The making of a henna body art photo: Part One

I'm working on what will probably be my last henna photo shoot of this year.  A few weeks ago, I rented the movie Geisha.  I was surprised to learn that the word geisha actually means artist and fascinated by the various kimonos worn by the women.  As I was watching the movie, I started to get ideas about a new henna design and thought about japanese paintings.  The past few weeks, I've been doing some research on japanese paintings, geishas, female samouraïs (there weren't many, but there have been a few!), heroines, bandits and some other kick ass nipponese women!  The creative brainstorming part of my henna artwork includes collecting all sorts of images that will help me to create a design.

First, begin.

Whenever I'm about to start on a new project, I always have a moment of hesitation (sometimes, a very long moment of hesitation!). But sooner or later, I am reminded that things don't have to be perfectly aligned to begin. Sometimes, I hesitate because I'm not sure where to start. So I wait and hope for a clear sign, you know, like a big X that marks the spot and leads to the starting point. But more often than not there are no sign. The reality is that starting right smack in the middle of where you are IS the perfect spot. And all you have to do is begin.