Being a Mermaid - My Visit to the NC Mermania Convention 2017

Photo by Mertography

January 21-22 found me at NC MerMania 2017: the largest gathering of Mermaids and Merfolk in the world. Performers and hobbyists from all over the globe came to splash around, connect, giggle and play at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, NC.

This was the largest Merfolk convention to date: over 400 mer-people and their families came out to join in the fun.

I spent all of Saturday morning and afternoon in the pool, swimming and connecting and laughing.  There were so many faces I'd only seen online -- mermaids are a close knit bunch on Facebook -- and it was great to meet these incredible ladies in person.  I also got to reconnect with friends from past mermaid portfolio destination trips to the Bahamas and Hawaii and Mexico.

Tail Making

I make all my own mermaid tails (I brought my newest Ariel tail and my Light-up Glimmer tail this year), so I loved talking to the other mermaids wearing handmade creations.  I met one mermaid who'd found my Neoprene Mermaid Tail Tutorial and created her own unique tail based on my methods.  I could barely contain myself.

The range of materials and tail designs was endless.  Sequins, fabric, neoprene, duct tape, paint, glue, silicone, monofins, and real shells or found materials all came together in a splash of form, color and function.

For the non-maker mermaids, there are a handful of companies that create customizable silicone "realistic" tails for purchase.  Some of the larger companies include FinFolk Productions, MerTailor and MerNation tails.  I also encountered plenty of gorgeous tails made by smaller companies or individuals looking to participate in the mermaid craze -- Merbella Studios is one of my favorites among these.

Kid's Swim

I got the chance to participate in the kid's swim.  Watching little girls becoming a mermaid for the very first time is really powerful.  I perform at a lot of kid's birthday parties as a swimming mermaid, so swimming with the kids just feels so right and so natural to me, and I can really connect with them and watch their spirit unfold and soar. This might have been my favorite part of the day.

Photo by Mertography

Fathoms Below Ball

The evening festivities included a gala dinner and a Fathoms Below Ball dance party.  I provided the entertainment with my LED Light Dance Show, which I customized to the event by adding mermaid-themed persistence-of-vision (POV) images to my Supernova Poi and Morning Star Double staffs (with Adafruit inside!).  The crowd went wild whenever mermaids made of light appeared in the air around me.

photo by Mertography

photo by Mertography

photo by Mertography

The theme of the ball was illumination, and lots of people came in light-up costumes.  These ranged from Luminex dresses, to custom-made angler-fish masks, to the cheap but effective method of just adding battery powered light strands to a dress.  I've never performed for such a luminous audience.

Mermaid Glimmer

After the ball wound down, everyone headed over to the hotel pool for an after-hours swim with Mermaid Glimmer.  Glimmer is my own personal one-of-a-kind creation: an arduino powered, bluetooth-controlled swimmable mermaid tail with around 200 addressable LEDs.  When the lights go out, Glimmer lights up the pool with LED rainbows and everyone watching turns into a 7 year old girl.

I am filled with gratitude for getting to be a part of such a wonderful, accepting, loving community.  With the Live-Action Little Mermaid Movie set to come out in 2017, mermaids are coming more and more into the public eye.  Mermaids are the new Vampires!  You heard it here first.

My Little Mermaid FanFic Photo!

Mermaid Adventures: My Ariel Photo shoot with Dolphins in Hawaii

I'm not very good at relaxing.  Every time I take a vacation I always seem to find a way to work.

This month I took my new neoprene Ariel mermaid tail to Hawaii and did an underwater photo shoot with the fabulous folks at Sea Through Sea.  I worked with them last year doing a photo shoot for my Elsa mermaid tail, and when I found myself on the Big Island again I gave them a call.

I wanted to show off the translucency of the monofin in this tail since that's it's most unique feature. I also thought it might be fun to try and recreate some movie poster shots from The Little Mermaid, since this tail is so unabashedly Ariel.

I made a Pinterest board with some ideas, and realized a lot of them were cave shots -- Ariel's Grotto is just so lovely, and I haven't done many shots like that before.  However, when we got to Hawaii the tides were unusually high thanks to the SuperMoon that happened in November 2016, so we ended up changing plans last-minute and going on board a dolphin swim boat instead, with Neptune Charlie's Adventures.  Yay, Dolphins!

