Three Ravens Henna

Just a quick post to share my write-up in Skirt! You can read the article here (http://savannah.skirt.com/he%27s_so_original/charlie-snyder-shakes-it).

I have been hennaing like a mad man lately. I am very excited by the work, and the excitement that it seems to be generating in people in town.

This weekend I’ll be driving up to Macon to drop Eric off for a weekend-long class for his library masters program. Afterwards, I’ll be spending my Saturday evening working on more designs.

I have been inspired lately, and want to make more of an effort to master the different styles of henna. I have a strong grasp of traditional mehndi design from India, but I have less experience with Arabic and North African patterns. The North African style uses lots of geometrics and representative figures which I’m not as familiar with. And I have always been fascinated by the elaborate floral patterning of traditional Arabic henna, but have never really tried it. I’ll post some designs as I get them drawn, but in the mean time, take a look at the new work in the Gallery.

I have been busy busy busy. My poor little hands are cramping and tired, and my butt is killing me from sitting on the ground most of the day, but the Savannah Pagan Pride Festival was a complete success. I have never hennaed so much in my life. I had solid lines for most of the 6 hours and did a lot of small and medium sized pieces. Here is a picture of my little set-up:

I’ll be uploading some new pictures Eric took of me actually doing some henna in the gallery page. Today has been truly exciting, and truly exhausting… time for a nap.

Well, thanks to my presentation at PK night, I landed a gig doing henna at a party. Now typically I wouldn’t blog about something like this, but when the hostess called to book my services I was completely in awe of the idea behind her party.

The entire party is going to be built around body issues and imperfections. The women involved are picking areas of their bodies that they are unhappy/dissatisfied with and are honoring those feelings through adornment. So we will be making art out of the parts that they feel the least pretty about. The hostess herself has a small scar that she wants incorporated into something “swirly.”

I am so pleased to be doing something like this. I really like this idea because it speaks to the potential healing properties of henna. Most all the cultures that practice henna have some belief that the plant and the art provide positive benefits or healing to the wearer. Here in the West where we are more disconnected from these sorts of ideas, there is still room to believe in the potential of art to change one’s perspective. Yet, sometimes changing your perspective about yourself is where healing really begins.

So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will be an opportunity for me to positively impact someone’s self-image in a way that is fun and enjoyable.

I was too tired and loopy last night to post this, but I wanted to share something that I was introduced to at PK Night. SPACE Gallery was exhibiting stained glass works by Erica Rollings in the main gallery area just outside of the Black Box Theater where PK Night was held. The show was simply incredible. I can’t get over the complexity and inventiveness of Rollings work.

The show was broken into several series’ of works. As you walk into the gallery the first series you see is entitled Grammar of Ornament, which dealt with classical design elements from different various western cultures, including Greek, Medieval, and Byzantine. These pieces were beautifully rendered and while they were artfully done, it was sort of what I expect from stained glass — classical, elegant, and straightforward design.

For me, Rolling’s real genius became clearer as you moved on to her Anatomical series, which was just to the left of the first group. As I walked over to the large blue tree, and golden yellow sun that caught my eye I was struck by the abstractness and organic-ness of these pieces. When I began to broaden my focus to include the surrounding pieces in the series, I mentally noted how entirely different and abstract the series as a whole seemed in comparison to the earlier works. About that time, the “Clue Faerie” landed and I realized that I was looking at representations of anatomical structures. My blue tree suddenly came into focus as the endlessly branching Airway passages of a lung; my sun was transformed into the mad rush of sperm seeking to fertilize a lone Ovum. At this point I decided that whoever Rollings was, she was a genius and I was in “art-love” with her.

If you get a chance, I strongly encourage everyone to stop by SPACE and take a look at this show. Sadly it looks like it will only be up for today. So go now!!

Oh, and before I forget… one of my favorite pieces was Paisley. Needless to say, my “art-love” just went through the roof.

