I have been to Los Angeles, Milan, Paris, New York City, Johannesburg, Madrid, and Toronto. These are a few of the cities that have influenced me as an artist. There are many more cities that I’ve visited and many more that I want to see.
I am writing this blog today with a purpose – to let the world know that I am a visual artist.
Let’s see, first thing is – let’s define what artist means.
A person that creates art.
A person who creates art as an occupation.
A person who is skilled at some activity.
These are just some of the meanings I found online and there were more. There were actually so many different definitions of what an artist really meant and rightfully so.
I was really happy to see this. If there was any word, trade or occupation that should not have a clear meaning of what it could be, it should be this word – artist.
Yet, I believe that a true artist knows what an artist is and can identify with one another.
Whether it be a painter to an architect. A chef to a writer. An actor to a hair stylists. A dancer to a musician.
Artists know each other, we all have an understanding of what it means to be one and we don’t truly care how the world sees us. As long as we have the respect of other artists who are trying to pursue a passion by sacrificing their time and energy for the art of their choice.
You see to me an artist is exactly that. A person who who puts time and energy into whatever it is that they truly love and try to be the best they can be at it.
Once enough time and energy is put into a motion, an exercise or an activity, where the mind works simultaneously with the body – that is art. Therefore making the person doing it, an artist. Whether it be a sound, an act and or visual, artists bring it to the next level – making it so good it becomes beautiful.
So this is why I have a problem when certain people or groups try to define what an artist is.
To say that hairdressers are not visual artist is an insult. I have been a hairdresser for 22 years. I started to learn how to really do hair and get it right, only after realizing that I had to connect my eyes to my hands. See a shape and copy it on a human head. To learn how to sculpt and paint on human hair. It’s an art. It’s a visual art. No one can tell me different and one of the biggest visual artists for me was Vidal Sassoon. He knew this early on and passed it on to the world. I’ve been asking people of all ages if they knew who Vidal Sassoon was. Almost 8 out of 10 people knew who he was and knew of his impact on the hair industry. I have had many influences that helped me become the artist that I am today and he’s a big one.
Visual art is many things and the art of hair styling is definitely one of them.
Period.
Case closed.
Ramsey Sayah – Dear Hairdresser
Live free or die.
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