Henna Body Art at DragonCon

[queenhaven.livejournal.com]

Just taking out a moment for some shameless self promotion. I am a henna artist in this year's DragonCon Art show. If you have an interest in henna or if you have something in mind that would be a perfect adornment for the costume your working on, stop by and see me during regular art show hours. I'll be set up more or less in the center of the art room with my carpet and floor cushions, a happy little oasis in the middle of D*C delirium. I also henna (works on natural only) drum heads. But drummers, the paste needs to set up a bit, so only bring a drum head you can spare for a day or two. I'll just paste in my artist bio (as it will run in the D*C program) behind the cut as further explanation:

Haven Capone is a henna artist residing in the beautiful city of Tallahassee. Ms. Capone has been on the search for creative expression ever since she picked up her first crayon. That search has encompassed many art forms; drawing, painting, writing, dance, and the costumers arts. Finally, she found a true love in the art of henna. Mehandi, as henna art is referred to in India, has allowed Haven to meld her love of history and tradition with her creative impulse. In addition to the traditional body art applications, Haven also applies mehandi to objects made of wood, silk, leather, and natural drum heads.

This year, Ms. Capone has brought her one woman company, Parahan Henna to DragonCon. She will be be practicing the art of mehandi in the Art Show throughout regular art show hours. Bring your self, or your drum, for adornment and the soothing experience of henna application.

Comments

[eeedge.livejournal.com]

Samples! We need pictures of past work! (Even if we don't expect to be adorned, it would be nice to see pretty art!!)

Samples of Henna

[queenhaven.livejournal.com]

Oh duh, how stupid of me! I don't have a web presence yet but I do have a few pics in a photo bucket account at http://photobucket.com/albums/y227/parahanhenna/

I'll try to upload some more stuff for you all to peruse. It's been a busy couple of weeks here for me!

Haven

Re: Samples of Henna

[queenhaven.livejournal.com]

For an event like this I start at ten dollars for a small band or motif, twenty to thirty for a full hand. Above that, I'm totally willing to negotiate depending on the complexity of the work and what you feel you are able to spend. And since I am a small home business, I'm cash only.

Haven

Re: Samples of Henna

[chavah.livejournal.com]

Cool... if I can find some spending money (we're on a very tight budget this year) I may come see you. I have a pregnant belly that would love some henna before I spend an evening belly dancing at the drum circle. :-) I just can't do henna on myself successfully.

Good luck with the con.

Re: Samples of Henna

[queenhaven.livejournal.com]

Ah ha! Another beautiful belly AND another dancing woman. I have been studing belly dance, both tribal and cabaret, on and off for the last three years or so. Henna and dance fit together rather nicely.

Haven

Re: Samples of Henna

[chavah.livejournal.com]

Hopefully you'll find this here. my husband took a bunch a photos of my belly when we got back. I have them posted at http://www.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=29637070/t_=16858460

It asks for an id and password. If you don't want to set up your own, you can use my generic one:
id="friends@chavah.com"
password="friend"

Stop by my LJ and say hi if you get this!
-Chavah (the pregnant chick who was wearing purple and green striped Middle Eastern belly dance garb when you did my belly)

Re: Samples of Henna

[chavah.livejournal.com]

Actually, this link works better...
http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=86271127829582908/l=61477448/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Re: Samples of Henna

[greyloch.livejournal.com]

Cool. Can I set up an appointment for some small work on my forearm? Can't really do the hands & fingers because of work. E-mail me at greylochATcomcastDotnet.

TTFN

[suhl.livejournal.com]

Agreed! Could you post some pictures and your rates? I have a big pregnant belly just waiting to be a canvas. :-)

pregnant belly henna

[queenhaven.livejournal.com]

I love pregnant belly henna! I have only had the honor of doing a couple, but I'm happy , and eager, to do more. I'll try to get those pics posted as well.

Haven

[candygirldayz.livejournal.com]

Excellent! Do you do lower back and bellybutton work?

[queenhaven.livejournal.com]

I will do lower back and belly button work, but just remember, your going to leave you paste on for at least two hours, so there are a bit of logistics involved (don't bend in the middle!:) It's doable, yo just have to think ahaead, and I carry a scad of safety pins so I can tuck up shirt hems as needed.

