just get overwhelmed with happiness. There's so much evolution that I can see within these images. I can see comfort, and familiarity, trust, and understanding. May behaved herself so well, and never showed any signs of discomfort or anxiety. That was a HUGE deal to me, as I spent weeks worrying over how she would react.

And as I saw myself through Staley's eyes, I became more comfortable with each click of the camera, which further eased everyone involved. My worry shifted into excitement, and I found my confidence once more, which gave May more confidence, too. There's nothing more unnerving than being a beacon in the middle of a field, surrounded by dozens of horses that want to play and investigate and could potentially hurt you. With the amazing help of Mandy (who was once more to the rescue), everything went off without a hitch, and we were able to capture the magic of the moment. These images reflect the relaxed environment perfectly!

My collaborations with others, be it in the modeling industry or in the equine world really mean more to me than I could ever articulate. There's something amazing about the general comfort and understanding that exists between us as we try to reach our goals. At the end of the day, I feel like we all walked out of the farm standing just a little taller, and happier, too. 

And I am incredibly thankful for that.

<3

The Ohio State Fair!

We visited the Ohio State Fair on opening night this year, and we had such a blast. Normally I'm not all about being around so many people, but the weather was just incredible and Dan and I were a little too wrapped up in each other to really notice anyone else (except for the people who naturally walk like zombies whenever they're outside). We were so busy last year that we didn't make it to the fair until the last day that it was open, and we enjoyed the total solitude and emptiness of the fairgrounds. While that was an entirely different experience, I don't think either of us really had a preference between our visits.  

This year the attractions were infinitely better than any other year that I've been, as there were camel rides, and extremely entertaining sea lion shows that left me beaming like an idiot. We got to take our picture with two 8 year old sea lions that plopped their awesome heads and fins on our shoulders to pose, and as soon as they touched me, my face contorted into this weird smile thing that was so impossibly creepy. I kind of look drunk on happy in the image. It's one that is getting buried in my scrapbook, and never shown to another human being ever =D 

At any rate, we both agreed that the sea lions were our favorite part of the fair. There were four total, and their routines were hilarious, sweet, and impressive. I wish we had gotten slightly better seats, but it was still an overall awesome experience. Before the show, I hung out by their swim tank and giggled manically as they bobbed in and out of the water, talking to me. I've never been so close to a sea lion before, and I've never really watched what they can do. It was awesome.

Immediately after we were done having the sea lions win us over, we headed over for a camel ride. I'm a huge, huge, huge animal lover, and I pretty much want to touch every animal on the planet, so the camels were a large pull for me. In fact, I talked about the camels so much during the week leading up to the fair that all of my friends were finally just like, "You got your camel ride! Talk about something else now!" Naturally that just meant that I'd spend every opportunity talking about the sea lions instead ;]

Anyway! I've ridden an elephant before, and that was one of the coolest things I think I've ever done in my entire life. Elephants are my favorite animals, and even though I was a kid when I rode her, I still remember it fondly. Camels are an equine that I've wanted to ride for years, and I just never had the chance to. It was a rather strange experience, as their bodies move in a way that I can't explain and definitely did not anticipate. I managed to make a passable face while I was riding her/him, thankfully, so I have photographic proof of at least one animal adventure.

After dinner, and the animals, and the photobooths (it's a tradition now to use every photobooth that we encounter anywhere), it was time for Dan to ride rides. I've always been a humongous chicken, and I haven't ridden any amusement park rides since I was a kid. I get that no one really understands it, but I have so much fun watching others ride coasters and crazy swing things. The faces people make are priceless, I feel all of the anticipation of the ride, I get to hold on to belongings, and I get to not be scared to death. It's a win, win for everyone! Dan hammed it up on the Pharaoh, and I loved every second of it.

After the rides we visited the petting zoo, where I promptly made a scene with my high pitched squealing and animal baby talk. I petted miniature cows (which might be the cutest thing ever), goats, lambs, oxen, bunnies, and sheep, and fought the urge to pet the animals that I wasn't supposed to pet. It was so excessively hard for me to keep my hands away from cages and enclosures, you have no idea.

Eventually we made our way to the horse competitions, and Dan amazed me by getting into the show. Granted, we were acting like a pair of Mean Girls, but there was a good amount of horse admiration going on. I know that Dan respects the fact that I have May, but he's not really animal crazy. The fact that he sat for an extended period of time and listened to my limited knowledge of horses, and commented on their stature, and training, and anything else horse related really made me happy.

At the end of the show we headed back out to the food lane for dinner, and watched the fireworks above us. It was weirdly romantic. We've spent so much time around fireworks over the last month, and each time has been great, but this time it was just surreal. We were surrounded by carnival lights and music, where we had space away from people, and the fireworks captivated everything. Everyone around us stopped to admire the show, and I think the comparison of that to when they were bustling around like madmen was just beautiful to me.

Anyway, this was the best year at the fair yet. It was so good that we've talked about going back for seconds (if not to get a better, less derp-faced image with the sea lions :). All of our time together, by the way, just keeps getting better and better. I'm always amazed at how everything we do seems to be the greatest thing in existence, even if we've done it a hundred times before. I'm very happy that life led me here, to this place, with these people and these adventures, as I am having the best time of my life.

Happy Summer!