Henna/Mehendi artist Atisha Razack had stayed out of the limelight, while creating beautiful designs, but this all changed when a photo was posted on Facebook of her designing the hands of radio personality Bindiya Takchandra in preparation for her wedding.
Fondly referred to as ‘Tisha’, she had always been artistic as a girl growing up and was commended on her talent throughout her school life. However, life was not normal for her as she dealt with health issues which saw her in and out of the hospital. This remains the case today. Even so, Tisha tries to remain optimistic and do the best she can.
Owing to her health, she had long realized that she could not do a 9-5 job. Yet, initially, she never saw herself doing henna artistry. It all began more than a decade ago when Tisha got her hands designed for an occasion she was attending, but the designs were not as great as she had hoped. She knew she could do a better job if she tried, and vowed then to learn henna art, so she could do the designs she wanted.
It did not take long for relatives and friends to realize she had found her niche. For about six years Tisha enjoyed henna artistry as a hobby and the satisfaction she got out of it from the smiles on the faces of friends and family. Since she comes from a family that is not well-off, a friend pointed out to Tisha that instead of purchasing henna and doing people’s hands for free, she should be charging a fee. In 2006, she turned her hobby into a business.
After designing the hands and feet of her first paying client, Tisha posted a photo of her work online for the first time. That picture is her business’s profile photo on her Facebook page today. Through her page ‘Tisha H’, the artist has received many other clients. However, word of mouth remains the avenue through which she receives most of her bookings.
The henna artist sometimes works from her Diamond, East Bank Demerara home or travels to where her clients are. The travelling mostly occurs when she has large bookings like a bride as well as the bridal party. Mehendi for brides is a whole different ball game, Tisha noted. During the first year of her business, she spent months learning how to do bridal henna through online tutorials and a bit of training from a henna artist in India. The woman also serves as a source of her henna products. Tisha also obtains some of her henna from local businesses, but she prefers the dyes from India as when she uses them the designs stay on the skin longer.
Where a simple henna design takes Tisha only a matter of minutes to complete, the mehendi designs for brides can take up to several hours. However, that is nothing compared to three days, which is a lot even when one has an assistant. Tisha recalled that on one occasion, she designed the hands and feet of more than 100 members of a bridegroom’s family. She said that while she formed the designs, her assistant followed, filling them in using the requested colours; it still took them three days to get done.
Tisha’s clients hail from parts of regions Three and Four as well as Berbice.
Though she has two books of henna designs for clients to choose from, many trust her ability in the art and usually tell her to go ahead and do whatever she pleases. With her years of expertise, Tisha does not need to look at pictures of designs; she has it all in her head.
However, because bridal designs are very intricate and what she produces is one-of-a-kind, she would sometimes put a design on paper.
The more intricate the design, the more it costs. Her books of design are priced, she said, and allow her clients to choose the ones that suit their pockets. She said there are times when a client wants a really detailed design, but can only afford to pay so much. Sometimes, there is not a huge difference between the two and she can manage to do the design for the price the client can pay. When the difference between what the client wants and what the client can afford is vast, she offers to do a design close to what is being requested. Even then, her clients are always satisfied. The henna artist shared that she has not had one client disapprove of her work to date.
While most of her clients are women and girls, some men also get henna designs but usually not the floral patterns seen on women. Tisha said men tend to request designs with the names of their significant others, Marvel Comics art, or other art which they consider appropriate. Almost every function she goes to, there is a guy or two who requests some form of body art using her henna.
It has been five years since Tisha established her henna artistry business and she would have liked to have her salon constructed by now. It should have been completed last year, but that deadline was affected by the pandemic. If all goes well, she hopes to have it completed next year.
Tisha requests that bookings be placed at least a week in advance. She revealed that she has already been booked for a wedding in August next year.
Aside from henna artistry, Tisha also does hair and nails; she designs and sews face masks, does event decorations and designs cake toppers, and t-shirts. She said her salon would serve as a shop front for her to provide these services. However, with her medical issues putting her at a disadvantage, she has intentions of training people in these skills, which would allow her to only have to worry about managing the business, instead of taking on the brunt of the work.
In addition to all she does, Tisha is a student, so much of her time surrounds her studies.
For one who deals with colours on a regular basis, Tisha’s favourites are burgundy and gold.
The artist hopes her health improves as she wants to use more of her time to engage in humanitarian work and mental health training in the future.
“Through everything, God has kept me and I give credit to Him and also to my relatives and friends who have supported me along this journey, even in the rough times,” acknowledged the mehendi artist.
In her limited free time, Tisha hangs out with her nieces and nephews and her two cats. She likes travelling to off-the-grid areas that are picturesque and has visited nine of the ten regions in Guyana; she is yet to visit Region one.
Her favourite dishes are her grandmother’s provision soup with split peas and dumplings, and smoked herring with dal and rice.
The artist can be booked via her Facebook business page Tisha H or at 612 3877.
