| When All Four Quarters Come Together... |
[Mar. 18th, 2009|08:54 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | cleveland culture, ego, event, henna, maps, mehistory, palimpsest, photos, polylove | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Home, second floor | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  artistic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Will Ferrell : You're Welcome, America with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) moominmuppet | ] |
... the magic happens. It was wonderful and fantastic and enthralling, what with creating this art and bringing it to our skins, and seeing it on us, and becoming a part of the mosaic of Palimpsest, makes me thrilled and tingly right down to my toes. A warm, heartfelt beam of gratitude goes out to Ferrett and Cat, for their most excellent write-ups and linkage, and to Gini for the extra pimpage, and Jeremy for the pictures. You are all precious, gleaming folken who make me feel special and help me be an artist. Thank you.
Our four quarters of a map....
... brought together. (Sort of - the lineup could be better.)
But it's really really hard to get them to line up!
In the end, though, we all come together, mapmaker and archivist and shaper and builder and progenitor, to share our love of the City. |
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| Surprise! |
[Aug. 1st, 2008|11:50 am] |
I don't really have anything to say.
I know that's a shock to some, but really, I've just spent a couple hours going gaga over having my very own Mac-pooter and shamelessly catching up on teh intarwebs. So, in lieu of actual literary content, I give you art!
This henna piece is two-or-more years old, and I can't think why I didn't post the pictures at the time. The line/edge work is a bit wonky, and that may have been the reason, but I remember at the time thinking that I should attempt a lace-like "glove", if you will, of henna. (Props to teh Jaxeroo for being such a good... prop? background? )
Those pictures were taken some time after the application; I can't remember how long after now, but you can see the wear on the design, so maybe 5-6 days after application. I like the overall effect of what I was trying to do, and perhaps I'll try it again soon, since I have better-textured henna now.
Oh! Which reminds me - I need to order more henna. The Great Henna Party nearly wiped me out, and I only have a couple cones left.
While we're on the mehndi train, I should mention theferrett and zoethe. Right now, Ferret's in his last couple of weeks at Clarion, a super-groovy writer's workshop on the other side of the country. The two of them have a fascinating relationship, and they pay a lot of attention to each other's needs as well as wants, and they're just about the most adorable, cutest, devoted, lovey-dovey, sincere, and serious-about-each-other couple I've ever seen. (For all of you who think Jer and I are sickeningly sweet on each other, I'm here to tell ya, we got nothin' on Ferret and Gini.)
So, as a gesture of love and devotion, Ferret made arrangements with artists to provide Gini with artwork specifically themed to her whilst he was away. Let's say it together now.... "Awwwwwww"! Ferret asked me if I'd be kind enough to create a mehndi piece for Gini for Week Five, and of course I said yes. Clever minx that I am, I set up a weekly bellydance date with her before he left for Clarion and oh-so-cunningly used this past Monday as her Week Five Art day so she'd be surprised. Yay for surprise art! She created a lovely piece, mixing Indian and Native American images into something very beautiful and very personal to her. It's a fantastic piece, and very unusual for me for create given its location, and when she posts a picture, I'll let you all know! I'm very proud of the piece, and very pleased and honored to be a vehicle of Ferret's love for Gini. |
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| Even yet more henna! |
[Jul. 1st, 2008|02:11 pm] |
At last, I got to do grf's mehndi last Saturday, the day after the henna party - he chose a similar Native American design to the bits I used to create my most recent hand piece.
( More mehndi here! Clickers! )
Tomorrow, serpentseye's Egyptian-themed Pride mehndi! |
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| Holy cow, that's a lot of henna! |
[Jun. 30th, 2008|10:18 am] |
ANNOUNCEMENT: The Cleveland Museum of Art re-opened (in part) yesterday! You can go and see most of the exhibit galleries including the wicked awesome Armor Court in the original 1916 building for free, as always, starting today.
And now, back to me. XD
Wowzers! I never expected to have that many folks show up for mehndi! Apologies to habari , Lorick, serpentseye , zoethe , and Jason, all of whom did not receive mehndi, and who I promise I will henna as soon as is possible. (Actually, zoethe was incredibly thoughtful and gave up her place in line to her partner theferrett , so I owe her double-awesome mehndi for being a generous sweetheart.)
Unfortunately, it rained a great deal on Friday, and I opted to cancel the firebowl part of the party. Thus, there was no dancing and no drumming, which kinda sucked, but can always happen at another time. Given how many folks I had waiting to be henna-fied, though, I wouldn't have gotten to dance anyway.
( So, who wants to see pictures? Lots and lots of pictures? Clicky! )
Tomorrow, I'll post the henna did the day after for grf and the mehndi I did for serpentseye for her Pride performance last weekend. |
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| I'm alive! |
[Dec. 19th, 2007|11:28 am] |
I've survived finals! Yay!
