modern mystical adornment - super fresh henna from morocco and henna artist in New York City

Henna Gallery I - Henna Portfolio

anywhere and everywhere

In henna loving countries, hands and feet are embellished with the intricate art of henna. Given the style of traditional clothes in these countries which show little apart from the hands and feet, it seems logical that the use of henna should evolve in this way. Where henna is still a tradition-in-the-making its use corresponds to the present conditions and fashion. Midriff-baring shirts show off beautiful radial henna designs around the belly-button; backless shirts create a perfect frame for a design across the shoulders; low-riding pants emphasize the canvas of the lower back and the belly; and capri-length pants show off henna anklets or even snaking vines that disappear up the pant leg. Because the skin of these body parts is usually thinner the color of the stain is not as deep as it is on the hands and feet, but the resulting color expresses beauty through subtlety.

for more photos click here: handsfeetother

Client List

above photo by Linda Kessler

Erykah Badu photography by James Hicks This photo was taken for a photo shoot for a hair braiding magazine. Erykah had had henna done while in South Africa and asked me to go over the design, and then improvise a little in the spots where the design was too faded to trace. We did the henna just a few hours before the shoot because she liked the look of the flaking paste! You can also see this henna work in Erykah's latest video, "Love of Life". As some of my work on Erykah was simply going over someone else's work, what you can see in the video might be the work of the original artist. My original work was mostly on her upper arms which are hard to see in the video. (click on the image above for a larger image)








with the paste still on	without the paste, 2 days later
(all henna design and photos by Lisa Butterworth, unless otherwise specified)