image by Genna Yussman Greene/Absolute Studio

PAINTED LOVE

Matthew Tyldesley November 9, 2020

Inspiration can come from anywhere and ideas can pop randomly in my head at any given time. It was during shift doing hair where a former boss (Charles Robinson) discussed he was going to Sam’s Club to get salon cleaning supplies. I had asked him to get me some Libman cloth mop heads and he gladly obliged and he returned later that week with a three pack.

Behind the lens with Genna and on set with models, Rilley & Kimberly

I wanted to eventually do some wigs using them but they ended up staying in a closet in my hair room for almost four years. As with a lot or projects they don’t always happen immediately. Work schedules, travel, Prep time and everyone’s schedules play factors when creating photoshoots.

it was last summer that I had embarked on several creative photoshoots with Genna Yussman Greene of Absolute Studio in Louisville, Kentucky. During one of our lengthy creative phone conversation with Genna that we discussed doing a fun “colorful” photoshoot inspired by bright colors, bold textures, fantasy, graffiti art. I had been holding onto the pack of floor mops for years that I wanted to make wigs. Remembering this I couldn’t wait to tell Genna about my idea. She loved the idea and was in the process of designing a tie-dye gown for a female model. Suddenly our ideas had materialized and we started working on our designs for this project.

I spent a few weeks prepping the wigs into mops after work and on my off days. Cutting pieces from each mop unveiling fun, avant garde hairstyles. To color the wigs I used canned hair color spray in various bright colors. I overlapped the colors and made stencils from cardboard to shield over the wigs as I layered the different colors onto each piece. This was one of the few projects where I would be doing hair but would not need hairspray.

For this project we decided to book two models from out of state. We had in the past worked with Cincinnati, and Atlanta models, Kimberly Baur and Jacob Rilley. We booked hotel rooms for the models and they drove in the night before. Scheduling can sometimes be a challenge and I was not able to book any of my make up artist friends. Luckily I have experience doing make up and have watch several of my peers doing make up to know what I’m doing. This would be an opportunity to exercise my skills as both a make up artist and hairstylist.

Both models were a breeze to work with with high energy and good direction taking. Both had a career that included dance as well as several runway and hair show experience. I spent a total of three hours of prepping the models. I braided both Kimberly and Rilley’s hair up so the mops would become their hair and I could easily start working on their make up. I used various color palettes and creams using different make up brushes turning both models into colorful masterpieces.

I even had time to polish both model’s nail using various colors then all I had left to do was place their wigs on top their heads. Genna would then dress them and we used various locations at the studio. It was a very hot August day… bless both models for wearing the wigs in wardrobe in full make up. We spent a total of eight hours from start to finish. I alternated hairstyles twice as did Genna with wardrobe and she photographed them in studio and outside. We used colorful props such as marbled balloons, paint brushes and a mask.

The images turned out beautiful and was one of the last projects we got to work on before the covid shutdown. We submitted the collection during quarantine and it was published in a lovely spread in Volant Magazine in June 2020. We were so grateful for the publishing as everyone worked so hard on this project.

Genna and I miss doing photoshoots and we look forward to a time when things can return to normal. Covid has changed everything and that’s okay… as I believe down time is a way to create new ideas, to be re-inspired and to work on other projects. Above all it’s also about being happy and healthy and spending time with the ones you love. Thanks for reading and see you next time.

xoxoxo Matt

Credits

Photography/Wardrobe: Genna Yussman Greene @gennayussman

Hair/Make Up: Matthew Tyldesley @hairbymatt

Models:

Kimberly Baur @iamkimberlybaur

Rilley Jacob @rilleyjacob

8x5x11 jpgcp.jpg — image by Genna Yussman Greene/Absolute Studio

The making of “Painted Love”

on set with Genna, Micah and “Alice” (Olive)

Wonderland Holiday

Matthew Tyldesley September 10, 2019

I’ve always had an infinity for fantasy and childhood tales…one of the fables that always comes to mind is Lewis Carol’s “Alice In Wonderland” & “Through the Looking Glass”. The inspiration for this collection was fueled by my imagination to reimagined the classic fairytale.