Well tonight was amazing!!! I was the fourth presenter of the evening, and was thrilled to get to see the diversity of topics and interests being discussed. The whole event was entirely inspiring, and has really gotten me thinking about where I want to go next, and what I want to do artistically. So many people came out and the vibe of the evening was really electrifying. I strongly suggest that everyone check out the next installment in November.

Personally, I was really psyched to be finally getting myself out in front of the local art scene for the first time in nearly a decade. As an undergrad at USC in Columbia I was a great deal more active in the scene, and actually managed to go to shows and exhibit my work. Yet, while I lived in Olympia, WA, and even for the first few years back East in Savannah, GA, I was so disconnected from my art that I just floundered and stopped even really trying. Now as I have been slowly regaining some of the passion and connection that I had lost, I am full of ideas that are burning holes in my brain just trying to get out and get expressed. To that end, tonight was exactly the sort of artistic kick in the pants that I have needed.

I want to thank all my Savannah friends who came out, it was lovely to see so many familiar faces in the crowd. I was very grateful for the opportunity to come and share something that I am passionate about. I also want to say thank you to Katharine and Aaron for putting on PK Night: it was a truly great experience.

On a side note… Check out what arrived in the mail today!

How freakin’ sweet is that?! I own a scimitar… and it is balanced on my head!! This is going to be so awesome once I learn to belly dance with it up on my noggin.

Well, it has been a while since my last post… (turns head to hide shame and embarrassment). I guess that is the one draw-back to having a blog vs. a diary, at least when you neglect your diary no one knows but you. Anyway, enough about me being a lazy slacker.

I actually have something to say today… I am just a few days away from doing a presentation at the next Savannah Pecha Kucha Night. I will be presenting slides of my work as well as some more behind-the-scenes images. Check out my event page for date/time/location, and check www.savannahpk.com for more info and for links to past presenters.

Checkout some of my behind-the-scenes images:

Also new to the event page, I’ll be vending at the 7th Annual Savannah Pagan Pride Day on October 17, 2009. The event is open to everyone, regardless of religious affiliation (or lack there of), so come out and enjoy the festivities. I’ll be slinging henna (small to medium pieces ranging from $5-$30) for as long as weather and light allow from Noon – 6 p.m. Also, my best buddy Cybelle will be enchanting the masses with her bellydancing, and teaching a workshop.

Finally, I have updated my gallery a bit to include some newer work, so click on over to check out the new stuff. I am particularly excited about the belly piece I did for Cybelle, as it was my first experiment with using body paint to augment a henna design. I will try to post another picture that shows of the front of her belly, so you can see both sides. Unfortunately, I don’t have any more of the black paint to bring to Pagan Pride Day, but rest assured I will be ordering more…

Well, I finally got around to designing a proper logo for Three Ravens Henna. I am getting some snazy new business cards printed and have finally purchased my domain name (threeravenshenna.com).
As an artist I tend to get caught up in the creative process; I get lost in the conceptual. I tend to spend so much time imagining what I am trying to build that I neglect the important steps that lie between me and my goals. My partner Eric has been a great help lately encouraging me to put myself and my art out in the public forum where it can be of benefit to me, and reminding me of the very real steps that I need to take to move forward.

One of those first steps was designing my new logo and business cards. I have always been a jack-of-all trades, and where I used to view that as a lack of focus on my part, now I am seeing how helpful it is to be able to tackle a lot of the tasks of becoming a business on my own. I have been doing graphic design work for various employers throughout my work history, though I never really called it that. Now I am applying those skills toward my own business and beginning to realize how beneficial all those last minute web banners, that I have been creating for the Georgia Historical Society, really were.

I am also finding that the more I involve myself in the business aspects of my art (buying domains, setting-up vending opportunities, maintaining accounting records, etc…), the closer I find myself to being a viable business. All this sudden self-realization has me humming David Bowie and looking expectantly to my ever brightening future.