Omaris "A Tale of a Tail"

by Zaina Hart

I have seen mermaids on TV, in the movies, cartoons, and of course at Disneyland - all fantasy. THEN, I saw these pictures and those past versions paled in comparison to Omaris - - whose exotic, natural beauty breathes life into a creature we have believed to be mere fantasy. Had I walked onto the beach the day of this shoot, I would have been calling National Geographic or one of the Cousteau family, believing the tales of mermaids sailors have shared over the centuries were actually true and that there before our eyes, the find of the century was unfolding (unfurling) right there, in Florida, on a quiet beach.

As I looked through the photos that day, not only was I stunned by Omaris completely becoming the character who I have started referring to as Omarisea, but it seemed a tale was unfolding. It appears as though our lovely creature has made her way onto he beach, perhaps getting stranded when a handsome man walking along the beach sees her. He is of course totally smitten by her exotic beauty and believes he has found he great love of his life - - so he picks her up and carries her away . . . . (Okay, okay - - too many romance novels has Zaina been reading - - but you look at these pictures and tell me that is not what you see!)

So, here, in December as so many of us are surrounded by freezing weather, snow and/or ice, I share with you Omarisea’s Tale of a Tail to Tell!

Omaris shares “One day as a Mermaid”

One day, I got a message from Shawna from Pixelated Productionz, asking me if I would like to pose for a Photo shoot as a Mermaid explaining “Fishbone Restaurant would like to have a Mermaid for it’s new billboard”. I couldn’t believe she was asking me…because I am not a model and I don’t have what I thought to be the common characteristic of a mermaid look. You know - - mermaids usually have blond or red hair…and super, natural good looking. I was a little bit scared to say yes… but I love to pose and so I took the risk and said “yes”! Then I got an email from Shawna, (who I know as Sumayah, her artistic name) and she mentioned that I would have to model with lobsters…dead lobsters, and that I would have to hold them. Well, I am someone who is very, very scared of any kind of animal…. even if they are dead! I hesitated, so scared at the thought of it that I said to her I couldn’t do it even suggesting other friends to do the photos instead of me. But she insisted, and said that she really wanted me. Finally, I got up enough courage and decided to do it.

The day of the shoot provided very nice weather at the beach. We have a very good team: the make up artist: Vanessa, the Mertailor Eric Ducharme, his assistant Linda Hines, the representative of FishBone, the photographer Kristen Wheeler and of course, Sumayah from Pixelated Productionz AND in a big ice cooler, my friends…the lobsters. It was hot, with a very bright sun outside.

When I was “backstage” preparing, before getting ready with the tail and rest of the costume, a kind man asked me what I was going to do at the beach because my make up was pretty… I think he saw Kristen with her camera, and all the movement around… and I proudly said: “Oh..! I will be a mermaid!”- He said with a firm voice: “Oh!!! They don’t know what they are doing! Mermaids are not with dark hair, they always have red hair!”- I laughed and said softly: “ YES, they maybe don’t know that….so we cannot tell them”- I told him with a mischievous smile on my face. I told the team what he had said to me and one of the answers was enough for me: “You are our exotic mermaid”! That answer was enough for me to keep going.

Vanessa did natural make up and hair. Eric and his assistant Linda helped put me into the heavy and stunning mermaid tail –not an easy task. I had to lie down on the floor and needed all the help I could because the tail was very heavy and also very tight so it is able to look as a second skin on the body. They chose the tail with the brown color or earthy tones to match with the tone of my skin and hair. It was a beautiful tail, an exquisite wok of art. And it proved to be an adventure to get that tail on me; I had to make sure that my feet were in a kind of “shoe” inside of the tail… so it fits better and I wouldn’t break it. It was an amazing experience….(I think, I was more excited to be a mermaid for a day than being on a billboard).

I was very comfortable with Kristen the photographer, because we already knew each other and she has taken pictures of me before. I love her work. She also took a lot of "behind the scenes photos" that many people LOVE! Some of the pictures with Eric look like they were planned – like the photo where Eric is holding me so he could move me from one pose to another - - you can see the sea as a background and we are facing the horizon. It looks like a very romantic picture... but the truth was that he was just moving me from one place to another because I couldn't walk – TAIL.

Everything was so perfect - I felt so “pampered”. Everyone contributed to make a great photo shoot without any inconvenience. And, I even feel proud of myself that I could grab the lobsters and pose with them! It was the kind of experience you would like to repeat all over again… even with the lobsters!