Rules has always given artistic people restrictions. However, like the old saying, "you have to know the rules before you can break the rules". After two years of college, taking mostly business classes, I came to a conclusion that I really wanted to study art. In that time I was a receptionist at a local salon. Day after day working there, I analyzed different hairstylist: their style, their clients, how they use their hands, the tools they used, and finally the hair's final outcome. I quickly became addicted and thought to myself, "doing hair is like drawing!"
|
My
first step, no matter how reluctant, was
to learn the rules. For the first year
and a half I enrolled in Graham Webb
Academy, a renowned hair institution
from central London. They taught me the
most advance of the basics and the most
basics of the advance, enough skills for
95% of the hairstylist to have an
amazing career. I wasn't happy though
and craved for more. What Graham Webb
taught me was all I know, and that was
not enough for me to create what I want
freely. Unlike drawing where I already possessed the natural talent that only allows me to become better when taught the official education, I had no previous experience with hair. So to the gain the experience I lack, I flew to London to learn from the origin of hairstyling: Vidal Sassoon. Where Graham Webb taught me the basics of the advance, Vidal Sassoon taught me the evolution of haircutting. I still was not satisfied. I was not able to cut hair like drawing freely on a piece of paper. Cutting hair seems almost like tracing... not something I like to do. To keep things interesting for me, I created my own "tracing techniques". Where 99.9% of the hairstylist in the world can only cut with a single hand, I created in my early days in what I called "Bi-Directional Cutting" using geometrical equations known as the "Alizee Formula". This technique allows me to create my own guidelines on the fly, while alternating my scissors between both hands for a precise and balance cut. Quite happy I was... until I found Bruce Choy, the CEO and Founder of Flyingshears. Watching him cut for the first time was like seeing a great artist paint in their own realm. All the foundation I learned and created became nothing more then a background knowledge compared to what he was doing. If using both his hands simultaneously did not impress, seeing him hold at least 3 separate pairs of scissors in each hand surely will. What I realize was that he was not cutting the hair, he was sculpting the hair like a sculptor to an amazing piece of art. Before I knew it, I was at their training studio in Hong Kong and learn from the master, Bruce Choy himself; and became one of the first 5 in Asia to be officially certified. For the past year and a half I traveled back and forth across the world from Florida, Chicago, San Francisco, London, and Hong Kong...and more...from being taught to teaching others. I became to realize that my passion is not being on the road, but to be behind the chair, giving the best possible style to my clienteles. As of now there is only a rare and few certified Flyingshears professionals, and they mostly reside in Hong Kong. Because of this, I am officially halting my travels and focus my passion in the salon and photograhy. |
 |
