Baraka: Henna

Benazir Bellydance Bazaar - Cleveland, OH 8/18/07

2007-08-08T18:14:29Z

Come one, come all to the...

Benazir Bellydance Bazaar!

~A dancer swap/meet and greet~

Hosted by Habeeba’s Cleveland

Troupe Benazir

Saturday August 18, 2007

2 PM to 6 PM

At Silhouette Dance Studio

12501 Madison Ave, Cleveland OH 44107
Located at the corner of Robin and Madison Ave. (near W. 117^th)

Register for a “veil space” for $5.00! Bring things to sell or trade - costumes, skirts, veils, videos, music, etc. anything that will fit on a 3 - yard veil. Refresh your wardrobe or just make a little room for something new (to you at least!) Free to attend for shoppers!

Music, snacks, and a space to dance provided. There will be a henna artist, too! Meet new belly dancers from the Cleveland area, make friends, and have a ball.

Contact Ahava at troupebenazir@yahoo.com for more information.

Free to attend for shoppers!

Seller registration required.

Check us out at http://www.myspace.com/troupebenazir

July 4, 2007 - Henna

2007-07-31T16:13:28Z

These henna pieces were created for my bellydance troupe's participation in the Lakewood OH July 4th parade. Above photo taken 24 hours after henna application.

</div> These photos were taken 36 hours after application.

Henna slightly smudged overnight; I guess I didn't let it dry enough.

I love Ganesh! (The hindu text reads "shanti" - peace.)

I hope you enjoyed them!

X-posted to: my lj, henna_addicts , henna_art , and hennatattoo

An Australian Aboriginal - inspired mehndi design

2007-01-15T15:39:40Z

Lately, I've been doing a lot of research on the Australian Aboriginal culture, and I discovered that their dreamings/art translate very well as henna designs.

This design was inspired by a piece of Australian Aboriginal art found at http://www.artsansfrontieres.com.au/abor.html by an unnamed artist. The accompanying text for Image #231 is as follows: " "Body Design" by an unknown artist - (Anmatyerre Tribe, Utopia) This painting shows the bold red and white lines painted on the chest of initiated women. In the centre, young uninitiated girls are sitting around a sand painting being taught the "womens secrets". " Photo taken by zodarzone, 10 hours after application.

X-posted to: baraka_henna, henna_addicts, henna_art, and hennatattoo

Old Mehndi Set from July

2006-10-17T17:13:43Z

I miss mehndi. It's been ages since I've had hennaed hands, it seems. Actually, it's only been since the start of the semester, but that does seem like ages ago. (Ages in this instance being six weeks.) Of course, at this juncture in the space-time continuum, I can't henna myself all up. The mehndi pieces wouldn't fade enough before my bellydance troupe's recital so a new design on top of that would just be too muddy to distinguish. *sigh* Of course, I could do a really simple design now, and elaborate on it later, but that just seems like stretching the work out too far. Plus, any piece I add to would also have to be re-hennaed, so the colors would be reasonably close. I could also do a complete mehndi piece now, but it would definitely have to be re-applied a few days before the show for maximum impact. *wobbles and wembles*

Also on the mehndi wobble list: GOING PRO! Yikes, yikes, yikes. Enough folk have come up to me about my mehndi work that I'm considering doing it professionally. That's a whole post itself just waiting to happen. I've got a ton of things to think about in this arena. To do it right would take a lot of work, $$, skullsweat, and nerves of steel. What do you say, professionals? Do you think I'm ready artistically for it? Any words of advice you'd like to share?

Sometimes I wish I knew another local mehndi artist. It would be wonderful to have someone I could trade work with, i.e. you do my hands and I'll do yours. It'd also be great to have someone to chat with about all the trials and tribulations of mehndi. As much as I've tried to make some mehndi buddies here, I don't connect with people on LJ nearly as well as I do in person. I suppose it's partially because I don't really have a lot of time to spend in LJspace, and I hate IMs and such. I'm a big phone/in person sorta gal.

All right, enough whining about my loneliness. Time to give you something new to look at.

This mehndi set is rather old: it's the set I created for my troupe's performances at the Great Lakes Medieval Faire on 7/8 - 7/9/06. It's mostly inspired by Indian, Buddhist, and West African designs.

This is my right hand. Since I'm abysmal at using my left hand to draw, I can only do simple designs on my palm and inner fingers. Trying to do designs on the outside of my fingers or around my wrist has proven too challenging. This piece is very strongly rooted in Indian/Buddhist designs. The feet along my middle finger are a relatively common marker in India, I was told. They are often found near the floor next to a doorframe, signifying a baby was born there. I was also told that the feet are holy, since that is where we humans come into contact with the earth. The Om is a familiar sight by now to most folks, but the Buddha's Eyes on the lower palm are fairly rare in the U.S. Buddha's Eyes are a common design/decoration in India (and possibly other Buddhist countries, although I'm not sure) and they are to remind you that Buddha is always watching.

