The Willow Glen Resident

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Flower Power: Alan Sauvin and Tamara Faulkner lurk in the foliage at Orchids from Somewhair, their hair salon/greenhouse, located at 1373 Lincoln Avenue, which has now become an art gallery as well.

On a whim, owners transform a hair salon into an art gallery

Orchids and scissors blend with pottery and art glass vases

By Rebecca Wallace

Some people change their hairstyles on a whim. But when Tamara Faulkner and Alan Sauvin get bored, they remodel their Lincoln Avenue hair salon.

And now they've brought in a cornucopia of artwork and transformed Orchids from Somewhair from an offbeat salon to an eclectic gallery.

"This is a gallery--not a hair salon," shouts a goateed Sauvin from across the room as he snips layers into a woman's hair. Underneath the gentle assault, the woman smiles indulgently. "But we'll never get rid of doing hair," he laughs exuberantly, his Santa Cruz Blues Festival sweatshirt shaking as he bobs up and down. "The customers would hunt me down and make me cut their hair."

The more subdued Faulkner, clad in black, points out the vibrant silk-screen prints, swirly art glass vases and pottery all around the building. A giant potted--what else?--orchid dominates the room, and more bright orchids grow in the greenhouse out back.

Longtime customers know that every time they come into the hair salon/gallery/greenhouse, which has been on Lincoln for about eight years, they'll see something different. Where the hair-washing sinks are now, there used to be a miniature indoor rain forest, complete with a storm every 45 minutes.

"It really rained, and believe me, it was a bear," Faulkner (the great-great-grandniece of William) says good-naturedly. "We had a lot of trips to Home Depot."

A turtle pond filled with live snappers once decorated the front of the store; sad children slipped "We miss the turtles" notes under the door once the pond was gone. And customers sipped beer and wine from the now-extinct salon bar.

The big thing now is art, and partners and significant others Faulkner and Sauvin have worked since last summer to turn their salon into a gallery. Some of the artists whose work is on display live in Willow Glen, such as bronze artist Kerry Kettrell Foster and silk-screen print creator Anne McDonough. All artists are friends--or friends of friends--of Faulkner and Sauvin. Prices range from $20 to $500.

Also featured is blown-glass artist Rick Strini. His ornaments graced the White House Christmas tree last December, Sauvin says proudly, then grumbles, "I just wish there was someone a little more respectable in the White House."

The Orchids gallery is one of the few in the area and fills a need, Sauvin says: "There are a lot of artists [in Willow Glen] but not a lot of outlets--no galleries."

The works of art now dominate the building, making the three haircutting chairs seem almost an afterthought. A violet-lit couch area in the back will be "fine-tuned" and made into a comfortable lounge, Sauvin says.

"This is perpetual remodeling," he says. "We go with the flow."

What will the next incarnation of Orchids from Somewhair be? Either Faulkner and Sauvin are being coy, or they really don't know yet. "I just stand back and look at things, and say things like 'This shampoo has got to go,' " Sauvin says dreamily. "I can't say what's next."

Faulkner cut and styled hair in Willow Glen for about 14 years. Now she's a full-time student when she's not working on the remodel, studying fashion design at West Valley College, designing ensembles for Orchids customers and leaving her partner to wield the scissors.

"Hair's fun," Sauvin says. "It really is a creative vehicle."

The woman under the scissors smiles and says, "They do great haircuts and entertainment. You never know what to expect."

Just don't expect something you'd see everywhere else. Orchids hairstyles are "contemporary"--but not trendy, says Faulkner: "Anything but Friends haircuts. We tell them to go to Los Gatos."

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