Haven

[wildflowerz.livejournal.com]

Cool. I'm so glad you posted this. I know nothing much about Henna and have never had it done, but D*C seems like the perfect opportunity to try! How long does it stay on?

[queenhaven.livejournal.com]

Here's a quick run down on the process: I clean the skin with a little witch hazel (lotions you may have used earlier in the day can interfere with the process) and apply the paste. The paste needs to stay on and undisturbed as long as possible, but you can get away with a minimum of two hours (but longer=better stain) If you have the time to hang out a bit, I can seal it for you with a lemon sugar syrup. It helps keep it moist and stuck in place, but it is sticky. When you first take the paste off (scrape, don't wash, water will keep the stain from developing) the design will be from a light to a dark orange. Over the next 24-48 hours it will darken to a nice red brown. Gentle heat (like steam or a hair dryer set on low) can make for a darker stain. The stain usually lasts about a week, but it depends on the person. You lose your stain through exfoliation, so if you slough fast, you lose it faster. You can baby is by covering it with vegtable oil before you get wet to make it last longer.

Wish I could be more detailed, I'm typing between projects at my day job. And apologies for speed induced typos!

Haven

[wildflowerz.livejournal.com]

No problems. Thanks! I'll definitely have to stop by! :)

[queenhaven.livejournal.com]

I look forward to meeting you!

Haven

[poesprincess.livejournal.com]

Wow your work is beautiful. I may have to get a hand or arm done as it would go nicely with one of my costumes

[queenhaven.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the compliment! Remember the stain needs time to develop (about 24 hours but it can be accelerated with gentle steam) so plan accordingly if you want it to go with a particular costume/day of the con.

Haven

[tofuliz.livejournal.com]

My husband and I have done henna for the Alabama Ren Faire before and quite enjoy the work! We love to have henna parties. Your designs are very beautiful and dark...where do you get your henna? We tried to plant our own, but that didn't work so well :-) Other wise, I buy it from an internet company I found off eBay.

LOL. We've adorned many of our drummer friends' heads.

[queenhaven.livejournal.com]

I get all my body art henna from Henna Caravan. Their service is great and their henna is very fresh. Living in a hot humid climate helps too. The one pic on the black and white floral background (I was holding my hand behind my back:) got incredibly dark. 24 hours after that picture had some spots that had gone a deep coffee color. It's the Jamilla powder, and I've never failed to be impressed with it. Plus, no sifting!

Haven

[tofuliz.livejournal.com]

I love not having to sift. Sometimes I would find myself sifting with pany hose for at least a few hours. Just a little to much for me :-)

I love Jamilla! Of all that I've used, it produced the darkest stains with the least amount of mixing ingredients. Sometimes I used just sugar and lemon juice with the Jamilla.

[balanceinchaos.livejournal.com]

This should make more people happy. I haven't been able to keep up with the demand for henna at my table at dragon, since I do both the henna and massage, and my work is more tribal than traditional, so more people can get their hennas this year.

Welcome to DragonCon.

[queenhaven.livejournal.com]

Nice to meet you , so to speak!

That was Patrick's thought when I first inquired about working in the art show this year. With a crowd like that, there is no way one artist can handle everyone who is going to want henna. And I have little experience rendering tribal motifs. I have a little bit of work based on native american pottery designs, but it isn't really what I think of as tribal. So I can happily send all those requests your way and know people will be well taken care of. I want to try to make your henna workshop too. I'm relatively young in my art and I'm eager for opportunities to learn, learn, and learn some more.

And I'm probably going to need a good massage before the weekend is over!

Haven

[balanceinchaos.livejournal.com]

True, we've had other body artists in the show over the years, and we generally send people to one another depending upon what the person is looking for. This will be the first time we have two henna people, but if anything it will stimulate more interest.

It sounds to me that you won't learn anything new about henna from my program, but you're welcome to come and show support!

As for the massage, you're more than welcome to set up some time for work LOL. I know I wish I had "another me" by the end of each day to work my hands and forearms if I've done a lot of henna!

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know, every artist has a unique approach. I might learn something I had never even thought of before. And I'm all for showing the henna support!

I worked at a bellydance event earlier this summer and when all the dancers had gone, the massage therapist there worked out my kinks in exchange for henna for his teenagers. It was the best payment ever!

Haven