As seen in Tri-Cities.com: A live canvas

'A live canvas'

Texture, shape, color and shadow contribute to make a masterpiece

SUBMITTED PHOTO - Sherri Jessee styles hair for Entertainment Tonight's Nancy O'Dell for the Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon.

BY TOM NETHERLAND

By: 
Published: November 27, 2011

SPECIAL TO THE HERALD COURIER

Bristol's Sherri Jessee could be most anywhere right about now.

She may well be breathing Bristol air. Perhaps she's en route to or deep into dining in some city in India. Maybe it's Italy. Could be Kentucky.

Wherever the jet-setting Jessee happens to be at the moment, an airplane planted her there. Hair and makeup bought the ticket. Local and statewide contestants in the Miss Virginia USA and Miss Virginia Teen USA pageants know her as the Bristol, Va., based organization's preferred stylist.

"I provided hair care products for all the contestants at the pageant a few weeks ago," Jessee said. "At the pageant, I got Kim (Nicewonder, executive director of Miss Virginia USA and Miss Virginia Teen USA) ready for the preliminary nights and the pageant. I did her hair and makeup."

Jessee also prepared the hair and makeup of the pageant's host and Miss Virginia USA 2007, Lauren Barnette.

That may seem trivial, hair and makeup. But artistry exists in Jessee's talents.

"It definitely is an art," Jessee said. "As a hair and makeup artist we work with texture, shape, color, shadow — those things that you work with to make a masterpiece. It's a live canvas."

Nicewonder numbers as but one of decades of live canvases who have entrusted Jessee's skilled hands

"It's a relief to know that she's a professional and open to give ideas that I can trust," Nicewonder said. "I trust her judgment completely."

For good reason.

In the word of hair care and makeup, Jessee amounts to a first-team starter on an NFL Pro Bowl roster. Those who need her, know her as well as sports fans know New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

And not as a tourist.

"She travels the world," Nicewonder said.

"I do hair work on stages in front of an audience," Jessee said.

She doesn't entertain. She teaches for Rusk, a professional hair care line based in Connecticut.

"That's how hairdressers get advanced education, going to hair shows," Jessee said. "That could be in Rome, Italy. It could be in Australia or Kentucky."

Or Mumbai, India or Canada or, well, you get the idea.

But.

Wheel your wheels either up or down Euclid Avenue in Bristol, Va., sometime. All but the bat blind should easily draw a bead upon a pink house along the way. That's Sherri's Hair Salon.

"I've had my salon here in Bristol for 25 years," Jessee said. "Around Thanksgiving I'll be celebrating 26 years. I'll probably be in India when this article runs."

Given her world-jaunting job with Rusk, then surely Jessee barely breathes the air of Bristol. No time.

Not true.

"I work full time at the salon," Jessee said. "But I also work on the road."

Still, Bristol remains home for the native of Washington, D.C. 

"I've been here since high school," she said. "I graduated from John Battle High School. Bristol is so interesting. It's got to be the most beautiful place. Every time I come home it feels so good. It's home."

But blink, and Jessee's aboard a plane to teach or perhaps work with such celebrities as Nancy O'Dell. Viewers of television's "Entertainment Tonight" know O'Dell as the new co-anchor of the long-running syndicated show. She replaced "ET" icon Mary Hart in May.

Enter Bristol's hair and makeup maven.

"I've done a lot of work with Nancy O'Dell of  'Entertainment Tonight,'" Jessee said. "Getting up close and personal with celebrities is fun for me. Nancy O'Dell is my top celebrity that I've worked with so far. I've also worked with Tiffany Miranda, who was on 'American Idol' and Jason White."

White wheels a truck in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

"My ultimate goal is to become an icon in the beauty industry," Jessee said.

She appears well en route. 

Her résumé bulges with the aforementioned information. Add to that a litany of appearances in or connections with such publications as Cosmopolitan, OK! and Salon International. 

Busy? Jessee's like a hive of bees abuzz in one body.

"Yet she takes the time to help people shine in Bristol," Nicewonder said. "It's a kept secret in Bristol."

Meanwhile, Jessee works. And works. The world turns 24 hours per day but Jessee's world seems to spin from an entirely different axis.

"Some people work part time. Some people work full time," Jessee said. "I work overtime."

Tom Netherland is a freelance writer. He may be reached at features@bristolnews.com.


Sherri’s Hair Salon
» Where: 1932 Euclid Ave., Bristol, Va.
» Phone: (276) 466-2689
» Web: www.sherrijessee.com