Brushstrokes of Dreams: A Makeup Artist's Journey

By RiverMasonEromosele and Pilar Scratch

Jose Miguel Clark-Hilery has been working as a makeup artist for eighteen years, bringing a unique style to his work thanks to his diverse background and experience. As a child, he loved painting and being creative in school and outside of it. As he grew older, he got more involved in the artistic world, participating in theatre in high school and working in the fashion industry. It was during a Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion show in 1993, while attending FIT as a fashion design major in New York, that he realized he wanted to pursue a career as a makeup artist after seeing the captivating creativity of the makeup artist backstage.

• Language: English
• Publisher: RiverMasonEromosele
• Release date: Oct 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215689196

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

captivated by the

transformative

power of makeup

I n t h e b u s t l i n g s t r e e t s o f J e r s e y C i t y , a y o u n g b o y w i t h a h e a r t f u l l o f d r e a m s l o o k e d o u t a t t h e w o r l d w i t h w o n d e r . J o s e i s a b u d d i n g m a k e u p a r t i s t d e s t i n e d t o l e a v e h i s m a r k o n t h e b e a u t y i n d u s t r y .

G r o w i n g u p i n a m o d e s t a p a r t m e n t w i t h h i s s i n g l e m o t h e r a n d t w o l o v i n g s i s t e r s , h e l e a r n e d e a r l y o n t h a t l i f e w a s a c a n v a s w a i t i n g t o b e p a i n t e d w i t h h i s u n i q u e v i s i o n .

F r o m a n e a r l y a g e , J o s e w a s c a p t i v a t e d b y t h e t r a n s f o r m a t i v e p o w e r o f m a k e u p . A s h e w a t c h e d h i s m o t h e r , a s t r o n g a n d r e s i l i e n t w o m a n , c a r e f u l l y a p p l y h e r m a k e u p e a c h m o r n i n g , h e w a s m e s m e r i z e d b y t h e w a y a f e w s t r o k e s o f c o l o r c o u l d e n h a n c e o n e ' s n a t u r a l b e a u t y a n d b o o s t c o n f i d e n c e . I t w a s i n t h o s e m o m e n t s t h a t a s p a r k i g n i t e d w i t h i n h i m — a p a s s i o n f o r a r t i s t r y a n d s e l f -

e x p r e s s i o n .

W h i l e o t h e r b o y s h i s a g e p l a y e d w i t h a c t i o n f i g u r e s a n d s p o r t s e q u i p m e n t , J o s e f o u n d s o l a c e i n h i s m o t h e r ' s m a k e u p s t a s h . W i t h t h e s u p p o r t o f h i s s i s t e r s , w h o s e r v e d a s h i s e n t h u s i a s t i c m o d e l s , h e b e g a n e x p e r i m e n t i n g w i t h d i f f e r e n t l o o k s , a l l o w i n g h i s i m a g i n a t i o n t o r u n w i l d . H i s b e d r o o m b e c a m e a s a n c t u a r y , a d o r n e d w i t h p o s t e r s o f m a k e u p a r t i s t s a n d f a s h i o n i c o n s , i n s p i r i n g h i m t o d r e a m b i g .

Image 5

Y e t , a s J o s e v e n t u r e d o u t s i d e h i s s a f e h a v e n , h e c o u l d n ' t e s c a p e t h e j u d g m e n t a n d s t e r e o t y p e s t h a t s o c i e t y i m p o s e d o n h i m . I n a w o r l d w h e r e m a k e u p w a s o f t e n a s s o c i a t e d w i t h f e m i n i n i t y , h e f a c e d h i s f a i r s h a r e o f c h a l l e n g e s a n d c r i t i c i s m . B u t J o s e r e f u s e d t o l e t o t h e r s d e f i n e h i m . W i t h u n w a v e r i n g d e t e r m i n a t i o n , h e d e c i d e d t o e m b r a c e h i s p a s s i o n a n d d e f y s o c i e t a l n o r m s .

W i t h t h e s u p p o r t a n d e n c o u r a g e m e n t o f h i s m o t h e r , w h o r e c o g n i z e d h e r s o n ' s t a l e n t a n d u n w a v e r i n g d e d i c a t i o n , J o s e e m b a r k e d o n a j o u r n e y o f s e l f -

d i s c o v e r y a n d s k i l l d e v e l o p m e n t . H e d e v o u r e d b o o k s