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Luverne artist Mary Petersen has discovered a new creative outlet through her new wig consulting business.
She recently retired from teaching art at Hills Beaver Creek School District and said she was looking for a “transition” career to ease into retirement.
Petersen started her business, Artistry in Wigs, last fall and said she’s enjoyed the artistic aspect of the work, in addition to helping people.
“It’s all about texture, color, form and shape,” Petersen said, surrounded by a variety of wigs displayed in her in-home consulting studio.
“It feels really comfortable for me to be an artist in wigs. It’s just a different way of connecting with art.”
In addition to private consultations, Petersen welcomes the opportunity to talk about hair in small groups like the one she addressed last week at Generations.
And, like an art discussion, she finds herself talking about color, texture, form and shape — in addition to wig styling tips and care.
Petersen is best known in the Rock County art community for her local watercolor paintings, but she’s been a classroom art teacher for more than 25 years.
Primarily, she taught grades 1-12 in the Hills-Beaver Creek School District, but she’s been an artist in residence in Luverne classrooms through grants and she’s led numerous “Wine and Canvas” classes through Community Education and privately.
Now that she’s retired from classroom teaching, Petersen said wig consulting was natural transition career, since she’s personally dealt with hairpieces and wigs for over 25 years.
On her Artistry in Wigs website, Petersen talks about her experience with hair loss.
“Due to alopecia and hormone changes I have very thin hair over most of my scalp except at the nape,” she said.
“I started with some expensive shampoos and solutions that made my scalp itchy and red.”
She said her hair-wearing journey started 25 years ago when she began ordering hairpieces online, guessing what colors and lengths would match with her natural hair.
“As you can imagine, this process was a guessing game,” she said.
She also tried an expensive and arduous salon process of shaving her natural hair and reattaching it to a shaved scalp with medical grade adhesive.
After experimenting with several other options, Petersen said she stumbled on Godiva’s Secret Wigs and found them comfortable to wear and easy to care for.
“The styles and colors to choose from are great and look natural,” Petersen said. “I am pleasantly surprised now that I am in the business of selling wigs to have people say to me that they never knew that I wore them."
She said the styles are built in to the wigs, so they can be washed and worn — no styling is required.
“And to wash it, you just swish it around in a basin of warm water, and then shake it out,” Petersen said. “Once it’s dry you just finger comb it or gently it.”
After wearing the Godiva wigs for a while she was so sold on them that she decided to become a consultant.
Her in-home studio, which officially opened in August, shows a mix of blonds, brunettes, reds and grays ranging from short and sassy to shoulder length and layered.
Many of them reflect current color trends with streaks of darker base or added highlights, and Petersen special orders colors and styles to customers’ preferences.
She said she finds it rewarding to help other people — mostly women — suffering from hair loss, whether it’s from chemotherapy or other conditions. Others, she said, simply prefer wearing wigs to the daily chore of styling their own hair.
“It really is a good feeling of helping someone through their journey from being insecure to feeling good about themselves and confident about how they look,” Petersen said.
Her next group session, she joked, might be a “Wig Out with Wine” evening in her studio.
Information can be found at www.artistryinwigs.com and by calling Petersen at 507-350-9814.