Hi! My name is Heather Beemer. I am a native of Indiana and have lived in Los Alamos, New Mexico since 2004. I am the proud parent of one amazing son and I'm a full-time Speech-Language-Pathologist in the Los Alamos Public Schools District. I love my career and what I do, but it's henna that provides me with an outlet to create. I'm also the lead singer of "Heather & The Bad Breaks."

 

At least a decade ago I took a leap and a basic class on henna. From there I began attending retreats and workshops across the country, getting lessons from some amazing henna artists. I began to understand the beauty and the depths of henna as an art form with continued practice. After coming across an explanation of the term "shringar" I knew that henna was going to continue being a part of my life for a long time. A book by Loretta Roome, "The Timeless Art of Henna Painting" states, "In India, there is a special term (shringar) that is used to describe the beauty of a woman's creativity. The concept of shringar is a particularly lovely one. A woman displays her shringar in the act of creative expression. She may do it with a gesture or in a great work of art. She may reveal it in the way that she adorns herself or another. Shringar is the power of beauty beneath the surface, and mehndi/henna is one of the many ways that such beauty is made manifest,"

 

Not too long after I started doing henna did I realize that I could apply it to so much more than just the human body. As a hunteress many years ago, I began to henna elk, deer, and antelope skulls. I have even had the pleasure of adorning the skulls of a skunk, bear and a domestic sheep. Each design is different and I take into account what my clients want with a dash of my own personality in every one. Nowadays, I will henna anything that will hold still long enough to be adorned, including drums, candles, canvases, glass, lanterns and on and on.

 

I am so thankful for this form of art. It allows me to get to know so many different kinds of people while getting lost in a design. Thank you for being part of my journey.