twosix & blog

Spiritus

The 4am wakeup calls, the driving, the freezing cold mornings… all a pleasure to be working with Lisa Mitchell on this clip.

The driving dodging of squishing bunnies in the field as we arrive, the avoidance of condensation dripping on us as the heaters warm up the tent, the Spanish inquisition by the neighboring cows as we guiltily eat breakfast… all forgotten when working with Lisa and an amazing bunch of dancers and crew. The cows in fact were hilarious and once they saw enough… in unison all turned around and slowly walked away. I have never wanted to be a vegetarian so much in my life during that breakfast.

The whole experience was as you see in the clip…lovely. Not your usual angst I regularly detect here in Sydney town when it comes to A) temperature B) working conditions in general lol. (I constantly find myself thinking ‘complaining alone isn’t going to make it better just makes it worse for the rest of us.. go do something about it or quite time please’) And with super stylist Bex Sheers on board… there is always fun and giggles from the makeup/styling end of town.

Combine a beautiful uplifting tune with beautiful skin ( Thanks Lisa ) and a bunch of rad peeps… I will always watch this clip fondly.

Thank you to Gina Cartwright, Jordan Hone and Belinda Kruse who came to assist me for the 2 days. 

as bad as i-guana be

In one day… two videos I have worked on have been released. YEW! 

Firstly…

I am a massive fan of Emma and have loved working with her the past couple of years. Her latest fashion video was a hoot… 2 makeups and an iguana body paint…( if you don’t notice… his exposed skin is body painted ) then racing off for another labels campaign… it was an early morning bunch of craziness. In fact… there has always been craziness involved on my side with Emmas fashion videos. I still cant get over covering Rachel Rutt in zinc cream, putting her in a tank of water, and expecting it to stay put and blended.  

This video involved my assistant pulling out 9 hours before the shoot… so knowing I had to leave the shoot early… the amazing photographer Byron Spencer became my first time makeup assistant and even assisted with body art. What a legend. It always works out if you get creative and forget job descriptions.

Last night at Emmas launch there were delicious cocktails rimmed in pistachio nuts, mexican food and much shenanigans with all the cool cats. At one point as I was chatting outside The Grand Social to some peeps and a rapture of applause started… I look over and an amazing golden glow was lighting the pavement through the windows… I had missed the impromptu fire show by the bar guys. Boo.

As I drove home with Emma’s teeth necklace biting me in the collarbone and reflecting on the fact I should not have had that energy drink in place of a cocktail… I thought about how I can see Emma’s work gaining serious cult following… maybe this is already happening. This woman is ridiculously talented and it all just works. I want to be draped in her clothing everyday. Its colourful, delicious and fun. I also reflected on the fact that I have been so lucky to even be involved with designers such as Emma where creativity and beauty is embraced together as one… and another reason I love my job.

http://oystermag.com/tv/exclusive-emma-mulholland-springsummer-201213

Stars, Mystic Mountain and Nebulas…

This…

Equals this..

I tell you what. If GOD exists.. he/she is amazing. It took 4 x 3 hours to paint each of my own galaxies LOL. He/she took 7 days to do everything. That’s more impressive than Santa.

Here is some more of the Sneak Peek of my latest collaboration with Thor Elias Engelstad. Thanks to Daniel and Alex for being amazing models. Can’t wait to share the whole shoot.

point

I would just like to acknowledge that I have chosen the same template as Pat Mcgrath for my tumblr account.

I am going to make that mean something.

Unlocking Potential…

This May I am co-ordinating hair and makeup for the Amira Projects Princess Party.

http://www.twosixandbrush.com/2011/01/giving-back/

Last year I was quite blown away by the energy and contribution this event creates for female youth whom are ‘at risk’. 

Once the chaos of organising over 20 makeup and hair artists for a charity event was over… I was really able to just settle in and enjoy the process. I was so humbled and touched by really observing what a contribution what i do for a living can be on another human being. Although the room was packed with youth… the time only allowed for a handful of girls to be in my chair.

That atmosphere was delicious.

One girl sat in my chair. She was completely shy and it was one of those times you could tell even though she was acting as if she was embarrassed and shy to be sitting in the makeup chair… she there was that part of her deep down that was excited to see what I was going to do.

She was hunched over in posture and her hair hadn’t been washed in days. Her skin was spotty and she didn’t really give me much eye contact. She nervously fiddled with her hands and picked her fingernails as I was talking to her and what we were about to get up to.

I asked her about the day and how she has found it… she lit up slightly and told me how much she enjoyed it so far. You know… the typical kind of young teenager response. Replying to me whilst at the same time.. looking around the room to see who was watching her talk.

It was when I started enquiring about what she could now see for herself from today in what she can achieve with her life… she completely lit up…sat up straight… makeup stopped… and she started telling me all about how she has been writing a book but now she can really see how she can finish it… even get it published.

Like discussed in this TED video of Leymah Gbowee, it was as if something inside her had unlocked… been released… and it was really evident that this girl now had a personal freedom in something she was passionate about… something that may have otherwise been left lying beneath as a dream… something that might happen ‘one day’. Amazing. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/leymah_gbowee_unlock_the_intelligence_passion_greatness_of_girls.html

‘Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee has two powerful stories to tell — of her own life’s transformation, and of the untapped potential of girls around the world. Can we transform the world by unlocking the greatness of girls?’

