Review: Diva Dreads

Today, I (Visionary Bri) want to tell you about this abso-freaking-lutely awesome company, Diva Dreads.

Are you interested in dread falls? I am. I love the look of dreads, but I also love the feeling of running a brush through my hair and massaging my scalp, so I'm just not ready for the dread commitment.

I found those videos on YouTube. You know the ones. "Make your own yarn dreadfalls!" Well, I bought two things of yarn and got to work. For a week, I dilligently made my dread falls, excited that I'd soon have an awesome hair piece to rock.

But I was sorely disappointed. I'm sure that if you're trying to make them for fun colors, they're okay. But the final product looks less than stellar.

"But I wanted 'em to be beautiful. . . "

After doing some research, I came across a wonderful company out of California called Diva Dreads. Looking at their site, I sent them an inquiry email immediately. I think that this has been one of the absolute best hair decisions I've ever made. Diva Dreads far surpassed my expectations, as a company.

All their dreads are hand-made by a mother and her two daughters. Send them a picture of your hair and they custom blend colors to match and compliment your real hair. And how lucky am I? Diva Dreads sent Visionary Bri my very own custom dread falls to review. 

Now I'm one stylin' chicka and I want to wear my new dreadfalls everywhere!

This is the picture I sent for color matching.

Now, here's a picture of the dread falls Diva Dreads made for me. Notice all the different tones and colors that make these dread falls just *pop*!

 

See those pretty orange flowers? Those were included!

Every pair of dreadfalls by Diva Dreads

gets a pair of complimentary flower clips!

Somehow, I expected the dreads to be stiff, but these aren't. They feel and move just like my natural hair. Do you see the beads that Diva Dreads put on? Those are handmade limited run beads and all the beads that Diva Dreads uses are. They look like aged brass and they're just so neat! The ends of the dreads taper off like natural hair and look astounding both up close and far away.

I'm a big fan of using faux hair in fashion and I own several pieces. All the top bellydancers in the US are using Diva Dreads for their falls and they're the hands-down best hair accessories I've ever worn. 

Another cool thing? When your purchase your own dread falls from Diva Dreads, they're guaranteed for life! If you wear them to a festival, dance with them in or go to Burning Man and they get dirty or become loose? Just send them to Diva Dreads and for $10, they'll clean them, tighten them and send 'em back to you! I have never heard of another company that does this and it's really great to know that Diva Dreads is serious about and helpful with maintaining the beauty and quality of their products.

I can not rave enough about this company. So stop on by their site and get yourself a brand new beauty product that you'll love and will last you for the rest of your life. Heck, get 5 or 6 in different colors (they come in the whole rainbow) and tell 'em that Visionary Bri sent you! I know that I'm going to be getting some brown ones with purple in them, in the future.

Now, for the absolute best part. Go and "like" Diva Dreads on Facebook. Send 'em a message saying where you saw this review. Order from their site and tell 'em Visionary Bri sent you, or even just email them and tell them how awesome they are. Diva Dreads has agreed that, if we get enough of a buzz going, they'll do a giveaway and one lucky reader will a set of CUSTOM dread falls for their very-own-self!

That's right, loves. Now, get out there and spread this post. Put it on Reddit. Tweet it. G+ it. Share it on Facebook. Put it in an appropriate linky. Let's get the buzz of this Visionary Friend going! I really would love to run this giveaway, so get to sharing, my lovelies.

And don't forget that we're all Visionaries. We just have to figure out where we excel!

Love to All,

-Bri

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Willing to Be Wrong

Sir Ken Robinson, author, TED speaker and advocate for creatives, told a story of a six year-old girl in school.

The girl was sitting in the back of the classroom drawing when the teacher walked back to her and asked “What are you drawing?” “I’m drawing a picture of God," she said. The teacher laughed said, “But nobody knows what God looks like.” And the little girl said “They will in a minute.”

With this tale, Sir Robinson is explaining to us that children aren’t afraid to take chances. If they don’t know something, they’ll risk failing or being wrong. Creativity, in and of itself, isn’t about being wrong, but to quote Sir Robinson: “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”

Children who are still okay with being wrong are the most creative, you can see it by giving them crayons or blocks or paint. Without having much knowledge of the world, kids pour their creativity out in the form of play.

What can we big people learn from this?

My children have always been my best teachers. Through my time with my daughter, Pookie, I've reclaimed the joy of banging on pots with a wooden spoon and I've picked up blocks to build towers with.

Most often, we use our knowledge and life experiences to draw from in creating. Robert Epstein says, “Creativity, in short, is not something mystical; it’s an extension of what you already know. To be more specific, new behaviors (or ideas) emerge as old behaviors interact.”

 I used my art and writing as therapy for a long time. I processed my life experiences and let it all flow down onto the paper because I was denied access to actual therapy for various reasons.

Was everything that came out good? Oh, hell no! But Jack Smith said it best, "You have to be willing to be bad for 20 years in order to be great and, even then, there is no guarantee."

In my younger years, my writing was trite and shallow, but I did have moments of insight and profound wordsmithing. I did have art that was well-received enough to get me a solo gallery showing during my first semester of art school. I was okay with being horrible. I was okay with working for years without success, even though success did come. In this way, I was able to find my authentic voice and deepen my artistic vision. These things only come with time.

But what is the secret to being creative?

Steve Jobs, before his death, explained that “creativity is just connecting things.”

It’s a promoted idea that the best ideas flow from what we already know, like the river that originates from one spring. But what if we don’t know very much? What if we've never been creative in our life, yet have that deep urge to paint or sew or dance or act?

My advice is to watch children. What do children do if they don’t know something? They think about it and give it a whirl. They try. And they try without huge clouds of doubt and fear above their head.

