"making nail art eternal" "painting portraits on nails" "fingernail portraits" "petrilude portrait" "petrilude nail" "petrilude nail art"

in December of 1996, one of my most wonderful clients lost her husband and son (who was off to play pro basketball) to an underage drunk driver. They were both very dear to me. with that being said, she asked me to paint their portraits on her fingers as a reminder of them....it was almost too much to bear and a turning point in MY life....but i did it through many tears. (three weeks came and went) and we just could not take them off. so started my journey in how to save nails that were too important to just wipe away. before that, others would just RIP them off and save them and we would laugh when someone would bite a favorite nail off and say "im keeping this!" but.........in Hester's case..it was different. i wanted to give her all i could to make her happy...to help her find solace....but still, 15 years later, i write this with tears. i began saving art for my clients because of her ---and to this day i will never forget the day i knew i wanted to put my heart into saving some of my art for special things. Hester's strength and support in stop DUI has allowed me to become strong and believe in what i do. i know it is non-traditional, i know this is not something i do every day,  but it is beautiful and dear to many people and so i am showing the world.  i love you hester.