I am very excited that you are joining me today to learn a little bit about Joey, the owner and sole artist of JoHenna Design. I bet most of you are wondering how Joey got interested in the ancient art of henna and would like to know a little bit about her in general.
Joey was born in Los Angeles, California and moved to Indianapolis when she was just a few years old. During her first few years, Bonnie (her mother), took her to all different kinds of cultural events which included Renaissance faires, folk dancing conventions, and many others. When Joey was 6 years old, Bonnie took her to learn about the Indian culture and possibly get her first henna tattoo. There was a public event going on at the Southport Public Library where people could learn about India. Fortunately, there was a henna artist there giving beautiful tattoos to the attendees and Joey would be next. The mystery of henna stayed with Joey long after the mehndi faded.
(see photo below)
After that first time getting a tattoo, Joey would always seek out henna artists at festivals, fairs, public events and at her schools. Joey was a member of her local 4-H club where she participated in many activities which included cake decorating. Joey likes to believe that the cake decorating skill is very similar to that of henna because it not only utilizes a steady hand and attention to detail, but also a creative eye. How did Joey learn to decorate cakes? Well, let’s go back a little further...
Her great grand father learned the art of cake decorating while in Germany before immigrating to the United States. The art was passed down for generations before landing in Joey’s hands. Before Joey was born, her family owned and ran a bakery right by the University of Indianapolis that was called the, “University Pastry Shop.” Years later, her uncle taught her the art of cake decorating which led Joey to win several awards at the 4-H Fairs.
Many years later a college friend named Melora gave Joey a few henna cones as a gift during her senior year at the University of Indianapolis. During this time, Joey was taking an introductory course as a general education requirement in art while studying Music Technology with a concentration in Vocal performance. One of the projects was to create a placemat representing the ancient art of any particular country, so Joey chose India (see photo below). It was during this semester that Joey really began her henna and art journey.
After college graduation, Joey continued practicing her henna skill and eventually started working at festivals, baby showers, birthday parties, cultural events, and many other types of events. Now, Joey enjoys sharing the henna art with as many people as she can and is also creating one of a kind pieces of artwork that can be viewed online in her store, or at one of her many art shows.
If you have any other questions about Joey’s journey, please do not hesitate to contact us and we would be more than happy to answer.
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