Overcoming Obstacles as an Artist
June has been such a wonderful and busy month for face painting and all natural henna.
Portrait of Sarah Jordan by Indulge Images at Sheetz Fest 2019
From providing all natural henna tattoos at Sheetz Fest with Accents on Asheville for two days, to face painting young horse riders at the Agricultural center with Asheville Alive, I’ve been staying busy. And that means overcoming obstacles as an artist.
A closeup of Sarah Jordan doing an all natural henna tattoo at Sheetz Fest by Ed3photography
If You Really Want to Do Something, Find a Way!
Most henna artists would say that I hold my all natural henna cones “wrong’, the way a child holds a crayon. Sometimes I use both hands (like in the photo above) or even my left hand.
I hold my henna cones this way because I have a calcified joint in the little finger of my dominant hand, which makes holding a pencil, paintbrush or henna cone really painful. I’m grateful to be somewhat ambidextrous (thanks in part to playing the Ukulele), and it came with lots and lots of practice. And although my henna tattoos are lovely, my handwriting is pretty terrible.
All natural henna tattoos by Sarah Jordan
The artist Renoir actually had to tape paintbrushes to his hand to complete his art, so I consider myself lucky that I can improvise and use my other hand or both hands when necessary.
My energy levels are another seemingly small, but actually HUGE obstacle that I’ve had to overcome. Although I am very social and can talk to anyone, I often feel like I’ve been given a tranquilizer after I’ve been in a crowd of people. This is because I get my energy from being alone.
And since all of the events I help entertain at involve throngs of people, I have to be careful about overextending myself.
Most people would just drink more caffeine and suck it up. I used to do that too, but my sleep and health suffered. And since my hands need to be steady to do my best work, caffeine before a big event is a no no!
It takes steady hands to create ZZ Top henna by Sarah Jordan
And so I have to plan breaks and days off after long corporate events or birthday parties to get my energy back up again.
Sarah doing henna at Sheetz Fest by Ed3Photography
I really have to be on top of my schedule and be disciplined about saying “no” to working when I’m too tired or when I’ve already worked a bunch of events that week or weekend because I’ve made myself sick by working too much in the past.
This is tough because I LOVE to face paint and do henna so much. But it’s more important to listen to your body. Health is wealth!
After a week of corporate events in Asheville, I’m gathering my energy so I can face paint for 7+ hours next weekend.
For face painting and all natural henna in Asheville, contact me.