And here is my left palm, also primarily an Indian-based piece. The Hindu word "shanti" (peace) is written in the center of a stylized lotus. (Boy, do I love spirals.) The fingertips are decorated with a West African design called sankofa. From the fantastic Catherine Cartwright Jones, "these mean go back and get it, and refer to the sankofa bird turning to straighten its tail feathers."

The backs of my fingers are decorated with a very common design. So common, in fact, that I've found references for this design in nearly every culture on the planet.

Cross-posted to : [Bad username: baraka_henna, [info]henna_addicts , [info]henna_art , and [info]hennatattoo]</div>

baraka_henna @ 2006-10-16T16:49:00

2006-10-16T20:48:08Z

Recent henna for my friend Tinuviel in St. Petersburg, Florida. She and her boyfriend left today to go to Costa Rica for a month! Hopefully when she gets back she'll know how to surf ;)

wedding mehendi

2006-09-30T15:47:49Z

I've realised that its almost 5 months since the wedding and I never posted my mehendhi Pictures. Various excuses why- theyre just excuses. I somehow never got after pics, only the before ones- my brain was not running on full steam. Pity though because the colour was great and it lasted a whole month on my palms.(which is supposed to bode well for a long and happy marriage.

Anyhoo- heres photos:

crossposted to hennatattoo

Preparing to start: Mom had me done up like a peasant girl- with the flower braid and everything.

I asked the artist to do her own thing, after months of looking for the perfect pattern, when it got down to it I was so tired and blah from all the work, it was one less thing to worry about. I did make up my own cones though- gave her a story about allergies and sensitive skin so as not to offend her. I just know the mix that works for my skin.

It was freezing cold in the tent. So i have a hotwaterbottle under my feet. I at that point gave up on having a full sock done and settled for anklets. The weather was bad, it was late and I was too tired to do anymore.

Genes intitals were hidden in the spirals on my palms, and he had to find them else he wasnt getting any you know what from me on the wedding night. Thankfully he did eventually find then halfway through the reception!

please join

2006-09-08T03:36:51Z

for brown eyed people and lovers of brown eyes
iheartbrowneyes

Petroglyph symbolism

2006-08-15T15:30:07Z

One of the motifs I use a lot is the hand with spiral palm. This motif is based a bookmark that my friend Doug (the Mayan archaeologist) gave me ages and ages ago. The hand with spiral palm is one of the oldest petroglyphs found in North America. Anthropologists have speculated that the hand with spiral palm means healing or magic to the Native Americans. The spiral is a very important sigil in cultures all around the world. The direction of the spiral usually has great significance. Clockwise can mean ascending, or light, magic, and counterclockwise means descending or dark magic.

Cross-posted to: baraka_henna, henna_addicts, henna_art, and hennatattoo

Smudgy henna

2006-08-07T19:00:42Z

These photos are a bit old; this mehndi piece is from May. I sorta rushed through it, and I think the henna must have still been a bit wet, since the next morning I took the tape off to discover some seriously blobbed bits. I wonder if my paste is too thick, or perhaps the tape is at fault. Any thoughts? Please forgive the messy, though. I really like the tribalesque swirls I created to edge my palm and fingers.

This is a detail shot of the back of my fingers. I was rushed, like I said, so it's a very simple design.

And the same shot, in natural light. You can see the color a bit better without the flash.

X-posted to: baraka_henna, henna_art, henna_addicts, and hennatattoo

baraka_henna @ 2006-04-11T15:23:00

2006-04-11T19:50:46Z

Hello, all you wonderful folks! I had a rather busy weekend with houseguests, and they all wanted to be hennaed. I finally figured out how to get a URL out of Flickr, so without further ado.....

marnanel's foot came out quite nicely, although the toes did smudge a bit. I really like the mandala on the top of the foot. Photo taken 12 hours after application.

riordon's arm came up well, too. It was a bit of a challenge hennaing a seven-year-old, but she showed remarkable patience. She did orginally want several lines of vines up her arm, but changed her mind when she saw how long it was taking. Whadda great kid. Photo taken 12 hours after application.

firinel's wrist is lovely. I adapted the pattern previously chosen by Aneh for this piece. Photo taken 8 hours after application.

