#piggyhuggums

Jeanise Aviles Hair for a Scooter LaForge Opening

“It’s all in the contract,” as Scooter and I agree, and for performing at the opening of his Everything Is Going to Be Ok show at Theodore:Art in Bushwick, I wanted to have a special hair look.

I went next door to Jeanise’s studio and we had originally thought of a grey, black and white ombré story. As we hung out and had fun playing with color, in the cozy company of Connie and Ariane, we took a detour towards pink and yellow.

At one point, Jeanise mentioned it would be good to add some glitter, and I agreed wholeheartedly. She got a box of Kevin.Murphy Super.Goo and added a big handful of pink glitter, complete with miniature foil hearts and stars.

The look proved to be perfect, because the colors made my face a perfect match to the vintage Halloween mask from the 30s I had bought with Scooter and Van at the Antique Emporium in Asbury Park over a year ago. Scooter had suggested sewing it onto a fisherman’s sweater, and the idea materialized for the opening. More on that in my next post...

The matching of my face and the mask and the application of glitter, one of Scooter’s materials of choice for the paintings of this show, made for a seamless and unified presentation with the art.

The day after the show, I went to Christian’s to pose for some photos, he wanted to document the color of the beard. The session was effortless and I love this image where you can see even the little stars and hearts near my hairline.

Bird of Paradise.

Two weeks ago was Benjamin's birthday, and Joel, Scooter and I went to visit him and Steven at their place.

Steven had made a delicious dinner of beef and chicken skewers, kale salad, and pork and beans. We brought art gifts for Benjamin which he opened at the terrace and later we cut a chocolate cake from Billy's.

I went to the get-together straight after work. A few days earlier, I had seen at Key Food on Avenue A myriad sunflowers displayed right by the supermarket entrance. They caught my attention as some of them were orange, and others brown.

Scooter said these were dyed, not unlike the carnations in neon color that vibrated nearby.

For the next few days, I couldn't stop thinking about the orange dyed sunflowers, as consider them kin to my Jeanise Avilés hair creation.

I asked Scooter to please pick a bouquet of them for me to give to Benjamin. I had a bit of Uber confusion in getting to The Cheyney ($5), getting there a bit late and picking up the flowers from the concierge, who had suggested to Scooter holding them for me.

After dinner, Benjamin took a photo of me next to the kitchen sink, where he had placed the flowers. They looked amazing in the tonal white fantasy of the decor. I was wearing a Commes des Garçons PLAY t-shirt Damion gifted me with a Bubi art object worn as a necklace and Adidas exercise shorts.

The next time I was at their apartment was with Scooter and Van; we were sitting at the terrace on a warm day and I was wearing a beloved Interview magazine promo tee Vanessa had gotten when she visited their offices in 1984. She used to wear that shirt when she painted canvases with acrylic; I remember how she wore it sitting at the edge of her futon on the floor, with the cover of Madonna's first album leaning against a wall nearby...its Steven Meisel cover staring at us.

As I was sitting throughout the terrace, Van remarked I looked like a bird of paradise fluttering about.

Every Strand An Inspiration: Summer Hair by Jeanise Avilés.

I stopped by Jeanise’s after work yesterday for fun hair play. After a big hug we engaged in uplifting conversation while she started pulling magic colors from a shelf.

Without having to say a word, she selected the exact colors I had in mind. Purple and fuchsia mostly, with her contribution of additional complements like lime green, deep blue, yellow and black.

We were talking about the responsibility of maintaining positive focus when realizing the power of manifesting…how important it is to keep it simple and positive…and understand maintaining a mental climate of happiness is essential to making dreams come true.

As we spoke, Jeanise told me she was having a great time coloring my hair, and I was honored. She was entering the zone, and I could feel she was approaching my hair like a canvas. She said I now had many “accessories” in my hair, as she was giving each dreadlock a unique treatment.

With beautiful intention, the hair came together, and I was blown away by the radiant color and Memphis-like patterns of her creation. I immediately started imagining collages of prints and juxtapositions of color and texture…

We watched Björk’s latest videos on her flat-screen TV and felt the power and emotion of her latest and mesmerizing work.

Before I left, we talked about getting together soon to cook something yummy and I was so excited I walked down the stairs leaving my hat and laptop case behind.

I called her and she walked down the stairs to meet me with the items, and together we walked to Casa Adela, where we said our good afternoons as she stepped in to grab some home-cooked food.