Meet Celebrity Make Up Artist Patrece Williams!

Hey Y'all!!!

I was up (unable to sleep AGAIN) and scouraging the news wires for curvy related stories and I came across this article about a friend of mine (and Harlem Homie) named Patrece Williams. I met Miss Patrece when she worked at the MAC store down on Prince Street in Soho...I fell in love with her bubbly personality instantly and although I don't see her as often as I'd like...I am glad to hear that she's doing well and thriving!

Check out her story fam....from Frost Illustrated:

FORT WAYNE—The story could read, “Local woman leaves home, makes it big.” But, in the case of nationally renowned celebrity makeup artist Patrece Williams, the story reads more like “Local woman makes it big—but maintains hometown roots.” Some might find that hard to believe, given all that she’s accomplished over the 10 years she’s been in the fashion and beauty industry.

Williams, a Fort Wayne native, has had her work featured in such magazines as Essence, Oprah’s O Magazine, In-Style, In-Touch, Self, Redbook, People, Simon Spotlight Entertainment, Modern Bride and D Magazine. She currently serves as one of the key makeup artists for the acclaimed CBS the Early Show.

She has worked with a host of celebrities including: Grammy Award-winning musicians Anita Baker, Aretha Franklin and John Legend, actor Ben Vereen, actor Dennis Haysbert, legendary 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley, professional boxer Laila Ali, professional basketball players Stephon Marbury and Tony Parker, Emmy Award-winning actresses Ruby Dee and S. Epatha Merkerson, actor/director Henry Winkler, Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman, comedian/actor Cedric the Entertainer, comedian/ actress Mo’Nique, actress Vanessa Williams, actors Malik Yoba and Leon, 1990 Miss America Debbye Turner, Grammy Award-winning gospel duo Mary Mary, musical acts Hall & Oates, Ruben Studdard, Hootie & The Blowfish, The Roots, Musiq and The Jazzyphatnastees just to name a few.

Williams has also been featured in New York’s Fashion Week, one of the most posh annual events in the world of fashion. She has assisted celebrity makeup artist Vincent Longo with shows for designers Cynthia Rowley, Nicole Miller, Betsey Johnson, Brian Reyes, Jenni Kayne, Alice + Olivia (featured on America’s Next Top Model) and Marie Claudinette Pierre Jean designer of Fusha Designs Inc.—heady stuff by any standard.

Yet, despite her success, Williams said she’s never forgotten where she came from.
“One thing that I am most proud of is that I’m from Fort Wayne, Ind.,” said Williams.
She said when she talks to people out east about her hometown, they’re initially puzzled.
“They know Gary , they know Indianapolis …” she said, telling them, however, Fort Wayne is where she was shaped and prepared for future success. “This is the place where I used to sit in the park and dream… This is where it started for me. I don’t care how far you go from home you have to stay true to your roots.”

That’s especially true for Williams who said family here in Fort Wayne—especially her mother now in Indianapolis— guided her, encouraged and supported her.

Williams was groomed in the world of fashion at an early age. Her mother Patricia “Patti Bell ” Hughes was a model in the mid- ’70s and would often carry young Patrece along to her fashion shows and photo shoots. As Williams got older, she said she started experimenting with makeup and would often try many of the makeup designs and styles she would witness backstage at her mother’s many shows. And, it also was apparent that Williams was “different.”

For example, she said she early on adopted a dress style that was uniquely her own—possibly to her mother’s chagrin.

“She used to let me go out looking different,” said Williams, with a laugh. “I thought I was Punky Brewster meets Denise Huxtable.

Williams said she had another advocate in her grandmother, the late Edna Guy, who often would calm her mother’s fears when Patrece seemed to be going a bit too far.

“My, grandmother said, ‘Let her be allowed her to express herself,’” assuring Patrece’s mother that things would work out in the end.

Initially, Williams said she thought she was going to be onstage— as an actress or a comedienne— but her interests started to change.

“In the 10th grade, I just started becoming interested in production, the behind the scenes aspect of things.

Williams got her first chance to see that aspect of the business at Paul Harding High School, were she already was active in band as a trumpeter and as president of the African American Club. She then added playwright, producer and director to her resume.

Williams put together an original piece entitled “Glory Hallelujah,” which Harding adopted as the school play for her senior year. The play told the story of a girl who was being guided through life by the spirit of her grandmother. The play hit close to home for Williams, whose own grandmother had died two years prior.

“My grandmother was my best friend and she passed when I was 14,” said Williams.
Though the experience was bittersweet on a personal level, it was also the beginning of her experiencing the “thrill of putting something together and watching the anticipation of the audience” from the wings.

“I got really comfortable being behind the scenes,” said Williams.

After graduating from Boyd College in Pittsburgh with an associate degree in business, Williams was ready to take the plunge into the world of fashion and beauty. Both she and her mother early on had recognized Williams’ natural gifts as a makeup artist, but her mother wanted her to finish her four-year degree. She made her daughter a deal, however: She would give Williams two years of support while she tried to establish herself in the entertainment industry. If that didn’t work out, her daughter would return to school.

Williams began her career as a makeup artist in Indianapolis doing local fashion shows, photo shoots and weddings and gained something of a reputation for her there. That’s when she began hearing advertisements for a play on the radio for “My People My People.”

According to Williams, the producer of the play was seeking makeup artists and hairstylists to donate their time to the production. Initially, she balked at the idea, telling her mother that she had come too far to do any work for free.

“I thought I was on my way,” she said.

But, Williams said her mother told her there must be something to it if she kept talking about it. She said her mother reminded her that “God sometimes speaks to us in whispers” and told her daughter to volunteer to do the play if only to appease “mama.” Williams relented and the experience turned out to be life-changing.

The celebrity guest was the playwright’s cousin—the acclaimed actor Malik Yoba of New York Undercover. The two hit it off in conversations and Yoba told her, “You are so talented, but you’ve got to get out of Indiana .” He told her that she had to go to either Los Angeles or New York to practice her craft at the top level. She chose the latter—where Yoba had family and friends whom he asked to look out for Williams and help guide her along.

“I went to New York City —I’ve been there 14 years,” said Williams.

In 1998, she landed a job at M.A.C Cosmetics in New York, where she worked for more than four years. After leaving M.A.C, Williams worked on a countless number of projects for both television and print, often working with celebrity clients. While already considered successful, Williams isn’t just resting on her laurels. In 2006, she created her own cosmetic company—“PattiCake Cosmetics” (a nickname given to her in ninth grade by “someone very special”)— and plans to bring it to a few Fort Wayne boutiques this the coming summer. She’s also working on a jewelry line scheduled to debut in the summer of 2009 and has plans for a children’s clothing line in the near future.

Furthermore, Williams said she is “working on a few projects to find talent in Fort Wayne”—projects she promises to talk more about in the near future.

With everything she’s got going on for herself, Williams remains humble and loyal to family, friends and home. She credits family, in particular her late grandmother and her aunt.

“One of my favorite people is my aunt Janice Burton—my mother’s sister. She still lives here. I remember growing up, I’d just sit and idolize her because she treated me special and encouraged me to stay focused.”

Most of all, she thanks her mother, who taught Williams to appreciate everything she has in life and to remain humble.

“My mother taught me that a humble person is a successful person,” said Williams.

“My hero and best friend is my mother. She was a phenomenal single mother who told me I could do and be anything, I believed her and that’s why I’m successful today.”

"As you think, you travel, and as you love, you attract. You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you." - James Lane Allen