If you go into a kindergarten classroom and ask, "Who can draw me a air plane?" Every single child raises their hand. Somewhere along the line, we are taught that not everyone can draw. Not everyone can write. Not everyone can run well or catch a ball. So, we sit on the sidelines while the star athlete catches the ball. We read and read and read, but never pick up the pen to write our own story.

I've never figured out why or how this process happens. All I know is that, somewhere, we learn that if you do something badly, you shouldn't do it at all. We're taught that making a mistake leads to mocking, to torment and to ostracism. It opens us up to hurtful criticism and social pitfalls. We think that being wrong makes us look like a newbie (which we often are at new things, but no one wants to be called that).

In Buddhism, they talk about approaching things with a beginner's mind. That means a fresh perspective. To approach something as if you've never done it before. From this mindset, new ideas emerge and innovations are spawned.

If you wanted to make yourself an outfit, but had no idea about what society says you should wear, how would you dress? I think fashion designers (especially the couture ones) think like this a lot. And it's awesome! It's new and exciting and spins our eyes and our thoughts in a whole new way.

My lovelies, this weekend, I want to encourage you to risk being wrong. I want you to do something you think you're bad at and try to be okay with it. If you're not "the best" at something, it's okay! It just means that you're learning and that is a very precious time.

My beautiful souls, I believe that we can release all these negative ideas about ourselves. So what if I can't shoot a three-pointer in basketball if my life depended on it. So what if, when I try to draw a shoe, it kinda looks like a space craft? Who says that there can't be a race of little alien toe people who just love flying around in their loafer-ship?

Mischievous toe-alien

Reach, my darlings. Stretch! Go beyond what you think you can do and be willing to be bad at it. It's only through being "bad" that we learn how to do the best that we can. No one expects you to come into this life, rip roaring and ready to paint The Sistine Chapel at 8 months old. We've all got to work at it and that's completely okay.


And please remember, my precious loves, we are all visionaries. We just have to figure out where we excel.

Until next time, love to all.

-Bri


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Doodlers, Unite!

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about a fun approach to start working in your sketchbook called Zendoodle or Zentangle. You may ask what the point of this is, just having fun with drawing. "I'm not creating 'serious art'!" you say. "I'm just muddling around."

As it turns out, this "just paying around" in your sketchbook has great benefits for all of us. See: this video.

See?

I'd like to take this one step further. Not only is "doodling" considered inappropriate in the work place, but in the realm of "serious art," it is looked down upon. The world of serious, professional art has a high level of critique. "Why did you use that brand of paper?" "What did you mean to invoke by using blue, here, instead of (say) yellow?" "Is this a cultural commentary?"

In fact, outside of elementary school (and even in there, some times) the art of play, of puttering around, of being absentminded or creating just for the joy of doing it is looked down upon and I have never understood why.

At our most fundamental levels, we are mammals and all mammals engage in play. Not only as children, but as adults as well. It facilitates social connections keeps us physically and mentally sharp and releases hormones that increase our sense of well-being.

"Playing around," both in your sketchbook and in your life has nothing but 100% positive implications and effects upon you. I encourage you to step outside of your box, your rules, your thoughts of "I wanted to draw a horse, but a horse doesn't look like that," and let yourself play. Play in your sketchbook, play in your life. Let go of rules and "should's" and "can't."

Let us free spirits, us joyful beings, us doodlers and muddlers and dreamers unite and spread the word. Rigidity and sternness break. Flowing and merriment endure, enliven and invigorate!


Keep playing, my dears. And please remember that we are all visionaries. We just have to figure out where we excel.


Love to All,


Bri



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My Line Work

In my last blog post, Line Play, Zendoodle and Baby Steps, I talked about work with lines as well as discussing a form called Zentangle or Zendoodle. (Find a How-To on Zendoodle, here.) As you play with this concept in your sketchbook this week, I thought I would show you what I've been up to.

First, I thought I'd show you just a basic black line play that I did. I used my Zebra Emulsion EX pen in black that I have recently gotten as a free sample. I was just mucking about with this piece and it took me somewhere between 2 and 3 hours to do.

It's not much, but it's fun to do. You can see that I experimented with straight lines, curved lines, line thickness, line length and brevity and even "line" as negative space. Once you get started, it's really addicting.

Next, there is this one. This one is a line play like the last, but I used a blue Bic Mark-It Permanent Markers Ultra Fine Point. It bleeds a little, but I like Mark-Its and Sharpies for their vivid, vibrant colors. Once I know how a marker is going to bleed, I can work around it.

In this last drawing, I play with line and multiple colors. This is a doodle I've made since high school and it shows up in a lot of my pieces. In this piece, I used Sharpie Ultra Fine Point Permanent Markers, which I just love. I've left the insides of the shapes blank so you can see how just simple doodles with color can make interesting visual components.

Maybe later, I'll go back and add detail inside the doodles. But, even if I don't, I love how this doodle looks every single time I do it. There's no set pattern and each piece always unfolds second by second and I never know what the whole piece will look like until it's done. I like the spontaneity of the process, the surprise of the effect and the way I can make colors play off of each other. This is a doodle that I will probably draw for the rest of my life. Call it my signature piece.

What do you doodle? Was there something that you always drew on the back of your notebooks in school? Is there something you doodle in the margins while you're on the phone at work? If so, don't dismiss these little gems as "just a doodle." "Just a doodle" can turn into something pretty cool, if you just work with it a bit. Never ignore what you go back to, time and again. That means there is something worth exploring there. It means that there's something there that your mind and hand find interesting. And, if your mind finds it interesting, other people will too.

Keep on creating, my lovelies. Keep on art-ing.


And please remember that we are all visionaries. We just have to figure out where we excel.



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