I wanted to create more of an avant garde interpretation and chose only a few of the standout characters to develop for this collection. The obvious selections, Alice and the Queen of hearts and I chose to do the Mad Hatter.

hair prep, Alice’s headers and custom earrings

Of course I enlisted the help of Genna Yussman Greene at our studio, Absolute Studio. She would curate the wardrobe as well as doing photography and Micah Severo would be the make up artist for this collection.

Of course preparation for this took a very long time; several months and several purchases of hair extensions from Ebonyline and Doctored locks with various lengths but I got a great deal on 22 inch hair extensions.

The hair took 6 month to prepare as I had a full schedule of traveling for shows and taking care of my clientele behind the chair. I would have to order several lots of hair extenisons wait for them to arrive.

I had to color all the hair prior to using them. They had to dry and be styled and I made from three front lace wigs all hand sewn. Top hair pieces that would adorn each model and wanted to take it to another level by fabricating matching earrings made of hair that would be worn by each model.

Lots of money was spent on hair and materials. I fabricated a metal base for the Queen of hearts. I would take large sheets of red hair and cut and roll them into roses. I mixed variations of red hues to layer and to show off the texture of the hair.

it’s all in the details…it’s all about the hair

Rachel’s I mean, “Mad Hattresses” big close up

I decided I wanted to book a female model of the Mad hatter/ Mad Hattress. For her hair I created a long black front lace wig of which I colored large panels of violet and blue. I again fabricated hair “Mats” by using Redken’s Control Addict 28 and an iron to fuse the hair together. Afterwards hair was cut into squares on which I made a patchwork hat using a active mesh base. Very lightweight but strong enough to support the shape of her hat. I also rolled hair like I had done on the Queens hair and layered them around the rim of the hat.

For Alice I created a blonde wig with bright yellow panels and a created this huge flower-like piece that was made from custom yellow mat hair. Folding and glueing the piece like an accordian. I played around with the yellow pigment to get variations in tonality.

The earrings were a lot of fun, tedious and required a lot of time and patients. I twist wrapped kanekalon hair around florist wire using a hot glue gun. After the pieces were done I shaped them and hand sewn them together to become pairs of earrings for each model to wear.

I’m obsessed with the wardrobe Genna put together. Dark hues with bright tones and brooches, textiles and safety pins were added to each model. She made sure to layer texture and distinction of each character quite obvious.

It’s all in the details. Discussing make up with Micah

We photographed each model on dark, velvet backdrops with props for a darker vibe. Cincinnati, make up artist Micah did beautiful, clean makeup. I love the bee stung lips he did on the queen of hearts.

For model selection I booked Olive Flick of Heyman Talent Agency to play Alice, Margarita Karizskaja to play the queen of hearts and Rachel Madison to portray the Mad Hattress.

The shoot took all day of ten hours and very cold as we were working in the month of December. Everyone did a fabulous job of transforming all the models into the characters.

All about the make up with Rachel and Micah

We were honored to have this collection in six page spread in the limited edition, hard copy holiday collection in Faddy Magazine in Italy. When I received my copy in the mail I had cried…I hadn’t seen our work in that format. After all the work, time and money this collection required it was all worth it seeing it in print. I am so grateful to this team.

Credits

Models:

Olive Flick (Heyman Talent Agency) @oliveflick

Margarita Karizskaja @margarita_karizskaja

Rachel Madison @officialrachelmadison

Hair / Creative Direction / Earrings | Matthew Tyldesley @hairbymatt

Photography / Wardrobe / Set | Genna Yussman Greene @gennayussman

Make Up | Micah Severo @micahsevero

Assistant | Tony Welscher

Official making of video for “Wonderland Holiday”

Shock Menagerie

Matthew Tyldesley August 22, 2019

Last summer, I was asked by make up artist Rebecca Rhodes to create a wig that would adorn her model for a make up competition of which she was entering. I willingly agreed to create a black and yellow avant grade wig for her to use during her live competition.

She was thrilled with the piece I had created and I delivered it to her at the Galt House downtown louisville for the live competition, “Battle of the Brushes”. I had mentioned to her possibly do a collabo with lots of color and several models.

