It was my first day assisting a new artist. A rather frequent occurrence, but never short of a refreshing experience.
He walked in with two rolling suitcases, two duffels, and a change of shoes. “I’m going to have a Mr. Rogers moment, if you’ll excuse me real quick,” he said while I began to unload and he changed from his worn-in high top chucks to some newly-fresh white kicks.
He gave instruction for his vision to myself and his other assistant, and exuded patience as he watched us execute our technical capabilities. If we failed to get it right the first time, he trusted us to get it right at the next attempt. To me, that type of patience can only be demonstrated by a true artist – someone who understands what it takes to achieve artistic excellence and has realistic standards and expectations of his craft and fellow artisans.
But it wasn’t until he told us about his wife putting him on an iTunes budget for buying too much music that I realized, I think I have a Lost Hairdresser on my hands.
Before I left his side that day, I was sure to ask, “What do you want to be known for?” Granted, that’s a rather loaded question (that led to my purchasing a book from Amazon called The War of Art, which he reads once a year) but to break it down for you simply, here’s a taste of this week’s featured artist, the inspiring Edward Lampley:
Last album purchased:
My iTunes is telling me “This is All Yours” by ALT-J
Where do you draw inspiration from?:
I draw so much inspiration from many different places — music, art, travel, and my wife.
Best investment you’ve made to your kit:
Most challenging moment as a hairdresser:
The first six months that I went out on my own after assisting was probably one of the most challenging periods for me so far. I really had to learn to be myself and find out what my voice was.
Best lesson learned from assisting:
Practice practice practice until your hands can mimic what your eyes see.
Must see art exhibit:
Cutting paper into trees : The Art of Yuken Teruya
Advice you’d give to yourself ten years ago:
Never wear white shoes on a rainy day
Professional Aspirations for the future:
Do creative things with creative people
Artist you look up to:
If you could change one thing about our industry, what would it be?:
Our industry is in a constant state of change but if I could, I would like to push it in a direction of helping hairdressers really elevate the education and culture of hairdressing.
Edward Lampley is an editorial hair stylist represented by D+V management and based in NYC. His work speaks for itself – click here to see more.
Written by Ashley Rubell