Not dead, just sleeping

Between moping, getting busy, getting bored, and getting the flu, I just haven't had much to post. My digital camera is being a pain and won't let me upload recent images of my henna work on Monica's back... although that's probably for the best, since all of the "real" henna artists would probably just laugh. It turned out okay, but it could have been better.

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Our local reenactment group puts on an event each spring called the Feast of Three Saints; there is also an additional revered something that changes each year, so that the full name of the event is, for example, "Three Saints and a Parrot" from a couple years ago.

Well, being medieval reenactors, and having saints, it was decided that we needed "icons" to serve as our event passes. Almost every event produces one in keeping with its theme, some of which are real collector's items (handmade glass beads, pewter "pilgrim badges", and a miniature working sextant!!!) come to mind). One of my favorites is the medieval casino, whose pass is a pouch of coins to start off your winning streak, and bid on their auction items later that evening.

Anyway. Icons. It's the work of half an hour to draw one up and paint it with watercolors; I know this because I've made them all, since 2003 when we first adopted the Three Saints concept. This year, the event was "..and the Hare (of the Dog)." It's funny how almost all of the animals we use can be found in illustrations from the Hunting Manual of Gaston Phebus, which means I have a ready source to help make the cards look more medieval.

Good thing this year, since not only did I wait till the last minute, I was getting slapped around by the flu virus while I worked.

The crazy thing is, people have started collecting these, too. It's gotten to where the black-and-white version is our event pass, and we reserve the color copies to sell. But, you know, between three saint cards and six animal cards, I suppose the fanatics are building up a decent little pack.

By the time I'm 79, they should have enough to make a full deck.

Henna magic, the legend continues

The local campus belly dance troupe, Mirage, hosted a hafla this past weekend. I offered free henna to all and sundry. I made a dollar in tips (woo!).

This coming weekend, Mirage has a public performance, and I've been asked by a couple dancers to decorate them as a bit of enhancement to the gorgeous costumes they'll already be wearing.

My daughter learned belly dance moves just by watching, which was eerie since she's two, and didn't get to sleep till eleven. Little party animal. She ate all the blueberries off the catering table, and tried to sing along with the musicians, especially on the really long high notes, and on the interspersed shouts of "Eee-oot!" and "Hey!" and such. Luckily this mostly induced grins from the rest of the audience.

Henna magic - now in technicolor!

As promised, here are a few henna images from the recent housewarming at Adam and Katy's. Special thanks to Jared for taking these excellent pictures!

For those unfamiliar with henna, what you're seeing here is the applied henna "paste"; once it dries, you can flake it off and the skin underneath will be dyed. The stain will start orange-ish and darken to brown, then remain on the skin for around ten days.




One of the first hands of the evening; I was still getting warmed up, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

As my confidence grew, so did the intricacy of the work (big surprise).

Amalie was willing to let me decorate both her arms in a vinework pattern, which I'm very comfortable and familiar with. This went more quickly than I could have guessed.

Arm closeup. I laid the vinework down the entire forearm, but the level of detail I incorporated increased the closer I got to the hand.

I kind of hijacked Sybil's foot the next morning, and worked off a pattern for the first time. In this picture, the henna isn't completely dry yet, so you can see the greenish-brown color of the wet stuff near her ankle, drying to dark brown across the toes. I was thrilled with how this pattern turned out.

*ahem* My rates are cheap, you know... they'll only go up as I gain in expertise, so really, you're saving money by letting me practice on you now...

I'm just sayin'.