Inspiration Evolves

Henna Lace Hands by Jaidra

I draw inspiration from a million places, and rarely is it a linear process. Sometimes, I see something, and it sparks an idea. Other times, I have a dream, read a book, listen to a piece of music, or feel an emotion that just has to be expressed on silk. I write this blog for others to view my creative process, but also as a spur for myself. Writing about my process allows me to analyze it, and draw a better understanding of why I do the things that I do.

In this instance, amazingly enough, there is a clear progression of inspiration that I managed to get photographs of. It began with a henna client sending me a photograph of a henna design that they wanted. I used that photograph as inspiration in creating a design for their henna piece.

Henna Leg by Jaidra

Some of my favorite aspects of the design were the spirals with "leaves" that I think look like fern fiddle heads.

I decided to use the fiddle heads in a larger henna piece that I did on my own leg this past Sunday.

A good friend of mine saw a photo of my leg piece on facebook and suggested that I use the design in my silks. My silk process uses water based resists that block movement of the dye on the fabric, but doesn't protect the silk. I would like to get some batik materials and try out some of my intricate designs on silk, but right now, I can't afford it. So, instead, I painted a small 11x11 silk with blue washes, went over it with stop flow, and then painted my fiddle head design on using black dye.

Fiddle Head Inspired Silk Pocket Square

I followed my small silk up with a larger 21x21 piece. The fiddle heads became less intricate, and I filled the space with these and leaves and chose a fall motif to celebrate the fact that summer is coming to an end.
I was really happy with the final piece, and even though the silks bear little in common with the original henna design, all of them evolved from the same design element. I don't think I'm done with this one yet, either - who knows where the fiddle head may take me next!

Fiddle Head Inspired Fall Silk Painting

Some days are more colorful than others.

Jaidra applying Henna Belly Sea Turtle with Sun

My mind has been a wandering, a wondering...around and back again to the same points that it reached before, and no conclusions have been drawn except that I keep on going, putting one foot in front of the other, try to smile, dance as much as possible, create what comes to me and hope. Eventually, all of it will come clear, or work out...but in the meantime, I can't crawl into a hole and hide because no good would come of it, for me or anyone else.

Finished Sea Turtle Henna Baby Belly

So, especially on the bad days, I reach for my henna or my resist and silk dye, or I throw some music on and get lost in drills. The past few days have been rough on my mental state, so I've thrown my mind into the creative. Usually, the pieces that I force aren't as beautiful as the ones that come naturally, but I truly believe in the whole "fake it until you make it" philosophy - at least as it applies to moods and my personal well-being. So, even though the art I make on these days aren't my best pieces, they serve the broader purpose of occupying my mind with positive things and refocusing my energy so that eventually, the funk lifts and I feel the joy that creating brings.

Finished Sea Turtle Henna Baby Belly

I had a the opportunity on Sunday to do a henna baby belly for a beautiful momma to be in Spartanburg, SC. I worked up a custom design for her with a super cute sea turtle swimming across her baby bump. The turtle had a sun on his shell, since they are having a son, and I used some simple swirls and dots to give the impression that the turtle is swimming. We had a wonderful time hanging out, and I hope that she loves her henna.

"Standing Together" Silk Painting

Once home on Sunday, I started the resist lines for a new silk painting. I wanted this one to be extremely colorful, using both styles of bubbles that I like to employ with the figures of the couples standing in the center of the piece. I kept the figures very simple, using black for the male and red for the female mixed with water to spread and shade the dyes. I was especially pleased with the background for this piece. I used a variety of washes in green for the base and blue for the sky - dotting the colors on the dry silk next to one another and allowing the dye to spread naturally.

Small Silk Painting

But I still wasn't out of my funk. So, this morning I started on a new set of projects - working on small pieces. The first of these is a female figure kneeling with her arms upraised and a floral lotus like explosion behind her head. This piece is meant to evoke joy and peace. I used salt on the top of the background to create more texture...and as I look at this one, I smile and feel the sadness lifting.

Hopefully others will feel the same...and my next piece will come from a place of joy.

Henna from the first Henna Day at Raspberry Moon Salon

I had a wonderful time at Raspberry Moon yesterday. If you're looking to improve your complexion or have a relaxing facial, get a wax, or a manicure, you couldn't find a better place!

I was amazingly lucky - the clients that came in for henna were all super fun women, and I had a blast getting to work on some of my original designs, some traditional pieces, and some based on my mentor's (Elizebeth of Crimson Art Henna) work. I didn't get pictures of everything, but I did remember to take some photos. All in all, I had a spectacular day, and I hope to get to do it again sometime soon!

Floral Shoulder/back piece based on Elizebeth's design

Peacock/Phoenix abstract arm piece

"Lace" hands henna

Side view - "Lace" hand henna

Floral feet by Jaidra

Butterfly and Floral simple henna by Jaidra

Doe and Fawn - stylized henna - design by Jaidra

Henna Body Art Day at Raspberry Moon in Greenville, SC

I am offering henna body art in Greenville, SC at Raspberry Moon Salon on Tuesday, Aug 16th.

