Great artists throughout history have found unusual sources for their inspiration. The pose of Michelangelo’s “David” was inspired by depictions of Hercules, the Roman god. DaVinci’s “Mona Lisa” was inspired by the artist’s males apprentice, Salai.
Paul McCartney was inspired to write The Beatle’s hit, “Yesterday”
after hearing it in a dream.
The world’s greatest creative minds have been able to make iconic
pieces of art by looking for inspiration in places no mere mortal would.
Hair colorist Ursula Goff from Kansas has made a name for herself and attracted nearly 150,000 followers on Instagram by finding inspiration in the bountiful colors of nature.
Goff takes unique combinations of colors found in natural phenomena such as insects, rainbows, planets, and sunsets and turns them into hair-dye palettes.
She posts photos her hair creations side by side their natural inspirations on Instagram.
Her clients can’t get enough of her attention-getting creations and trust her to follow her unique creative visions.
“My clients give me a lot of creative control,” she told Cosmopolitan. “I see things all the time that I’d love to do, so I set aside until I have a good opportunity to utilize them.”
“This [rainbow] look developed from an idea I got while flying home from a trip — as I watched the sunset over the clouds from my window seat, I began formulating an idea that consisted of smoky-colored clouds combined with brighter sunset shades. I actually took photos and sent them to as soon as my plane landed,” Goff said.
Goff found inspiration in a place few would consider, a hot spring.
“With the hot springs hair, [my client] told me she
definitely wanted gold this time with maybe some blues or purples,” Goff
explains. “So, I dug up probably about 15 inspiration photos to work from
and we collaborated until we found a concept she really loved. We were thrilled
with how striking the outcome was.”
Here are some more of Goff’s nature-inspired hairstyles.
While Goff is a master at creating fantastic hairstyles that look gorgeous on her and her clients, she’s quick to point out that the world of Instagram isn’t reality.
Far too many people fall into the trap of comparing themselves to the beautiful people of Instagram when a lot of their photos are done with smoke and mirrors.
She’s open about the fact that it takes hours of work, a lot of makeup, great lighting, and plenty of time beneath the blow-dryer to create these perfect looks.
Goff wants her followers to know that no one is perfect all the time and they should do their best to be themselves.
“Social media can make it easy to feel like everyone else is awesome and perfect all the time, but that’s really never true… In reality, nothing is perfect, life is messy, and people are flawed,” she wrote. “So the best way to be happy with yourself is to cultivate YOURSELF, vs. cultivating an IMAGE, or comparing yourself to everyone else.”
Goff created her magical hair designs by being herself and following her muse where few have traveled before. She hopes she can inspire her followers to do the same.
“Do the things you want to do, find things you love, figure out what and who you want to be, and then set out to do that stuff,” she wrote. “Think about what matters to you, and then try to engage with those activities, people, and/or values daily. Do you. For real.”
Photo credit: Ursula Goff/Instagram, Ursula Goff / Facebook.