The next day I found out she had won second place at “Battle of the Brushes” with her amazing makeup on her model, Katya. I quickly messaged her to congratulate her on her win and again suggested we do a collection and she agreed.

At “Battle of the Brushes” with model, Katya and Make up artist, Rebecca

I had contacted my team at Absolute Studio, Genna Yussman Greene and one his last collections, Tony Welscher to be part of this exciting collaboration.

of course, a shoot takes planning so I needed a few weeks to fabricate the details and map out the plans. I do a lot of bookings but this time I left that job to Rebecca. With she booked Katie Leigh Tarr, Lucy Duane and Rebecca Bien and modeled herself as the fourth model.

For the hair I wanted bold contrast, Primary colors and black. I would again use the black and yellow wig from the competition as one of the pieces. I got to really play and experiment; my materials for this included Kanekalon hair, yarn, rubber covered wiring and wig mesh. I loved layering the textures and used cut wig mesh that I woven hair extensions through. The hair became quite pliable and would be easy to form on the models.

Another wig had me sewing wig mesh into a tubular shape of which I later stuff with red and blue kanekalon hair. Repeating the same technique with the crochet hook for the bulk of the surface.

Genna provided black tops and a really cool futuristic shoulder piece along with matching armor bands that we rotated on each of the models.

I decided for one of the pieces I would take a mesh wig cap and overstuff it with the orange and yellow kanekalon hair and secure the end. Afterwards I took a small crochet hook and pulled hair out at various lengths for the frothy surface texture. I made several that I could build around hair forms on top of a secured scalp braided wig wrap on one of the models.

Rebecca did amazing cohesive face and body make up on each of the models. The entire process took over eight hours at Absolute Studio. Tony photographed each model on a solid black drop and Genna retouched the images for release.

Our collection was beautifully released in a five page spread in Beau NU magazine January 2019 issue.

Credits

Models:

Lucy Duane (Heyman Talent Agency) @lucyduane

Katie Leigh Tarr (Heyman Talent Agency) @kt_tarr

Rebecca Bien

Rebecca Renne Rhodes

Make Up: Rebecca Renee Rhodes @porcelain_kween

Hair : Matthew Tyldesley @hairbymatt

Wardrobe/Retouch: Genna Yussman Greene @gennayussman

Photography: Tony Welscher for Absolute Studio

BTS making of “Shock Menagerie”

The SUCCUBUS Chronicles

Matthew Tyldesley September 24, 2018

Succubus. Vampire. Demon. Creatures of the Night. Years ago I did a a collaborative series fueled by my love of horror films and halloween. It would exercise my passion for fashion and hair, produce two sequel, involve lots of talented artists, published three times and created an amazing experience. Looking back in retrospect we created a timeless body of work that is worth a revisit….The Succubus Chronicles

Succubus Origins image by Joey Goldsmith

dream team: discussing our vision captured image by Gary Barragan

Succubus Origins photo by Joey Goldsmith

The initial collection was conjured together with award winning make up artist, Isidro Valencia and with published photographer, Joey Goldsmith. The three of us discussed our love for all things macabre and dark and wanted to create a serious collection inspired by the folklore of the “succubus”. I was responsible with both hair and styling along with creative direction with both Joey and Isidro. We secured three models and got permission to shoot at the historical Culbertson Mansion in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky.

selfie with photographer, Joey and videographer, Blake

We spent an entire day at the eerie Culbertson mansion with its beautiful construction and full of historical antiques. I was not allowed to use hairspray whatever on the premises as it would collect in the air and unto the vintage heirlooms. That was a fun challenge. I was also in charge of styling and purchased expensive garments from Goodwill of which I paired jewelry and accessories.

