Episode 2 – Noam talks, I smile and nod

Episode 2 – Noam talks, I smile and nod.

My favorite henna historian, Noam Sienna, is my guest on this episode of the Caught Red-Handed podcast. Enjoy via your earholes!

Have your own Moroccan henna experience or give it as a gift

Now that I don’t believe in Santa anymore and can buy stuff for myself my attitude about gifts has shifted. I love handmade gifts or things bought while travelling, but I especially like experiences. There are so many great sites now offering classes and tours, among other things, that are great for gifts. I’ve been shopping around these sites for myself and for other people. Then recently I was contacted by this really cool start-up called SideTour that organizes really cool experiences; they wanted me to do something related to Moroccan henna and I’m excited to tell you about it. You can see more information here: http://www.sidetour.com/experiences/experience-the-mystical-art-of-moroccan-henna-painting and also sign up for a spot. There are only 8 spots left so don’t miss out on this. If you have always wanted to have henna done this is a great way to do it: you’ll learn about henna, meet other people who share your passion for it and get henna done on you by an expert…me!

By the way, I liked this site so much that I got someone on my list a gift certificate and he said it was the best gift he got all year!

Le Moor c’est L’amour – Moroccan henna class in Montreal!

Lumanessence Henna Body Art is proud to host MOOR Henna Master Class, with renowned henna-artist and author Lisa Butterworth — aka Kenzi — who will be coming to Montreal at the end of July to teach this exclusive class on Moroccan henna art.

THE MASTER CLASS
During the workshop, you will learn about the history and culture of Moroccan henna, as well as an in depth look at how to break down designs, construct patterns, combine elements, and more.
• Jamila henna cones will be made available, but if you prefer working with your own, please feel free to bring them.
• In keeping with our Northern African theme, there will also be succulent Moroccan delicacies that will be served during the workshop.

THE BOOK
You will also have the opportunity to purchase the book Moor: a Henna Atlas of Morocco (which Kenzi co-authored with another accomplished henna-artist, Nic Tharpa Cartier), and have it autographed. Please let us know if you would prefer the book in hardcover or soft cover so that we can plan in the advance the exact amount of copies needed.

RESERVATION
Places are limited so to confirm your reservation, a non-refundable deposit of $30 is required before Thursday, June 28th.
Below you will find a button that will lead you directly to Kenzi’s Paypal account where you can make your secure online payment.
The balance amount is to be paid in cash the day of the class.

New York City Moor Workshop – October 16th

At last and thanks to great demand, Nic and I will be doing another Moor Moroccan Henna Master class in NYC.  The class will be on Sunday, October 16th from Noon to 5 pm in Brooklyn, NY.

 

More info and registration here: http://tinyurl.com/moorclass

Henna isn’t just for redheads…or wannabes! Free class!

Henna isn’t just for redheads; we can all have gorgeous, healthy and shiny hair naturally and in virtually any shade. Time to amp up your natural beauty!This FREE class will teach you everything you need to know about how to color and condition your hair naturally with henna, indigo, cassia, as well as other natural products. The class will include a detailed handout, a short lecture, a live application on a real human head of hair as well as a period for questions and answers. Products will be available for sale after the class. Did I mention that the class was free?   Saturday, July 9 · 12:00pm – 2:00pm Kenzi Henna Studio – Brooklyn, NY Details will be emailed to all who RSVP to kenzilisa@gmail.com. Class size is limited so be sure to sign up early.

Hard to believe but this is my first Moroccan bridal!

I do a lot of bridal henna and especially now that it’s spring-going-on-summer.  Most of my brides are S. Asian women or women marrying S. Asian men and they all want Indian-style designs.  I get to the point where I don’t even bother showing them Moroccan designs because they skip right over them and I get sad thinking about how underappreciated Moroccan designs are.   I had a bride meet me for a consult a few weeks ago and I handed her all my Indian bridal books; as I was turning away from her to hang up her coat I caught the tiniest glimmer of disappointment in her face which confused me, so when we started talking I tried to observe her and see what that disappointed look meant.

Moroccan bridal henna….at last!!

As we talked it dawned on me that she didn’t want Indian-style designs but had come to me specifically for Moroccan designs.  I chucked all my Indian books and proudly pulled out Moor, and her face brightened immediately.  As we got talking she told me about the time she spent living and studying in Morocco as well as Egypt and it was fun reminiscing.  I finally met her again yesterday for her bridal henna.  I had a moment of panic because I haven’t ever done full Moroccan bridal henna and I feared that I wouldn’t be able to do it.  After a few deep breaths it all came to me and I was able to just go with the flow.  I kept thanking her for requesting Moroccan and I think she started to think she had a nutcase on her hands.  I will nag her in a few weeks for some photos from her photographer at her wedding but here is my quick snapshot of her hands.

Moor on the Spot…a new book from Nic and Kenzi

Hey all you Moroccan hennaheads, lovers of all things Moroccan and henna, we have a new book out! Nic and I have been trapped under snow drifts for the past few months but fortunately we both had pen and paper and the will to live.  The end result of our entrapment is this lovely little book of Moroccan spot designs, 80 little treasures that will delight you and your clients.  We had a blast drawing these and we hope that you enjoy them just as much.

The book is 20 pages of designs at the low, low price  of just $7, and since it’s an e-book you get instant gratification.  Download here.

