As Nick had to leave in the early afternoon, Sunday morning was a rush to learn harquus from Catherine; she did a beautiful demonstration on Nick which he wore all the way home to the amusement, I am sure, of his fellow travellers. I finally got to do some henna on Nick before he rushed out the door to catch his train. We continued the harquus demonstration as people came and went. Two of my friends and habitual henna victims came by in selfless service to the needs of the Serious henna artists. They both walked away with many beautiful designs, each one by a different artist.

Catherine picked out my friend, Irini, for another harquus demonstration. With her dark curly hair, pale skin and large brown eyes she was the very image of a Bedouin girl being harquused on her wedding night; the design completely transformed her face to the point where we could not stop looking at her. I begged a harquus design from Catherine and was followed by my friend, Constance, and by Heather. My design was a kind of Berber melange and Constance had a large blue Celtic design that almost covered her entire forehead, went down her nose and down her chin. We made quite a site on the subway home. My husband was surprised at the site of my tattooed face and said that I reminded him of his grandmother! High praise indeed for Catherine's handiwork.

The benefits of meeting, talking to and working with other henna artists are immeasurable. The friendships I formed were unexpected and priceless. When planning this conference I never imagined that I would learn so much and walk away so inspired and enlightened. I am already thinking about next year's conference, the 2nd Annual ‘New York’ Serious International Henna Conference.

See you in 2003!

Conference Participants:

Catherine Cartwright Jones: Ohio
Lisa Butterworth: New York
Nick Cartier: Massachusetts
Cathy Cartier (Nick's mother): Massachusetts
Heather Cherry: Hawaii
Kree Arvanitas: Washington
Anne Kirkham (Beltested): New York
Najib: Washington
Yamille Castillo: New Jersey
Amanda Yee: New York
Tracey (Amanda's friend): New York
Lauren Glover: Connecticut
Lezard Cheung: Singapore
L I S A   B U T T E R W O R T H