Meet Raven Macfarlane-bradbrook | Colorist/Hair Artist/ Cosmetologist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Raven Macfarlane-bradbrook and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Raven, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I feel like I was born into the arts. That it’s just where my heart belonged and what called to my soul. I remember when I was young. My mom used to take me to this lady’s house to pick out ceramics. It was in the early eighties. She would always pick out something for her to paint and then something for us to paint. If I was very good, I got to pick out my own thing to paint on my own. And then she would buy all the paints we need, and we would go home and paint them and then we take them back to the lady’s place and she would fire them. But what I loved was watching her paint, she wouldn’t just use the paints as they were, she would mix them together and create glosses and all this fun stuff. I loved watching the ceramics go from these plain things to stuff with depth and movement just with color. She would take me to galleries and museums, plays as a young child. Creativity in the arts is the only thing that made sense to me. It’s the only thing that spoke to me.

As I got older I tried to fit in, I tried office jobs, but I just felt like part of my heart and soul was void dead and empty. I was floundering around, not too sure what I wanted to do for a living. And the gentleman who was doing my hair. He asked me if I want to do work office jobs forever. And i’m like, no it just feels beige and tasteless. He asked me if I’d ever consider doing hair. I said no, most of the girls I knew that do hair were either of the girls that bullied the artsy goth girl in school, or they were the girls who were born behind the chair. I remember he told me school teaches you the technical, what you cannot teach someone how to do is how to have an eye for color that is a gift and I think you have it.

My mom has always been my mentor my hero, my Goddess, my world. I remember when I told her she was so pleased because her baby finally figured out how to do something with the arts and make a living out of it.

To me, when someone sits on my chair, they’re a canvas. They are asking me to paint to create to create movement, dimension, to turn them into art. I have been doing this almost twenty five years. I tell people i’m very fortunate in life to be able to do something I love for a living, to be able to create to be able to turn people into beautiful works of art. I love when my clients turns and looks at theirself in the mirror and they run their fingers through their hair and they tell me they feel beautiful. The world is so complicated and can be so dark. What better gift can you give someone than to feel beautiful? And how lucky am I then? Not only can I give someone that gift of beauty but, I can create and be my authentic self in the process.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I think what sets me apart is how I view what I do as art. I view it with passion and love. It is a rare thing to do something you love passionately for a living and to be able to be your self in the process.

It’s not been an easy road for me. As with anybody entrenched in the arts, there’s ebbs, and flows. Being someone who has not outwardly “conservative” can make things a bit more challenging, but I also think that people can tell when someone is real and that draws those people in.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh goodness this is a hard one. I’m a mom to a special needs child. And i’m much older now, so my idea of find tends to be a lot more quiet.

I would explore downtown greensboro. There are some beautiful places, I would take a look into small, locally owned places. Also, personally, I find green hill cemetery absolutely stunning, so I would definitely do a picnic there. I would check and see the museums, and galleries, Greensboro has a lot of things people don’t realize.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to thank my mom, she was my world. She raised me to believe in my dreams and to reach for the stars and to find beauty and magic in everything. She taught me to be my true, authentic self and to be passionate.

I also want to thank my husband who believed in me. When I didn’t believe in myself and gave me the confidence to open my own salon.

I want to thank all my clients, my friends, my chosen family, who have held my hand and believed in me and stood by me and enjoy the little space that has been created for them.

Instagram: ravenhairapothecary

Image Credits
Just me. I took them all