In other news, life proceeds at a breakneck speed. The winter holidays are almost upon us, and thankfully the shopping is damn near done. Warning, gift list ahead!
I think that's it. If I've forgetten someone, I'm sure I'll find out soon.
So that's about it for today's news. Later on, I'll be posing for
firinel's art and hennaing Jamie. Pictures later! |
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| Creativity heals all ills. |
[Aug. 23rd, 2007|01:22 pm] |
I'm an Eeyore today.
To cheer myself up, here are some of the henna pieces I created at Benazir's Bellydance Bazaar last Saturday.
Side note: If anyone has photos of their henna after it's aged (especially you, the_divynemissm, I didn't get your hand, just your wrist,) I'd appreciate seeing them! As it ages, mehndi almost becomes an entirely new piece.
( Beware, dial-up users: 10 pix! ) |
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| Mehndi from July |
[Oct. 17th, 2006|03:37 pm] |
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 the Harvest Hafla and Recital (pimpin' it again, Nov. 4 @ 8 PM) 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. There's a whole post here 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. I don't think I'm ready for that.
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.
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| Shootus Interruptus |
[Aug. 14th, 2006|10:02 pm] |
Imagine, if you will, what's it's like to get halfway there.... and then stop.
Unfortunately, around three-ish this afternoon, it began to rain. The humidity in the air saturated my right hand mehndi, which had been nicely drying, and turned it soggy. Even though it had only been on for a few hours, I decided to scrape it off so it didn't get smudged. Besides, I was dying to have my right hand back. Free to use both hands once more, I began my makeup. The kohl stick I purchased has been only so-so, and I have discovered why. In the center of what I thought was a stick of solid kohl, there is a slim plastic rod. No wonder I wasn't getting the coverage I was expecting. (That was a waste of seven bucks. Next time, I'm getting the kohl cake. It's gotta be easier.) I did manage to get my eyes lined without jabbing myself with the plastic bit.. Shortly after, Grafton arrived and announced that since it was going to rain all evening, why didn't we do the shoot tomorrow? Grrrrrrrrr.
There we go. Eyes kohled, hands hennaed..... and stop. Don't worry. We'll pick it up tomorrow.
Grrrrrr..... Kohl is damn hard to get off.
I feel like Jack Sparrow.
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Some linky goodness, starting with some videos:
Blame Wil Wheaton. It's all his fault. It's time for Warp Factor Love.
I don't know what else to say about this next music video, except...... when Japanese pop stars try to mix bellydance and gangsta rap, it's always a bad idea. Most likely, even though no nudity or foul language (Maybe. I don't speak Japanese), very likely NWSF.
A pretty good tribal fusion male bellydancer named Frank. Or rather, Hammerhead Sharqi.
The beautiful and fantastic cabaret dancer Saida.
The most amazing ten-year-old girl in the world. I admit, her costume is a bit old for her, and her mom should have hemmed her skirt up another inch, but my Dog can she dance. And she looks like she loves it. Man, I wish I had gotten bellydance lessons instead of ballet when I was ten.
Bollywoodesque music videos are so bizarre, and yet sometimes, so American. Note the random shower scene. And note the subtitled lyrics. *snert*
And now, some non-video links....
My darling zodarzone found some hysterical Star Trek inspirational posters and icons.
quasigeostrophy pointed out the world's tackiest "memento". Sometimes, I hate people.
Neil Gaiman's personal assistant, Lorraine, makes a list of the Top Ten Things Never to Send Your Favorite Writer.
Will a magnetically levitated bed really help you sleep better? Or is it a dining table? /cue "Zarathustra"
Some crazy manatee decided it wanted to visit NYC for vacation this year.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand last but not least..... The Scariest Bellydancer Evar. Can you spot the sex gear?
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| More pictures from the Barfleet shoot |
[Aug. 3rd, 2006|03:11 pm] |
So there are a few more photos from that shoot that I didn't choose, and didn't post in my flickrstream because I felt they weren't the best. Not that they're all horrible, but... well... they're not great, either.
If any of you folks want to play around with these images, feel free. I'd love to see what you do with them. |
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| Life has happened again. |
[Mar. 12th, 2006|06:16 pm] |
All righty... had a very busy few days. Yesterday, zodarzone and I went to my stepdad's birthday party (happy 50th, John!) then went to the Bellydance Superstars show at the Allen (*squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! bouncy-bounce!*) and then went to the Barfleet 20th anniversary party. After gettng home at 5 AM, I decided to wait on uploading stuff until today.
So, without further ado... Some of you may not know that I am a henna artist. 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'm dancing, 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 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 progession of the color day after day.
I believe I shall cross-post this to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) baraka_henna, henna_addicts, henna_art, and hennatattoo. |
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