Bealeton henna designs

See some traditional and new designs from the Bealeton mehndi program last night:

Mehndi program reminder

Re-read about the Mehndi program at Warrenton library this Saturday, January 26 at @ 1 p.m. and at Bealeton library this coming Monday, January 28 @ 7 p.m.. Bring your own designs or try something new!

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Henna paste

Mehndi books

Do you like temporary tattoos? Do you ever wish you could decorate yourself, but don’t want it to be a permanent alteration? Bring yourself and your friends to the library for a special teen program. The exotic art of Mehndi lets you draw on your hands, arms, or maybe an ankle in designs that will last from 1 to 3 weeks. You can use traditional designs ready at the program, or bring your own artistic creations. But first, if you are not yet 18 years old, ask for a parental permission slip at one of the library desks. You will need to have it signed by your parents(or legal guardian) in time for the program. Don’t worry if you forget for a while, as long as you bring in your parent or the signed slip on the official date of the program.

Warrenton will start the fun on Saturday, January 26, 2008 at 1 p.m. in the program room downstairs. If you arrive early, you can revisit your favorite childhood stories! Bealeton library will be drawing with henna paste on Monday, January 28, 2008 as a special topic during our weekly Teen Coffee House from 7 to 9 p.m.

Remember that you can bring your own artwork, line drawings, and sketches to the program. The henna paste makes a thick line like drawing with cake frosting from a tube, so consider the practicality of translating a pencil sketch to a mehndi stain. Simple, bold designs are the easiest to begin your new career as mehndi tattooists! Hope to see you there!

Mehndi: the Art of Henna Body Painting by Carine Fabius
"The magical art of mehndi, or henna painting, has been practiced for centuries in India, Africa, and the Middle East, and now it has finally arrived in the West. Packed with inspirational photographs of traditional and contemporary mehndi, this complete resource offers everything you need to create your own beautiful henna designs, including: dozens of practice exercises and sample illustrations a foolproof recipe for mixing the henna paste step-by-step instructions on how to apply your mehndi design insider’s tips from professional mehndi artists and more!" At a birth, weddings, when a soldier goes off to war, and deaths, the use of the henna plant touches all stages of life. Copy designs in this book with tracing paper and onto your skin.

Mehndi: the Timeless Art of Henna Painting
by Loretta Roome Dip your fingertips in henna. Spiral fine lines on your palm. Draw swirls on your feet to accent rhythms of dance. Dye your soles. "To dye her feet the woman being dyed lies on her back on a rug which is covered with a jute cloth to receive the dropping or drying crust, legs straight and lifted at ankle level with a low stool." Browse the vibrant fine art color photos and more of actual people. Now are you ready to write your mehndi shopping list, make an application cone, and test for allergies? Try mixing each unique recipe. You will have learned practical information and more esoteric meanings of the mehndi patterns in this new book.

Reexamine gorgeous henna-embellished feet and hands.

Watch a short video on the traditional ceremonies when henna decorates the human body.

Holiday picture from 1930!

Check out a magazine from the library today!

Sock population explosion!

Fresh black and white socks awaited the creative fingers of Fauquier teens at Bealeton's Monday night Teen Coffee House. Googlie eyes, safety pins, fake fur scraps, silk flower petals, duct tape and more! Local students of creativity flopped on the floor amidst a great array of supplies and crafted their puppets.

Ruby red mouths made of duct tape smiled. Leftover dust decorations from Spirited Away on the walls clung to the socks as second heads. Does this bring the puppets second sight? Rabbit-like ears sprout as chenille stems (formerly known as pipe cleaners).

See the black Scotty dog sock with green gelatinous protuberances like a beard?

Pairs stuck together.

By the end of the night, some socks were graced with names and became such close friends that an impromptu marriage was necessary. Professor Mousey Mouse acted as the officiate at the wedding of socks Dr. Readnmeow and Mr. Bluedude. Notice the glittering diamond ring before them. And the lightness of the bride's veil. Stunning, yes, but was is merely a performed puppet show or will this marriage last?

To create an entire puppet population, check out these books below:

Transform "worn-out gloves, mittens, and socks into a menagerie of whimsical creations, in a guide that presents thirteen entertaining projects that include monkeys, elephants, piglets, bunnies, and fish." Friendly smiles greet you on the first page of the book. Billy the dog and Marcus the monkey introduce you to their new friends made from things that otherwise would have been thrown away. The stitches are few and the rewards are many. Good for all ages and crafting skills.

The Cute Book by Aranzi Aronzo
"Provides instructions for making different kinds of felt dolls, including monkeys, frogs, and aliens. The world of craftsters is full of things Japanese Cute - kawaii, and the look created by Aranzi Aronzo is familiar to many but not until now has a single one of the hundreds of bootleg American copies they've sold been in English. Finally these priceless books of mascots, accessories, clothing and well, just about everything, come in ready-to-read English!" The patterns won't boggle the mind, but the cuteness might. This is a great book for those of us previously averse to sewing needles and patterns. You will still enjoy plenty of creative freedom whether you stick to the originals or modify the mascot. Have fun!

Now that you may have created a cute puppet of your very own, here is a story to scare you! Read The Puppet Wrangler by Vicki Grant. It records a fictional time when "twelve-year-old Telly Mercer is sent to Toronto to spend a month with her aunt on the set of a television puppet show, she makes a surprising discovery that launches her on an adventure with an unpredictable and angry puppet." Yikes! Better call in the sock giraffe to help! OK, OK, any brave sock will do.

