Evolution of the henna booth

As I'm finishing up my sixth outdoor season as a working henna artist, I started looking back through all the pictures of the Henna Booth over the years.
Here is my first season at 17th Street Farmer's Market in Richmond with the Mother Art Cooperative:



And then with added facepainting. This one really makes me laugh at the ramshackle paint kit:



You can see my daughter's tiny self under the booth. I think she was 3 at the time.
Here are the earliest pictures of the 10x10 booth, from early 2009



Trying to add more color... Not quite right:



This is from early 2011... First time with the sari fabric curtains and table runners and custom tablecloths to hide the junk. Also, bought the first of two Mad Mats rugs.






Added the yellow and orange accents:





New banner:


The finished product!

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes!!

Not only am I obsessed with mehndi, but I can't seem to get enough of all things India - it's music, food and textiles. Over the last several years I've amassed quite a large collection of vintage and second-hand kurtas and salwar kameez suits. There are 4 Goodwills in my area, and it's become quite an adventure to find a top in a store, and hunt for the matching dupatta or pants. Unfortunately, many of the items are separated, and I rarely find a complete set, but when I do, it's really exciting.
I seem to have a talent for finding some really beautiful items very inexpensively. All of the items I've found fit me, and I wear many of them regularly to work. And the best part - none of these items cost more than $12.99 and the majority were between $2.50 -$6.99!

This was my first find... My favorite color and it's silk, hand-beaded and was just $7.50! Marked 50% off in the Halloween section!
And soon after, this silk beauty - the crystals and beadwork are really amazing, also $7.50:

Here is one of my favorite embroidered ones... I found the top last week for just $5, and then found the pants yesterday! It's silk and appears brand new:

Another beautiful embroidered one, and I have tan and teal pants to match:

These two I found with the tags still attached - one was $5 and the other, $2.50!


You can't tell from the picture, but the detail is all crystals and metal-wrapped thread.
This one I wear a lot, it has gold sequins throughout, and the matching pants are ombré - from maroon to orange. Also looks great with black churidar leggings:

My daughter loves these two:


This one I almost didn't buy, as the top has a strange, off-center design on it and the shape isn't in style, but it's silk and the pants match a lot of my other tops. I decided to do a Moroccan detail in paint around the neckline:

This one is really beautiful - I love the gold embroidery and the fabric itself is eyelet!

This has hand-beaded designs and a retro collar with a neat asymmetrical hemline:

This is one of my splurges (a birthday present to myself!) - $50 from www.didiswardrobe.com - it has the matching sleeves which I'm going to attach. The pants are skinny, churidar style and have purple beadwork at the ankle, and the dupatta (scarf) is dip-dyed purple to blue, with gold embroidery around the edges. Perfect for a Sangeet or the mehndi party before a wedding! I love it!!

Many of these I have used to decorate my henna studio!

Henna Healing

One of the unique things I offer as a henna lady/ reiki practitioner is 'Henna Healing'. Over the years I've offered reiki sessions to those who have asked (it's not something I've done out of an office or anything) and I love to be able to offer this gentle form of energy work. Several years ago I gave reiki and henna to a friend who was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer and she asked me to come henna her head after she lost her hair from the chemo. When I showed up at the hospital, henna cone in hand, she was quite opposed to the idea, yelled for a little bit, and then promptly fell asleep. I gave her reiki and then left - I figured she'd be really mad if she woke up with a henna crown. : ) Since then I have been blessed to be able to do henna for people going through all kinds of transformations - from coverage of surgery scars for stomach surgery and mastectomy, to personal rituals for change and growth. I've also done henna for people at the Virginia Home for Adults and Glenburnie Rehabilitation who otherwise wouldn't be able to receive henna. And when our kitty got spayed, the kids talked me into giving her a small 'penna' design : )

Being able to provide designs for people who have suffered a loss or are facing a tremendous illness/surgery has been very emotionally moving for me. I feel so humbled and blessed to be able to offer a small comfort and a healing touch. I am constantly reminded of how amazing it is to have been given this gift of mehndi, and to be able to share it with those who need it most has been so tremendously fulfilling.

Getting ready for Spring!

Winter is generally slow for mehndi artists, so it gives us time to explore new patterns, tidy up the pattern books and work on our booths. Last year I focused on the big details of the tent - new curtains, tablecloths and rugs. This winter it's all about the small details. I've updated some signs for the table - as well a business card holder and other details for the tables. The biggest project was making a sandwich board for out front. This will be nice for events when I'm working inside of a shop for the sidewalk. The back side is painted with magnetic paint so I can change out the sign in the middle as needed. I'm very happy with the way it turned out - despite all the wrinkles in it. They aren't that noticeable, and now I know how to do it the correct way for next time! The top is open to hold an arrow sign, or I can attach balloons to it, and my pink and orange wedding garlands look really nice hanging from either side.

As of now, my first outdoor event is March 2nd for First Fridays Artwalk in Richmond. Let's hope the weather warms up a bit... yesterday we got snow!

Celebrity henna!

One thing that working henna artists do in the slower months of winter, besides updating the booth, is look at pictures. THOUSANDS of pictures. When I first heard about henna back in 1996, I could only find a handful of pictures on the internet of mehndi designs. Now you can find so many - especially on Flickr, where working artists often have portfolios, and places like Tumblr, weheartit, and numerous blogs devoted to henna designs.

When Madonna first wore henna onstage back in the late 90s, it sparked an interest in the West for henna body art. More recently, younger celebs such as Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez and Kendall and Kylie Jenner have posted pictures of their henna designs on Twitter, and a whole new generation of Americans are now aware of this ancient body art. Katy Perry and Russel Brand even had a mehndi celebration before their wedding (which didn't seem to bring their marriage good luck!) and Alanis Morissette had a Blessingway where she had a henna belly done, and her guests got hand designs.

Here are pictures I've seen around the web of these celebrities - even Camilla Parker Bowles got mehndi twice while traveling in Africa. Unfortunately, she didn't know the dangers of black henna and the photo of her with Prince Charles shows a smudged black henna design. Hopefully she didn't have a bad reaction to it!

Update: Found a picture of Beyonce with mehndi today!