The art of feeling and looking beautiful

<p>If you ask image consultant Jennifer Robin, she'll tell you that beauty isn't about what we see on magazine covers or in movies. It also isn't about being skinny, tall, busty or having perfect skin.</p><p>According to Robin in her new book “Growing More Beautiful: An Artful Approach to Personal Style,” being beautiful and feeling beautiful is about being comfortable in your own skin and recognizing that beauty comes in all shapes, sizes and colors.</p><p>“What I'm hoping to help readers learn is to see themselves like an artist,” said Robin. “There is no strict idea of what's beautiful. An artist sees beauty in many ways. We live in this extreme makeover culture that's just sick and wrong. Just imagine what message this sends to our young women. It's terrible. Even most books these days are oriented on how to not look old or not look fat. It's gotten to the point where we're mutilating our bodies. It's ridiculous. The fact is that people really don't want to be thinking of beauty like this. It's not natural.”</p><p>Robin grew up in Southern California and moved to Marin County 20 years ago. She moved to Petaluma in 2003 and runs Artful Press Publishing company with her husband, Jerry Freeman. She owns an image consulting business, Clothe Your Spirit, where she provides color consultations, style advice and makeup. She's also landscape and figurative artist. </p><p>“Image consulting is a field similar to interior design, but we work with people on improving their sense of what looks good on them,” said Robin. “There's this sense that women enjoy shopping for clothes, but honestly, most women are very frustrated by it. It's overwhelming. The fashion world tells you what you should be wearing, but you know it's just not right for you. I help women get on the path of understanding what works for them and help them find joy and pleasure in that.”</p><p>Robin has worked as an image consultant for more than 25 years. It's a profession that goes hand in hand with her art. Since she was a child, she was always interested in the arts. Much of her artwork graces the pages of “Growing More Beautiful.”</p><p>“I loved color and loved to draw,” she said. “The arts was my focus in college. I stumbled upon color analysis in my 20s. It was this whole idea of putting colors together with people as a way to bring out their natural beauty and personality that really caught a hold of me from the start. I loved it. It was a meeting of my love of art and my strong connection to women and people in general. So, instead of being only an artist, my job is a lot of really listening to people and connecting with them. I'm not doing a fashion makeover. It's about developing your own style. And of course, working with clothing is just another form of art and creativity for me. ”</p><p>Robin's approach to style is vastly different from what most of us are used to hearing. Instead of being told what to wear, Robin's view is to take an honest look at ourselves, accept what we have, and then find what styles and colors work best.</p><p>“Women tend to look in the mirror with hands over their eyes,” she said. “They don't want to look because they are afraid they won't like what they see. You need to think of yourself as a canvas. Look at yourself with more curiosity and less judgment and you'll start to be able to really see and start creating a look that's flattering to you. Women are afraid to do that. They're afraid they won't measure up to what they see in magazines. The fact is those people in magazines are semi-starving themselves, have all the time in the world and pay a lot of money to have personal trainers. They are in the business of looking the way they do. And we're supposed to emulate that? That's not realistic. I'm trying to introduce another way. I want to gently change the way you see yourself.”</p><p>The message in Robin's book is simply to “put down the botox and pick up a paintbrush.” Her goal is to inspire women to find their own personal style that works for who they are and the body type they have — and in so doing find they look and feel beautiful inside and out.</p><p>To read Robin's blog and learn more about “Growing More Beautiful,” visit www.growingmorebeautiful.com or www.clotheyourspirit.com.</p><p>(Contact Yovanna Bieberich at yovanna.bieberich@arguscourier.com)</p>