Joey did an amazing job of telling a story with the three models we had. He scouted various areas of the mansion prior to setting up lights and for staging every area we utilized. Jacey Calloway was our lead who created the allure and beauty a succubus needs in order to drain the life and energy from her victims. Chris Diaz and Erica Goldsmith play the unsuspecting couple that venture into the home of the succubus. As the night progress so do Jacey’s power and both Erica and Chris become creatures of the night.

styling Elora’s mane. Image by Gary Barragan

s-3NyELzD7gs8d9GXPYdnY3FjrUSIx3wFWjncudEfQQ,RkZFwhNx8gWCqU9AiGMtuxO5vhx0cLcjX5LFOQBBgR0.jpeg — Succubus Origins image by Joey Goldsmith

Isidro created a very clean palette that encompassed the sultriness the models needed but turned it up a notch when the Succubus turned into her dark form. Heavy kohl rimmed eyes and defined brows with lots of contour and red lips. For hair I made a lot of custom extensions but wanted lots of texture with curls and lots of volume. Kind of the old world meets the new world for a timeless feel.

bts of my working area: tools and vision board to bring the vision to life

We had custom nails designed by nail designer Maritza Cabalerro and had bts imaged photographed by Gary Barragan. The collection, “Succubus” debuted in Australia’s Like a Lion magazine fall issue.

Teaser for the upcoming Succubus-Incubus fashion editorial. Goldsmith photography Matthew tyldesley Redken artist Valencia make-up Liberty Designs Dark Heart Creative

Succubus Incubus photo by Joey Goldsmith

amazing working design bts by Genna Yussman Greene worn by Jacey

A sequel was brought up a year later and we wanted to go bigger and harder with this one. So many ideas came to mind but we knew the fashions would play a larger role for this and so we asked designer Genna Yussman Greene to create a collection for a follow up to our Succubus. She created a very slick and sexy collection in dark hues of red, violet and black featuring various textures, slim fitting and strategically showed off skin.

SUCCUBUS BTS VIDEO BY DARK HEART CREATIVE

working design bts by Genna Yussman Greene worn by Erica and Elora

We talked about using Jacey as our lead and inviting both Erica and Chris back but needed to up the ante and added two new models, Elora Antunez and John Wells. We split the shooting in two days. Day one was at ThoughtFly Studios and focused more on the artistry of hair and make up and was strictly beauty images. Day 2 was on location in full fashion editorial mode. This way we created two collections with two completely different vibes using the same models.

Genna’s original designs based on our vision per our meetings

This time we got permission to use the lovely home of Janice Carter Levitch who had home in the highlands: Old gorgeous home covered with lots of shrubbery, stones and trees. There were lots of areas outside that provided a beautiful landscaped to create the darker world of the Succubus.

wardrobe touch up and model posing inspiration with Genna

capturing both stills and video of Jacey and John with Blake and Joey. Image by Gary Barragan

We again invited photographer, Gary Barragan back again to shoot bts images and brought in videographer, Blake McGrew who filmed promotional teasers and a small documentary. Maritza Cabellero was gracious again to create new set of nails for all the models to wear.

John and Erica on set with Joey. Image by Gary Barragan

working design bts by Genna Yussman Greene worn by Jacey

We spent an entire day (14 hours) staging, prepping models and photographing all models. We were tired but knew we had made magic. Isidro pushed the makeup much more: much darker and harder and I turned up the hair full fashion runway volume with classic waves and vampy curls.

Joey capturing Elora behind the lens. Image by Gary Barragan

our creatures of the night, Elora, Jacey & Chris

The collection, “Succubus / Incubus” debuted an impressive spread as well as grace the cover of Imperial Magazine’s fall issue and our beauty collection, “Succubus: Creatures of the Night” was a Bangstyle exclusive collection.

I am beyond proud of these collections, the amount of work that went into them and the artists that combined their gifts and talents to create these timeless collections.

so much fun on set. image by Gary Barragan

Succubus: Children Of The Night photo by Joey Goldsmith

CREDITS

Photography/Creative Direction | Joey Goldsmith @joeygoldsmithphoto

Hair/Creative Direction | Matthew Tyldesley @hairbymatt

Make Up/Creative Direction | Isidro Valencia @valencia0612

Wardrobe | Genna Yussman Greene @gennayussman

MODELS

Jacey Calloway @hownowmeowcatt

Erica Goldsmith @ericagoldsmithactress

Chris Diaz @chrisryandiaz

Elora Antunez @mermaidqueen25

John Scott Wells @john_scott_well

BTS Photography | Gary Barragan @photobygaryb

Videography | Blake McGrew | Dark Heart Creative @darkheartcreative

Make Up Assistant | Anna Catalina Perez @anacperezhmua

Wardrobe Assistants | Kali Shmuckie | Jamie Boston Guest

Special Thanks to Culbertson Mansion, Like A Lion Magazine, Imperial Magazine, Bangstyle and Janice Carter Levitch, Eric Baker and ThoughtFly Studios.