Build sock puppets @ Bealeton Library tonight

Heidi Ann and Magpie: Human and hybrid sock-bunraku puppet

"Open the gates!" bunraku

Time = 1:03
"In this bunraku scene, the puppet heroine wishes to help her lover outside Kyoto, but the gates to the city are locked. She climbs the watchtower and rings the fire bell, causing the gates to open so she can reach him. Notice the awesome puppetry work and realism of the gestures." Notice the ash drifting down gently. Does this frantic action remind you of Romeo and Juliet? Lovers shall not be torn asunder.

YuBaBa in the Bealeton stacks

Introduction to bunraku

Time = 7:03

"Bunraku is an integration of narrative, music, and puppetry." Popular traditions from the Middle Ages continue today. At the end of the 16th Century, bunraku began. Listen to the Tayu, narrator, and Shamisen player bring this exotic art form alive. Search the catalog from Japanese Language resources if you'd like to understand what is being sung about in these traditional, yet exotic, performances.

For more sights into Japanese artistry, read In Search of the Spirit: the Living National Treasures of Japan by Sheila Hamanaka. Can a person be a treasure? This book "describes the creations of some of Japan's Living National Treasures, artists who are involved in various Japanese arts, including Yuzen dyeing, bamboo basket weaving, Bunraku puppetmaking, swordmaking, Noh theater, and neriage ceramics."

Bunraku Puppets

Puppets and puppeteer of Bunraku
Time = 9:54
Sit with one master bunraku artist. He shares the mystery of every facial expression on these sophisticated puppets. Examine the strings controlling eyebrows, eyes, mouth, and neck. "You must always move the head in a gentle circular motion." What is a lady's proper center of gravity? See the hidden fist that is a knee. Her sleeve will be withdrawn to reveal the wooden mechanism that controls the puppet hand-gestures. "When the puppet is experiencing feelings of joy, 'Oh, how delightful!' I am transferring my feelings of joy to her. If the character feels sad, I feel sad, too." It is not just one man controlling the expressiveness of each character. "All three puppeteers must be synchronized emotionally. It would be difficult to move the puppet if we had different states of mind."

Learn how to build your own Bunraku puppet.

Gocks?

Goth Sock Puppets
Make goth, punk, emo, or whatever, sock puppets. Give your puppet a mohawk or mullet, a piercing or a tattoo. Black and white socks are the basis for these quirky puppets. You can trim with safety pins, chenille pipe cleaners, novelty yarn, google eyes, buttons, pompoms, ribbons, beads, and jewels if you want. All supplies will be provided.

Warrenton Library: 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27
Bealeton Library: 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5

Can you make this lamb puppet punk?

Teen Coffee House - Anime Art design

Thank you everyone who drew and cut and glued at Bealeton Library on Monday, September 24th!

The children's story time area will soon be transformed into Howl's Moving Castle. Calcifer will warm the entrance to the castle, clinging to a log in the fireplace. Turnip Head (a.k.a. Prince Scarecrow) will hop on the wall nearby. And Heen, the dog, will stalk beside his friends along the stones. Who knows who/what else will appear.

Teens from Culpeper, Bealeton, and Warrenton middle and high schools are creating these paper creatures. The ghostly forest spirits (from Princess Mononoke) stare at the transformed baby (from Spirited Away) above their heads. Calcifer grins as he burns through the carpet, just kidding.

Poor Turnip Head still needs a body (paper, not human)! Taylor and Cedar Lee Middle School artists will fix that in time for the Anime Party.

Sen and Haku crouch in perfect poise as a local teen artist begins to sketch.

Oil pastel blended over colored pencil creates another (of many to be drawn) forest spirit from Princess Mononoke.


The Anime Party will be held on October 22 at Bealeton Library.
Arrive in costume (Rated G) at 6 o'clock and stay until closing at 9 p.m.
Watch a special Anime presentation, taste Japanese delicacies, draw Manga, and more.

Anime @ the Library

Check out Anime films by Hayao Miyazaki in Fauquier County Public Library's collection.


If you aren't Spirited Away by the exquisite art, the story line will take you to a world unlike any. Chihiro loses her parents, her name, and her childish whining in this fantasy film. Haku, a young prince rescues her from dissolving into thin air. A multi-armed boiler man gives her a job near hundreds of invigorated dust balls that carry coal chunks to stoke the fire. The bath house for spirits comes alive. How will she recognize the greedy pigs that her parents became? With No-face seeking her friendship, who will she be at the end?


Read Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones first and then watch it come alive on Miyazaki's animated version of Howl's Moving Castle {DVD}. View these incredible photoshop and paper crafted images of the interior, exterior, and complete construction of the castle that Calcifer moves for Howl.




Challenge:
-Try to build your own paper craft of Howl's rickety, odd castle.
-Bring it in to be judged at the Bealeton Library during the first Anime Party.
-The best one will remain on display (if you can spare it temporarily) in the Young Adult section.


Sample:

Mourning Parents by Kathe Kollwitz

Cans into lobster

Turtles or watermelon, yum

Video transformation of female faces

Women In Art - 500 Years of Female Portraits in Western Art
time = 2:52

From the Mona Lisa to Salvador Dali's fractals of a face, this video swirls.

Practical advice for Rubber Stamp lovers

Have you ever made a stamp? Would you like to use your thumbprint as a stamp on the Fauquier County Public Library Letterboxing scavenger hunt? Or try working with unmounted rubber stamps. If you decide to purchase or make your own rubber stamp, this video will give you tips on how to store them. Have fun stamping all over the county!

Rubber Stamps
time = 3:37

"This video demonstrates three ways to store your unmounted rubber stamps. The video discusses using CD cases, laminated storage panels and plastic baggies."

Working with Unmounted Rubber Stamps

Time = 6:42

Watch this video to "learn how to use EZ Mount foam and double-sided tape to adhere your unmounted rubber stamps to acrylic blocks." Attend the library's free teen stamping program for alternative techniques of rubber stamp making. You can read more about this program on the Library News and Events blog.