This is a piece of tattoo flash I drew ages ago, but zodarzone really liked it. He's pondering getting it as a armband. I couldn't manage to reproduce it in a band freehand, so he settled for just one. This was originally done during the Troupe Benazir henna party. Photo taken 12 hours after application. (You can still see the tape marks from sleeping with it on!)

Sunday night, I decided after all this that I wanted some henna myself. I should have thought the time frame out better, since I was quite tired at the end. I rushed myself through a bit, and the index finger and my thumb blobbed out under the tape. I should have waited longer for it to dry completely. I'm not quite sure what happened to the petroglyph in the center of my palm. It was lookin' good and totally dry when I sealed it with tape, but the next morning I had wavy edges and blobbed-together bits. Bah. Still, even though it's a simple design and somewhat smudgy, I still like it. Maybe I'll henna my toes and ankles tomorrow. Photos taken 36 hours after application.

X-posted to baraka_henna, henna_addicts, henna_art, and hennatattoo

Troupe Benazir Henna

2006-04-04T15:59:10Z

Ahavahenna
Originally uploaded by bec1976.

Ahava loooooooooooooooooooooves leopard print anything. It's her major costume theme, so she decided she wanted leopard print henna! I'm glad she was the last girl to be hennaed. Leopard spots are dead easy to make, even when your hand is exhausted. I do wish I'd gotten a chance to leopard her hands too.

x-posted to baraka_henna, henna_addicts, henna_art, and hennatattoo

Troupe Benazir Henna

2006-04-04T15:56:31Z

KaleehaHenna
Originally uploaded by bec1976.

This is my instructor's belly piece. The design is loosely based on a Catherine Coatwright-Jones design. It's a bit messy, I know; Kaleeha is very ticklish and giggled every time I laid a line of henna! It's a bit smudgy and not very complex, but it looked great from the audience.

x-posted to baraka_henna, henna_addicts, henna_art, and hennatattoo

Troupe Benazir Henna

2006-04-04T15:53:46Z

SorayaHenna2
Originally uploaded by bec1976.

Soraya chose this design because she liked the title, "Warrior Princess." It's faithfully based on a Catherine Cartwright-Jones design. I'm pleased with how this came out. Henna three days old.

x-posted to baraka_henna, henna_addicts, henna_art, and hennatattoo

Troupe Benazir Henna

2006-04-04T15:49:12Z

Anehhenna3
Originally uploaded by bec1976.

This is Aneh's hand. The henna is three days old in this picture. I wish I'd started on her first, since my hand was tired by this point.

x-posted to baraka_henna, henna_addicts, henna_art, and hennatattoo

Bridal patterns

2006-03-13T10:52:37Z

I used to do mehendhi work for weddings when I was in my old home town where there is a very large Indian community. after moving to Cape town, I've lost all my pattern books in the move, and I'm in a spot of bother.
I need to find a Mehendhi artist in Cape Town who is proficient in Indian wedding mehendhi. Failing that I need a pretty design for intricate wedding mehendhi, so that I can coach whomever it is that eventually does the work. A friend insisted that she wanted to do it, but I really dont want to spoil the friendship, because her work is untidy and shoddy still, and I dont want her to think that I am being a ***** about it. It is after all such a special occasion.
I would love any advice and or suggestions on pattern if anyone is able to do so.
Thanks in advance.
crossposted to hennatattoo

New member here!

2006-03-13T00:29:50Z

Hi henna folks! I'm a new member of this community, although I've been lurking for a while. So I thought I should introduce myself and share some of my work with you.

My name is Rebecca, I live in Cleveland Ohio, and I've been working with henna since high school. A lot of my previous pictures of my work have been lost, and I haven't hennaed in at least two years. I used to henna quite a lot, but the past couple years have been frenetic and my only local source of good henna shut her shop. Still, now that I've been taking bellydancing lessons for almost a year, I really miss the beauty of hennaed hands.... and the idea of jewelry that doesn't catch on costumes or run when you sweat. My new troupe has a show coming up next Saturday (click here if you're in northern Ohio and interested in attending http://www.oldetownehalltheatre.com/Benazir.htm ) and I offered to henna them for the show. (Look for pix of that next week.) Of course, I couldn't just walk in cold, I needed to refresh my skills and do a test run with the henna. I ordered Jamila henna from www.hennacaravan.com and I highly recommend them to everyone! Fast shipping and excellent product quality.

Who wants to see some henna? Warning: very picture heavy. I took pix while I was applying the henna, and the progression of the color day after day.

I started with the back of my fingers.

After ringing the tips, I built a lotus crown design on top of the rings and a curlique-thingy underneath.

Finished with the back of my fingers, I flipped my hand over and started on the underside of the fingers.