Jacey behind the lens with Joey. Image by Gary Barragan

the make up master working on his canvas

with my Bestie, Isidro. Image by Gary Barragan

memorabalia: digital tearsheet from Like A Lion

memorabilia: featured collection from Bangstyle

Anomaly

Matthew Tyldesley November 15, 2017

I love Avant Garde hairstyling, anything goes. This collection stems from my love for all things horror and sci fi. I wanted this collection to have the asian horror feel to it and the models would become these beautiful, macabre "mutants". I wanted the hair to create visual movement, that similar to water pouring from a pitcher.

The complete collection photographed by Jacob Roberts

I knew I did not want wardrobe for this collection and instead opted for body make up by award winning make up artist, Isidro Valencia. We had previously worked together with photographer, Jacob Roberts who shot Isidro's Make up collection a year prior. I knew I wanted him to photograph this collection based on his style of photography.

The team for "Anomaly"image by Derek Hibben — The team for "Anomaly"
image by Derek Hibben

This collection was 1 of 5 shoots executed in the winter of 2016 for NAHA 2017. Although it was not nominated we were honored to have it featured on Bangstyle.

I did some preliminary sketches for inspiration but was most inspired when I visited a local hair shop and fund two-toned hair extensions in various lengths. I took them home and quickly unpackaged them. I hand cut wire mesh to create the base for the hairpieces by shaping them into "stair like" pieces in various lengths.

I then meticulously hot glued the extensions parallel onto the mesh frames. The top pieces were created by cutting the hair away from the "weft" and sewing them into the shape to dorm the top of the hairpieces.

model Max Whelanmake up Isidro Valencia — model Max Whelan
make up Isidro Valencia

I love creating something that will eventually be adapted to the model's head. I was very happy with models I booked for this collection. I wanted both male and female models.

the blonde shape.... you can see were the top is made of the wefted piece from hair extensions

model Jasmine Grahammake up Isidro Valencia — model Jasmine Graham
make up Isidro Valencia

To adhere the hair pieces to each models head, scalp hair was cornrowed to create a supportive base for hair and bobbie pins. The top pieces were created by cutting hair extension at the "wefted" (where the hair was sewn together) coverging them together with needle and thread.

styling hair on MaxImage by Derek Hibben — styling hair on Max
Image by Derek Hibben

Prep time for each model average 2 1/2 hours for both hair and make up for a total of 7 hours. We started early on a cold morning fortunately I rented a nice studio space at Breckingridge Inn. We staggered the models so they would be fresh and energized for their time in front of the lens and to give us adequate time to ready each model. I made sure to have plenty of food on set to keep everyone happy.

Working with Isidro is amazing. We always pair well together on set. He created a red contour look on each of the models bodies an faces, Dark rimmed eyeliner on the female models and red lips on all models.

it takes a village working with isidro to prefect the look on max

I loved the lighting set up and the way that Jacob photographed the models. Each of the models really brought the characters to life,

checking images on camera | selecting the best picture of each model

discussing the subjects on cameraimage by Derek Hibben — discussing the subjects on camera
image by Derek Hibben

I submitted the collection to Lori Balsamian at Bangstyle and she loved the collection and wanted to exclusively feather it.

Credits

Hair | Matthew Tyldesley @hairbymatt

Photography | Jacob Roberts @jacobroberts.photo

Make up | Isidro Valencia @valencia0612

Models | Jasmine Graham @jas.nicole22

| Brooke Taylor @modelbrooketaylor

| Max Whelan @notrealmaxwhelan

bts making video of Anomaly

I was so grateful for the team. It's amazing to see a collection materialize from a concept start to finish. The process can be time consuming booking all the right people and gathering an building all the components but when everyone brings their talents that when magic is created.