LISA Narine has always loved anything to do with art and craft and would often draw random stuff when she was in school. She can still recall the day she saw henna patterns in a newspaper and decided to take up an on-the-spot challenge to draw it on a friend’s hand.

“I asked one of my friends if I can draw on her hand with a gel ink pen, and she said yes. Seeing the henna pattern was the first time I knew it existed,” Lisa reflected in an interview with Pepperpot Magazine a few days ago.

She hurried home to tell her parents, who were also into art and craft, of the experience she had in school and that very week, her dad (now deceased), travelled to Georgetown from their Adventure, Essequibo home, in search of a particular tube that would help her do a better job with the henna.

Henna is a temporary dye that Lisa designs on someone’s hands, feet, or practically any part of their body. You’d mostly find brides getting henna done before their wedding and pregnant women getting designs done on their belly for a photoshoot.

With the materials in hand, Lisa started to practice on herself, friends and family and was eventually asked to do a design on a relative for her wedding. Doing it as a small business was undoubtedly rough in the beginning and Lisa was still in school, but the break she was waiting for all along did eventually come.

“I started with one of my cousins and my relatives saw my work and liked it, so they booked me for another wedding and someone else saw me, and it went on like that until a lot of people got to know me,” she reflected.

Creating a Facebook business page (Lisa’s Henna Design and Craft) also helped to spread the word as the 26-year-old continued to passionately pursue her newfound love. “It took years to get good at it; my first set of henna was never identical on both hands, but gradually I improved.”

She is extremely thankful for the support her parents gave to her. It was as if they were just standing by ready to support her on the path that she would choose to pursue. “My parents always used to say that you should watch what your child loves or takes the most interest in and support them all the way. And that is exactly what they did with me; anything concerning art and craft they would try and get for me.”

Lisa is also thankful for the support from her husband who would often stay up late at nights with her as she gets work done. Supportive friends have also helped to publicise her business.
She has been a henna artist for the past 10 years and has been into the craft for about eight. “You could say I am multi-talented because I can make almost anything; you just pitch your idea and I find a way to make it.”

Lisa started her side business because she realised that it was what she loved doing; she wasn’t prepared to let her talent just go to waste, although she has a regular job as a lab technician at the West Demerara Regional Hospital.

“It just brought me joy; that was my peace. It was tough at first as I was still in school but I love interacting with people, reaching new people and going new places, so this job helps me with that a lot. My business is about making people happy and the craftwork helps a lot with that because I help people to make the ideas that they have in their head a reality. I make whatever they’re thinking, and at an affordable price, which makes them happier,” she expressed.

Lisa would love to open a little store in future but she acknowledged that everything takes time. At the moment, people would book her service and she would go to their location.

She is encouraging people never to give up on the talents they know they have. “Never give up on what you love doing. Like they say, do what you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life. Don’t give up on your dreams and on your unique skills.”

Apart from her artistic side, Lisa had nurtured a dream of becoming a scientist, so she entered the Science stream in school. From there, she went to nursing school to study as a lab technician and worked at Suddie Hospital for five years before moving to the West Coast.