THIS is why I love being involved in The Princess Parties.

If you are a makeup artist in Brisbane… I really invite you to come and me a makeup artist for this years event. You will be inspired and be reminded that what we do is really worth it. Anyone can help. 

By the way… that girl… happened to live in the same town as a friend of mine who wrote well. She happened to know him from the store he worked at. He later told me she did in fact go to see him as I suggested and discussed her book. Bravo Amira Project. A domino that started something great.

B x

Two Small Hands..

With the tumbles and turns of life… I think I have been away for… forever! It’s been like a life ‘reset’ … and after a few somersaults ( which someone tells me have been banned in primary schools ) I am back YEW!

And what a way to celebrate the end of a roller coaster ride… with something that made me belly laugh yesterday.

I have two small hands.

This site is ridiculous and awesome. Its http://onetinyhand.com/

Love. Laugh. Laugh some more. I don’t even know why.

Getting a bigger plate…

I have been grappling this year with the idea of:

“instead of struggling with everything you have on your plate…. get a bigger plate”

It took a while to get it. And I think I am actually still getting it. For a while I pretended I HAD a bigger plate… took more on with this new clarity… and just ended up with more stuff to do on the same size plate… a few things fell off… I was sad about the things that fell off as I made it mean that  I was a bit of a failure to the things that fell off and that I couldn’t have everything I wanted.

I get what it means to get a bigger plate.

Play bigger games in life.

From this game…

to this game… ( I tried to find a stadium sized chess board )

In fact… when I really look at the big picture of my life… the game of life I have been playing… has not been so much this…

but when I get the ego out of the way… its probably been more this…

and yes… for all those chess lovers out there… I did use a picture of child chess genius Josh Waitzkin… but it was because the picture was pretty… thats all. No hidden meaning.

So now I am getting used to playing bigger games.

For example… instead of playing to have the GBPs Emerging Artist Mentorship be an Australian only project… play to have the goal it being a wordwide mentorship. The goal posts widen and my actions correct themselves to be inline with the new goal posts.

So in line with new goal posts… I thought of a great activity I can involve myself in… just to see the benefits and what results I can accomplish from it…

On Sept 1st… the 2011 Emerging Artist Mentorship is beginning. This is also the time that the GBPs Makeup Artist Pathway book is being emailed to all applicants of the mentorship. Its a book that enables and empowers makeup artists to direct and drive their career in the direction they want to go with results.

I have decided… that I am going to do the Makeup Artist Pathways book myself. At the same time as all the other participants. And not only will I do it… I will blog it… AND I will have fellow makeup artists do it also.

The Makeup Artist Pathways book works… is no matter what stage you are at in your career… the exercises will create some rocket fuel for your career. So why not do it for myself? 

A chef wouldn’t cook a meal and not have tasted it at some point. I sure as hell don’t want to have a career development project out there without trying it on completely myself.

Who cares I have already done the exercises already. What could it do for me NOW?????

IT’S ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!!!!

 

Getting a bigger plate…

I have been grappling this year with the idea of:

“instead of struggling with everything you have on your plate…. get a bigger plate”

It took a while to get it. And I think I am actually still getting it. For a while I pretended I HAD a bigger plate… took more on with this new clarity… and just ended up with more stuff to do on the same size plate… a few things fell off… I was sad about the things that fell off as I made it mean that  I was a bit of a failure to the things that fell off and that I couldn’t have everything I wanted.

I get what it means to get a bigger plate.

Play bigger games in life.

From this game…

to this game… ( I tried to find a stadium sized chess board )

In fact… when I really look at the big picture of my life… the game of life I have been playing… has not been so much this…

but when I get the ego out of the way… its probably been more this…

and yes… for all those chess lovers out there… I did use a picture of child chess genius Josh Waitzkin… but it was because the picture was pretty… thats all. No hidden meaning.

So now I am getting used to playing bigger games.

For example… instead of playing to have the GBPs Emerging Artist Mentorship be an Australian only project… play to have the goal it being a wordwide mentorship. The goal posts widen and my actions correct themselves to be inline with the new goal posts.

So in line with new goal posts… I thought of a great activity I can involve myself in… just to see the benefits and what results I can accomplish from it…

On Sept 1st… the 2011 Emerging Artist Mentorship is beginning. This is also the time that the GBPs Makeup Artist Pathway book is being emailed to all applicants of the mentorship. Its a book that enables and empowers makeup artists to direct and drive their career in the direction they want to go with results.

I have decided… that I am going to do the Makeup Artist Pathways book myself. At the same time as all the other participants. And not only will I do it… I will blog it… AND I will have fellow makeup artists do it also.

The Makeup Artist Pathways book works… is no matter what stage you are at in your career… the exercises will create some rocket fuel for your career. So why not do it for myself? 

A chef wouldn’t cook a meal and not have tasted it at some point. I sure as hell don’t want to have a career development project out there without trying it on completely myself.

Who cares I have already done the exercises already. What could it do for me NOW?????

IT’S ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!!!!