You can see here the beginnings of my central palm motif. You can also see where my homemade "icing" bag burst on my palm while I was trying to fill my squeeze bottles. I had to revise my original design to cover it.

This is the finished central flower. You can also see the final steps on the fingertips.

I started to build a box around my flower... my palm was too empty.

Here is the finished palm. I filled in the box with random leaf shapes and dots, and wrote "shalom" in Hebrew in the inset.

I sponged some lemon-sugar mixture on, let it dry, and taped it up. I've never used medical tape to hold a henna design on before, so I was somewhat trepidacious about the final result. I wore a sock on my hand to bed too; I hate henna crumbs in my sheets. Friday morning, I removed the tape and scraped the remaining henna off with the back of a butter knife and some Te Tao body oil (my favorite after-shower oil, it contains grapeseed oil, vitamin E, and green tea extract) which blended well with the smell of the henna. I kept holding my hand over my face and softly inhaling all day at school.
Friday morning palm:

Friday morning fingers:

By the time classes were over for the day, the color had deepened from a bright burnt orange to a darker brownish-orange.
Friday afternoon palm:

Friday afternoon fingers and a close-up of the back of my thumb:

Twenty-four hours after application, I took these next pix. In the past, this is usually the point that my henna is at its darkest. These pix were taken after my bellydance class; it's amazing how much the henna darkened during the class. I guess body heat makes a much bigger difference than I previously thought.
Friday night palm:

Close-up on inset; shalom kind of smudged while I slept:

And my favorite picture of this whole set, a close-up of my fingers:

The color still got deeper! Saturday morning I woke up, and my henna was noticeably darker than the night before.
Saturday morning palm:

Saturday morning fingers:

Believe or not, the henna is even darker today, although it is starting to show a bit of wear. I'm astounded. I'm planning on buying the rest of my henna from Henna Caravan forever.

I believe I shall cross-post this to baraka_henna, henna_addicts, henna_art, and hennatattoo.

baraka_henna @ 2005-08-30T12:40:00

2005-08-30T16:41:58Z

Hello! I just joined this community because I love henna design. Haven't had much on me though. I am hoping to have some henna done for me, on my feet for my vow renewal next month. I found an artist on henna page, I live in PA and there was only one listed, so I hope she works out!

Here is a picture of the last henna I had:

My mother free-handed it. I just told her I wanted pomegranates, lotus's and hares. It's not as fine as more advanced artists, but I think she did well for a first timer!

baraka_henna @ 2005-08-27T17:59:00

2005-08-27T22:00:04Z

This one was drawn completely with my left hand, and it wasn't easy, so it's a little shakey. The outer layer is also newer than the rest, so it's still orange.

I touched up my fading henna design from last week and added a few chinese swirlies, inspired by a design on my pottery.

And the palm of that hand.

baraka_henna @ 2005-08-20T21:03:00

2005-08-21T01:04:16Z

I'm still pretty new to this henna experience (so far I love it!). But I was wondering, do you guys prefer to freeze or refridgerate leftover paste, and which gives it a longer shelf life?

Thanks!

baraka_henna @ 2005-08-19T19:07:00

2005-08-19T23:07:23Z

Day one:

Day two:

Didn't come out as well as I'd hoped on my face.

some pictures of the day

2005-08-19T18:11:17Z

baraka_henna @ 2005-08-18T11:57:00

2005-08-18T15:57:43Z

This is while the paste was hardening yesterday. Right now it's slowly transitioning from orange to deep brown, so hopefully I'll have an update post later.

My attempt at making a bird, heavily inspired by some Chinese tribal patterns.

Little decal I made for my eye.

This paste will take six hours to set. Ouch. It took me one whole hour just to paint it, since I wasn't able to touch my skin with the applicator and my hand kept shaking.

great color

2005-08-09T19:36:45Z

just want to share the beautiful color i get

Some of my recent work.

2005-08-04T02:23:50Z

Matching bride and groom palm design:

I use Jamila, btw. Paste still on, obviously, because it's so rare that I see my clients two days after I work with them, when the henna's perfect.

Henna, Henna Everywhere

2005-05-24T02:10:20Z

Greetings fair henna folk. This is going to be mass posted, so apologies in advance. A while back on the Henna Page forum, it was mentioned that henna designs seem to be showing up everywhere, from clothing to home fashions and more. I decided to start carrying around my PDA to take pictures as I saw things. This is an on-going documentary and I want to invite you all to join in and share your own random henna sightings. Here is the Henna Everywhere page so far. You can send me pictures through email or just respond to this posts with your pics and I will harvest them. If you want link backs or email links, please include that information.

Happy henna hunting!