thoughts on shaving my head as a girl?

I've wanted to shave my hair off to about an inch for quite a while now. I have medium length chestnut brown hair but I find it annoying to work with. I hate having my hair down and in my face, but find ponytails too painful. I paint a lot and despair getting it in my hair.

My mom hates short hair (mainly because she was forced to keep it short by my grandmother when she was young) and still hasn't warmed up to the idea. I've found photos of her when she was around my age and I think it looked nice on her. We have very similar faces and I can easily imagine myself with a shaved head.

what are people's opinions on shaved heads on girls? Will I still look feminine and if [i]you[/i] have one, what is it like?