Sample page from Moor on the Spot

If you have a hankering for more Moroccan designs, you can also download the original Moor book, “Moor: A Henna Atlas of Morocco”, at the same link above.  And if that still isn’t enough, you can get more books at our henna site, HennaTribe.com.  Here is the book page. You can pick up a copy of HennaTribe’s Hot 100 which is great for parties and festivals and Nic’s Rajasthan book is also there for a bargain price of $7.  Nic will also be releasing a truly gorgeous collection of henna designs based on Hmong batiks which he will announce on HennaTribe and possibly here.

I think that pretty much covers all your henna book needs.  As the weather warms up and the drifts melt into slush the henna season is taking off.  Enough hibernating, let’s get hennaing!

Happy Moor Year!

Winter is a time of hibernation, of stocking away provisions for the long haul, working on indoor projects and planning for the spring planting.  The same is true for henna and henna artists.  While we wait around for the Moroccan spring crop of henna to be harvested, Nic and I are taking stock, planning projects and looking forward to what will bloom once the weather warms up.

Our baby–our book–was born in June and unlike parents of human babies, our sleepless nights were before the birth, not after.  We have been chilling since the book came out but always discussing where to go next in our devious plan for world domination via Moroccan henna.  In August we taught the first Moor Moroccan Henna Master Class, in Seattle which was a lot of fun for us.  People say that they like it, so I guess it would count as a success!  Our next workshop was in NYC; it was great to teach close to home and share henna and NYC with our students.  We get to meet a lot of new people through our workshop and expand the henna community.

This fall/winter I went for a whirlwind tour of Southeast Asia.  One of my stops was in Singapore to meet my longtime, online friend and fellow henna artist, Jewel.  She organized another Moor workshop for the Singapore artists.  I loved meeting all of them and I think they enjoyed the class.  Meanwhile Nic was in LA teaching his own workshop to the henna peeps there.  Technically speaking we can now say that we are teaching classes worldwide.  We hope to spread our passion for Moroccan henna even more widely in the world. Right now we have some classes coming up in various venues in the US.  We are hoping that we can do classes in Europe and maybe even father afield in the future.  If you and the henna artists in your area would like a workshop taught by me and Nic, please email us or leave a comment.  We’ll let you know how to make that happen.

After every workshop we usually get several participants making roughly the same comment as the following from Katy DeBra, who attended Nic’s lecture in LA:

It’s so clear now, so demystified. I used to painstakingly copy Moroccan designs and now I feel I can create them or alter them on the spot to suit my henna-ee, which is how I usually work, creating something custom on-the-spot.

I experienced the same revelation when I read Nic’s design manual in the book; I thought I knew Moroccan henna and how to do it, but learning how to create them according to certain guidelines was so helpful and, eventually, creatively liberating.  We hope to spread this experience to as many people as possible so that we can all share the joy of doing Moroccan henna.

Nic and I are still researching Moroccan henna and collecting designs wherever we can find them.  We hope that those of you who have joined us on this path are getting lots of practice and hennaing clients with Moroccan designs.  Stay tuned here for future plans and all our new discoveries in the field of Moroccan henna.

Happy moor year to all!

Moor NYC Workshop debrief

Sitting here on a Sunday afternoon with a workshop hangover, but the kind of hangover where you smile a lot and hope that others are suffering similarly.  What’s on my mind today is something that Nic and I talked about over drinks last night, long after the workshop.  We both noticed that the most common reaction from our workshop participants is a big, flashing lightbulb.  We keep hearing comments along the lines of “oh I get it now!”, “I see how Moroccan designs are created and I feel like I can do it now!”  and “I always thought these designs were impossible but something clicked and I understand them now.”

Yes, this is exactly what a teacher hopes for but it’s rare that one gets this kind of clear feedback. We heard that a lot after our Seattle workshop and we saw evidence that this was true when the workshop participants started playing around with designs and posting them.  Yes, hot damn, they DID get it!  The same comments came out of our NYC workshop as well and we’re waiting with bated breath to see the designs that these lovely people are going to churn out.

We’re totally thrilled to have succeeded, with the few people we have taught so far, in infecting them with our passion for Moroccan henna designs and culture, but also with the confidence and the knowledge that they can whip out awesome Moroccan henna designs without fear.  Nic’s design manual in the book, and also his section of the workshop is worth the price of admission; even though I have sat through it several times and read that section of the book hundreds of times, I would pay to go through it again. Each time I listen I make new discoveries about Moroccan henna that positively impact my work as an artist.

Thanks to all the workshop participants who came yesterday.  Your energy, passion and inquisitiveness really amped up the quality for everyone there.  I hope that you will post your photos and let us know how you are progressing.  Also, please keep us posted on your efforts to spread the good word about Moroccan henna to clients and friends and students.

Moor in NYC

Nic and I are currently prepping for the NYC Moor workshop and we are very excited to be teaching so close to home.  After our great workshop in Seattle we both realized how important it is to work directly with henna artists and infect them with our passion for Moroccan henna art.  Plus we both really enjoy teaching and meeting artists from all over.  In Seattle it was great to meet old friends but also to meet people we only knew online.  We hope they benefitted from the experience at least half as much as we did.

 

Consistently we find that experiencing Moroccan henna in person, with demos and practice sessions as well as an extensive question and answer period really opens everyone up to learning.  There seems to be nothing like watching someone henna Moroccan designs to really cement the lessons from the book and the workshop.  In this NYC class we added some time to the class to allow for more demonstration and practice.

We hope everyone who signed up is ready for a Moroccan onslaught, prepared to catch the Moroccan bug for which there is no cure!

For more info or to register please go here.  If you would like to host a Moroccan henna workshop where you live, please contact us for more information.