There's nothing quite like swimming with wild friendly sea creatures in the ocean.

We chased a pod of spinner dolphins around and had some wonderful encounters with mom and baby dolphins.  On our last pass, just as we popped our heads up and took a breath, an adult spinner dolphin launched out of the water not 20 feet away from us, flipped around in the air and landed back in the water.  We all screamed with delight, and then whooped again when a second dolphin jumped joyfully in the air right behind us.

Such a wonderful time, such a wonderful trip, such a wonderful life.  Being a mermaid is just the best.

And here are a few of my favorite Mermaid photos!  Hooray!

See the whole album

Elsa Mermaid Video -- Truly Unique Frozen Party Idea

Are you sick of Frozen parties yet?  :)  We're keeping it fresh by magically transforming Elsa into a real, live, swimming mermaid for pool parties.  If she can't decide between having Ariel come and swim or having Elsa, we've got a solution... Elsa the Mermaid!

Mermaid Swim & Photo Shoot in Mexico with Mermaid Glimmer

Mermaid Glimmer, Photo by Robert Minnick

I'm finally getting caught up with life after 5 days in Mexico with the Mermaid Portfolio Workshop followed by a crazy-busy weekend -- I came home and jumped into 3 fire shows, 3 Frozen Elsa shows, and a Tinkerbell show over the next 3 days.

Monday?  I slept on Monday.  Isn't that what Mondays are for?

I landed in Mexico with Mermaid Atlantis, the last two to join the trip.  It was a 3-segment workshop, starting with a whale shark swim and a trip to Cancun's underwater museum.  (I did this part last year and have a crazy cool video).

A new addition this year was 3 days of shooting in the Mexican Cenotes, in Playa del Carmen.  Cenotes are freshwater swimming holes -- basically sinkholes created by slow-moving underground rivers.  They're frequented by scuba divers looking to do some freshwater cave diving, and by photographers attracted by the unique combination of clear water, rocky cave-like overhangs, and jungle vines bathed in sunlight.

This was the ideal location to shoot the Glimmer Mermaid tail.  With its array of LEDs flashing in rainbow colors, the darkness of the caves really allowed it to (ahem) shine.

Photo by Susan Knight Studios

We had 3 photographers and 8 mermaids from all over the US and Canada.  I brought my Ariel Swimming Mermaid tail also, and during the sunnier portions of the shooting days I got some pretty Ariel shots.  We managed to squeeze in some fairy photos too, and fairy-mermaid combo shots, which I can't wait to see.  But in the early mornings and late afternoons I focused mostly on Glimmer.

Making an underwater LED mermaid tail may be the biggest folly I've ever undertaken.  She breaks all the time.  She's finicky and capricious, prone to mood swings, and downright dangerous if I treat her wrong.  (I have a 12v LiPo battery strapped between my ankles underwater, and these are known to explode if gotten wet or punctured).  She's complicated and magical and tricksy and sometimes a downright bitch.  She frustrates me, burns me, takes all my money, and drives me to tears.

Mermaid Atlantis, Photo by Robert Minnick

But my god, the beauty she creates deep in those underwater caves as she glows and shimmers and shifts through her rainbow colors..  she fills my heart with beauty, pride, and love.  I wouldn't trade her for anything.


I am slowly seeing some of the images taken by our fabulous photographers as they post their favorites on Facebook.  Each new image of me or of one of my mermaid sisters along on the trip gets me so excited.  It's like Christmas!  I'm doing my best to keep from madly refreshing the page every 20 seconds all day every day.

Photo by Susan Knight Studios

We also got a lot of amazing video footage, so I'll be coming out with a Mermaid Glimmer video sometime soon.  Watch for it over on my YouTube channel.

Glimmer held up pretty well on this trip.  I wore her for 2 full days in some pretty rough terrain, and took her pretty deep, before anything broke on her.  After the 3rd day she did need some repairs, but the repair process is getting easier and she's already 100% back online.  I now have confidence that she is ready for the public.  Of course,  I want to add more animation modes, more bells & whistles and more sensors and interactivity, but I'm ready to start booking her for evening pool appearances with confidence.

As the summer wanes and the warm autumn nights unfold, don't you need a glowing mermaid in your pool?  :)

Mermaid Glimmer, Photo by Robert Minnick