Raspberry Moon Salon is a skin care salon, so we request that you make an appointment and plan to have a meditative session (ie, please turn your cell phone on silent and keep the noise to a minimum to avoid disturbing the other clients)

Pricing:

Prices for henna body art vary based on the size and intricacy of the design. Very detailed designs and thick tribal or silhouette pieces that require a large amount of henna will cost more . 
The following can be used as a general guide to prices:

Small designs (1 - 3 Inches): 5-15$

Medium designs (3 - 5 Inches): 10-20$

Large designs (5-7 inches) 15- 30$

Anything larger than 7 inches will be custom priced starting at 30$

Please call or email jaidra_art@yahoo.com for an appointment.

I will also have some hand painted silks and hand made jewelry available for perusal and sale.

Uniq by Jaidra's Upcoming Events

Uniq by Jaidra Silk Scarves

I will be exhibiting artwork at Freedom Weekend Aloft this coming weekend on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (May 28 - 30) . The artists' showcase will run from 2 to 7 pm each afternoon. If you're going to be in Greenville this weekend, this is going to be an incredible event with concerts, frisbee dog competition, games, hot air balloons, and of course ART!
I will have silk scarves, pillows, veils, and paintings available as well as jewelry.

Jaidra Sword Dance

The following Sunday, June 5, I will be teaching this Sword Dance Workshop in Williamston, SC. I am looking forward to this one. Some bellydance experience is necessary to get the most out of this class. I will be focusing on swinging and spinning the sword, balance, and fluidity with a brief lecture section on proper care and storage of swords.

Custom Fairy Henna Back Piece

I am following this up with henna at the Savannah Asian Festival as a guest artist with Crimson Arts Henna. Elizebeth, Crimson Arts' main artist taught me how to mix and apply henna and continues to function as my henna art mentor and I am honored that she asked me to help out at this event on June 11.

Bellydancers in Greenville, SC and Henna for Friday

In preparation for Friday's show at Karma in Greenville, SC, members of Discordia Arts, Brandy and Emily and I all decided to get henna done. I chose to do the henna 4 days prior to the show since henna gets darker during the 48 hours after application and usually doesn't begin to fade until 7 to 10 days. This way, I can ensure that the designs will be at their darkest for our performance on Friday.

I worked on Emily's piece first, drawing inspiration from her earrings to create a free hand symmetrical back piece for her.

The piece on Emily's back reminded me of a peacock's tail feathers and Brandy loves peacocks, so those two factors lead to the peacock back piece that I did for Brandy. She played the harmonium throughout the entire application but managed to stay still, and the piece turned out beautiful.


My piece took a slightly different slant. Since I can not do henna on my own back, I chose to do a floral design on my left hand and up my left arm almost to the elbow. As aftercare, we left the henna paste on as long as possible and then scraped the paste off. I even slept in mine, with a sock over my hand, and I'm looking forward to watching it darken over the next few days.

To see the final product, come check us out on Friday. Doors open at 8: music and dancing begins at 10pm.

RoundCon - a henna photo blog

RoundCon

Columbia, SC

The Marriott Hotel

Feb 18, 19, 20

2011

We arrived with absolutely no idea what to expect. It was my very first "con" that wasn't related to science or belly dancing. I had vague notions of what may occur from seeing DragonCon photos over the years from Atlanta friends, but I was aware of the fact that this was occurring in Columbia, SC....and thus would not be on the same scale as Atlanta. We tend to do big hair, big dinners, and big trucks in the south, other things not so much.

I set up my booth (one of maybe 10) in the Artists Alley portion of the event. I was impressed from the moment we walked in the door! The convention volunteers and crew were all extremely capable and seemed genuinely glad to see me.

I knew from reading the website that this was going to be mostly a gaming convention and that the anime track (the people that I expected to respond the most favorably to henna art) was new. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised. My very first henna application was for a very energetic and sweet trio that had me put their anime logos on their wrists.

At this point, I must send a shout out to the technology that is "smart phones." I enjoy some anime (Princess Mononoke being one of my favorite movies to date), but am nowhere close to being a connoisseur. But, even though I didn't know what symbol I was being asked to reproduce, customers were able to pull up photos from the web on their phone, point to them and say "I want that one."


I also received a visit on Friday from my friend Elizabeth and her sister in law. I had a great time with both of them, and they loved their floral henna - not too matchy matchy, but enough to tell that the same motif was being followed.

I continued the rest of the day on Friday and a good bit of the day on Saturday to do henna. Mostly, I was asked for designs from my book, but I did a few spur of the moment freehand pieces, including a pirate inspired floral piece - skull front and center. Gotta love it!

 Constantly throughout the weekend I was moved by the energy, kindness, and talent of both the convention goers and the other vendors and artists. The folks at the booth next to mine were incredible. Angela, sketch artist extraordinaire, was tons of fun and so was her fella. We watched each others' booths for bathroom and food breaks, chatted for a good chunk of the weekend, and exchanged art. She was amazingly talented, and I hope to see her again at other conventions.


To the left of me was Kris, the Seamstress....also amazingly talented, kind, and a great sense of humor. Never think that the vendors at an event aren't having as much fun as the attendees. We had a blast!

I had printed out a good bit of kanji for this event, something that I needed to do anyway, and I spent my downtime during the first day making up some templates for kanji inspired pieces. The dragon to the left was not one of them, he came about when the client looked through my book and asked me to combine designs.



I did more floral henna than I expected to. I also had more male clients than I expected. All in all, the whole thing was a lot more fun than I expected!

 It was a small con, but it was filled with wonderful people, high quality artists, and a sense of community. I will definitely be back, and I hope to be back more than once - it's always exciting to watch something grow, and I see nothing but potential in this event.