30 Nature-Inspired Hair Designs By Ursula Goff
Ursula Goff is a Kansas-based hairstylist who creates incredible nature-inspired hair designs. We’ve featured some of her designs inspired by classic paintings before, and now Ursula is back with a handful of mesmerizing new ones.
In an interview with Bored Panda, the hairstylist said she approaches hair just like she approaches painting – she can be inspired by almost anything and is always asking herself how she’d execute certain looks or concepts. Ursula has been a hairdresser for 18 years but only started creating these unique designs about 4 years ago.
More info: Instagram | ursulagoff.com
#1
Image source: Ursula Goff
#2
Image source: Ursula Goff
Ursula’s designs can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours for hair extensions and clip-on hair, and up to six hours on natural hair.
#3
Image source: Ursula Goff
#4
Image source: Ursula Goff
The hairdresser says her phone is filled with thousands of photos she saves to use as a reference when coloring hair but sometimes her clients bring in their own ones. “We may look for a reference photo before I start working just make sure we are on the same page, or, if they are more flexible and trusting, I may just work from the concept mentally and find an appropriate image to match it to later,” said Ursula. “I come up with a lot of ideas on my own, but collaborating with many of my clients also leads me to do work that I normally wouldn’t think of or maybe even wouldn’t want to do, and it can force me out of my comfort zone and give me completely new ideas to work from. The result is that I am constantly challenged and I am even pleasantly surprised sometimes.”
#5
Image source: Ursula Goff
#6
Image source: Ursula Goff
Some of the hairdresser’s designs can even take a few appointments to complete, especially if the clients want something specific. “So some hair color you see on my social media is actually transitional. Other times, they come in with their old color and they ask me what their options are at that moment, so we will talk about that and can sometimes settle things that way,” says Ursula. “Or they may come in and say something like, ‘I don’t care what we do so long as there’s a lot of green’. So then I might say, green like… a beetle? And then show them the bunches of photos I have saved on my phone of iridescent green beetles, and we might work out a way to try to convey that concept through hair color.”
#7
Image source: Ursula Goff
#8
Image source: Ursula Goff
Ursula says art runs in her family and she has older siblings who taught her a couple of things when growing up. She also says she used to draw all the time ever since she entered kindergarten and managed to work out a lot of stuff on her own. “I attended two-quarters of art school as a fashion major but dropped out. Then I transferred to the University of Texas to major in psychology but I dropped out AGAIN,” shared the hairstylist. “I came crawling back home and was waitressing when I decided to go to cosmetology school at the local community college on a whim because they offered me a full academic scholarship. (I did ultimately go back to school in 2010 to successfully complete my degree in psychology).”
#9
Image source: Ursula Goff
#10
Image source: Ursula Goff
Ursula started teaching private art lessons and doing commissioned artwork when she was 14 and even taught in an elementary school for a year. “Doing hair actually feeds my creativity pretty well. But I missed doing art after a while, so that’s why I started doing design/illustration/painting reproductions on hair a few years ago,” says the hairstylist. “Now I only work part-time in the salon for health reasons, so it’s freed up a lot of time for me. As a result, I’ve been experimenting with new types of art and am making an effort to sell more of it as well, since I haven’t set out to sell any artwork in over a decade.”
Check out more of Ursula’s incredible designs in the gallery below!
#11
Image source: Ursula Goff
#12
Image source: Ursula Goff
#13
Image source: Ursula Goff
#14
Image source: Ursula Goff
#15
Image source: Ursula Goff
#16
Image source: Ursula Goff
#17
Image source: Ursula Goff
#18
Image source: Ursula Goff
#19
Image source: Ursula Goff
#20
Image source: Ursula Goff
#21
Image source: Ursula Goff
#22
Image source: Ursula Goff
#23
Image source: Ursula Goff
#24
Image source: Ursula Goff
#25
Image source: Ursula Goff
#26
Image source: Ursula Goff
#27
Image source: Ursula Goff
#28
Image source: Ursula Goff
#29
Image source: Ursula Goff
#30
Image source: Ursula Goff
Got wisdom to pour?