Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A Hennaed Bride


I had an appointment with a beautiful bride who married an Indian man. They were having two ceremonies, one traditional western and one traditional Indian. She wanted me to henna her palms, but leave the backs of her hands clear for the western ceremony, and she also wanted her feet hennaed. She picked out a few different designs that she liked and I fused them together to come up with a beautiful design for her wedding henna.
She took very good care of her henna that night, as you can see from how dark and unsmudged the design is, thus showing her mother-in-law how much patience she will have as a wife. And I'm awfully proud of the dark, rich color of the henna too!

I was fortunate enough to get these images from her photographer, Jim Sanders. Aren't they rich and gorgeous?! These photos were taken during the Indian ceremony, while the bride is wearing her Indian style wedding Sari and colorful bangles. If you're interested in Jim's photographic services he can be reached via http://www.jimsandersphoto.com/ .

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Through the Looking Glass

I was watching "Memoirs of a Geisha" the other day, and I was amazed while watching the daily ablutions of the geisha, that she would apply the white makeup with the sharp dart shapes, that were left open revealing her skin color, to the back of her neck. This seemed so impossible looking in a mirror that reflected into a mirror behind her and using a large (3" flat?) brush to apply it! Thats some talent.

One year at our annual Day of the Dead party I painted myself as a Corpse Bride where I continued the paint from my face down my throat and onto my chest. My chest was painted with my ribs showing, and behind my ribs was showing my heart. While I was painting myself by looking in the mirror, my mother was watching me, and all night she talked about how incredible she thought it was that I could do that in the mirror. (I don't have a picture of myself from that night... so here's a different Day of the Dead party picture of Bob and me!)

I have also hennaed myself in a mirror. My friend Lily had hennaed herself with her non-dominant hand while looking in a mirror to see her upper arm, so I used that idea as one of the monthly challenges on the Henna Page Forum. That was really a challenge!

The problem with trying to do Body Art on yourself is not in the reaching, but in the seeing.

Friday, January 23, 2009

Illusion Magazine Article



I was so proud to be interviewed for Illusion Magazine. They are based in the UK and are THE leading body art publication. The article turned out really well, mostly in interview format, and the pictures of my henna body art that I submitted to them looked wonderful. It was a thrill to see them on the glossy stock.

I also submitted a step-by-step henna design from "Aloha" one of my henna design books. Here is the final step picture. The model is my friend Jennifer Malo, who is a Clown, Face Painter, and now a Henna Artist too, in Montreal.

Deborah Brommer
www.ddhenna.com

Henna - Face & Body Paint - MakeUp

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Bikini in Body Paint





So I left frigid, snowy, icy, Columbus Ohio and winged it over to my sister's house on the Big Island Hawai'i for a week this January. I decided that while I was there I would take the opportunity to get a Bikini Body Paint Photo Shoot in while I had access to warmth and beautiful beaches. I've been wanting to do this for a while, and was really inspired by the Joanne Gair book I got for Christmas from my sister. Joanne Gair's Sports Illustrated bathing suit issue shots are just incredible, and really got me wanting to give it a try.

I found myself a beautiful local model, Domini Molina, and an incredible photographer, Hanson Tsang to take the pictures. I met up with Domini at Hanson's studio in Hilo where I did the painting. I decided to go with a patterned bikini instead of a solid color, which I hoped would give it a little more realism. Domini was a wonderful model and incredibly patient with the painting process. After the bikini was done we took some pictures in the studio, and then headed out to a fairly private beach in Hilo. The few people who were there had NO idea that she wasn't wearing a suit. It really looked beautiful with the black lava rock, the crashing waves, and the Hilo Bay in the background. It was about 4:00 when we started the shoot, so the light was perfect, and we really got lucky because it had been rainy for the last several days, so all of my finger crossing really worked!

I used Wolfe paints for the green and black and white, Mehron's Paradise paint for the red, and for the grey and orchid shadowing. Thanks to Nick Herrera for loaning me some tape, and fix-it spray, as well as being such a generous sounding board for information.
Deborah Brommer
Desdemona's Designs
Henna - Face & Body Painting - MakeUp

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Desdemona's Designs


People often ask me how I came up with my business name, Desdemona's Designs. Desdemona is a character in Shakespeare's play "Othello", and I just happened to have played this part. I didn't choose this name because the play was wonderful, in fact, it was probably the worst production I've ever been involved in, but, I love the play itself regardless. Desdemona was in love with Othello, who was a Moor, my body art business started with my henna work, and I learned about henna in Morocco, so I look at henna as MY Moor. I also like the alliteration with my name: Desdemona / Deborah.


Deborah Brommer

Desdemona's Designs

Henna . Face & Body Paint . Make Up

www.ddhenna.com