Hi!

I am a self-taught artist that has been practicing henna for over 17 years. I specialize in traditional and floral designs as well as custom tattoo style designs.

My Story

I started my henna journey at 14 years old while vacationing in California with my family. I had always been creative as a child and when I saw henna for the first time on Mission Beach, I decided I had to try something new! I got a henna cone from one of the artists that was set up in the park and, with an adult accompanying me, I set myself up on the boardwalk and practiced on strangers. I continued to practice on my friends and family for a couple of years before I was discovered by a local professional artist. I worked under other artists for several years before I finally decided I was worth more than minimum wage and split tips. In 2018 I started my own business, Desert Henna Company LLC.

Events

Starting my own business has opened up amazing opportunities and goals that I didn't expect to have. I am proud to say that I have been able to regularly take part in markets and conventions like WitchcraftedAZ and Phoenix Fan Fusion. I have also worked for a wide variety of experiences like weddings and private business events.

Portfolio

My full portfolio can be viewed on my Instagram profile @deserthennacompany but I wanted to highlight some of my most in depth designs. I love traditional floral henna designs, but I am also passionate about creating large, intricate custom pieces in jagua.

Critical Role

Critical Role Jagua by Desert Henna Company LLC | Mollymauk Tealeaf Tattoo

During the second campaign of Critical Role, Taliesin described his characters tattoos, and I immediately had to draw them in my style in henna. The first image is the first version of this design. It took about 2 hours to draw by hand on the model. I posted it to Reddit and was advised to post it to twitter and tag the Critical Role cast. I didn't have a twitter at the time, so I created my account just for this and was in shock when the post blew up. Taliesin Jeffe himself commented on my post! In the same day, I was contacted by Geek and Sundry, where Critical Role was being hosted at the time, to write an article about my work. This is the proudest moment of my career and I still think back on that day.

You can view the article here: This Critical Role Fan Took Mollymauk's Tattoos From Imagination to Ink - Nerdist

A couple years later I realized how much I had grown as an artist and my skills had improved. I wanted to re-design the original piece and use jagua instead of henna. The model sat with me for 7 hours while I free handed the design on her upper back and arm. My friend, Tabletop Propshop, printed the horns and I painted them by hand. The model then sat through 4 hours of makeup where I helped meticulously paint around the jagua design. I then added gold and white accents with gel pen to add a little bit of variety in color.

Thank you to the following for helping me make this project come together!

Model: https://www.instagram.com/leira.modelinglife

Make Up Artist: https://www.instagram.com/kiimicalwarfare

Photographer: https://www.instagram.com/lightsviewphoto