Tender Truth-body painting and weekend tidbits

So this weekend was fairly productive.<br /><br />On Saturday i did another body painting/photo shoot session with a very pregnant woman:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucidrose/4630885218/" title="Tender Truth by lucidRose, on Flickr"><img alt="Tender Truth" height="500" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4043/4630885218_a0af0695a4.jpg" width="406" /></a><br />(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose<br />Model: Courtney)<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucidrose/4634039245/" title="Tender Truth by lucidRose, on Flickr"><img alt="Tender Truth" height="500" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/4634039245_1c1db62d8a.jpg" width="373" /></a><br />(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose<br />Model: Courtney)<br /><br />I love doing these body painting sessions in the upper loft of <a href="http://www.truthartspace.com/"><strong>T.Ruth Artspace gallery</strong></a>. Saturday was super stormy. It rained hard for most of the day but Courtney and I were pretty cozy all cooped up and working on making her unique pregnancy portrait pictures a reality.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucidrose/4631015154/" title="body painting process by lucidRose, on Flickr"><img alt="body painting process" height="287" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4016/4631015154_d0da6c2a03.jpg" width="450" /></a><br />It took most of the day to get the body painting finished.<br />We started painting around 10:00am and did not finish with it till around 3:30pm.<br />Its amazing how much i get to know my models during this time period. Courtney felt that while the body painting process is a tedious one...it was a good way of honoring and better understanding how much time and patience there is inherent in genuine creation- such as the creation of a child. Patience, love and righteous intent are key to a healthy creating experience.<br />This was my second time body painting and photographing a pregnant woman but i have a feeling it will not be the last. It seems pregnant woman have a lot of interest in having their pregnancy documented in a meaningful, unique and heartfelt manner. Courtney said she thinks i should put up fliers at her pregnant yoga class to scare up more interest. I just might do that and see where it takes me!<br /><br />As far as other art projects go, i am currently a step or two away from finishing a pen and ink illustration i have been working on that is based off a very iconic symbol of prosperity: the Maneki Neko - or the Japanese fortune cat:<br /><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Manekineko1003.jpg/220px-Manekineko1003.jpg" /><br />...i should be sharing my version sometime this week if i can manage to find the time to put the last finishing touches on my drawing.<br /><br />....speaking of good fortune and prosperity- I have some great news.I am thrilled to say that my Grandmother who has been fighting lung cancer is in remission! I love you Mom Mom! Now all we have to work on is getting Pop Pop to gain some weight back and we will be in fairly good shape. :)<br /><br />I am also working on an interesting commission- a coloring book! A dear who is also a friendly blogger and etsy seller had asked that i make a coloring book for her 7 year old daughter's birthday in June. I jumped at the challenge! While i have never done a project quite like this before it sounded rather irresistible. So far i have all the coloring book pages printed out. Now i have to craft the cover and do the binding. I think it might be interesting to use a heavy watercolor paper as the cover and back...and then use a sewing machine to put in some brightly colored stitching as the binding. This is a very experimental project for me- i cant wait to see how it turns out. I will be taking pictures of it to share!<br /><br />Check out this amazing <a href="http://theorganicsister.com/2010/05/sand-and-sky-creations-giveaway/"><strong>blog give away</strong></a> that is being hosted by one of my favorite blogs to read! Enter for a chance to win a custom made dread tam by <a href="http://sandandskycreations.com/"><strong>Sand and Sky</strong></a>!<br /><br />So thats all the tid bits i can muster up for today.<br />Good tidings and luck with this last week of May.<br /><br />I do so hope that the rain will let up for Thursday since it will be the big Last Thursday artwalk on Alberta st fair. Seeing that the fair has been rained our for the last two months- we are really crossing our fingers that we will have a dry one, other wise we are going to be getting a super late start at the art vending season.<br /><br />Much love always!<br />-Chelsea Rose<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://theorganicsister.com/2010/05/sand-and-sky-creations-giveaway/"></a>

Tender Truth-body painting and weekend tidbits

So this weekend was fairly productive. On Saturday i did another body painting/photo shoot session with a very pregnant woman: (body paintin...

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Mother Goddess body painting session

I find that plans are made to be broken. This weekend's plans that i wrote out in Friday's blog post were quickly unraveled when i got home and found an exciting email waiting for me. I got a wonderful response from my craiglist add looking for pregnant models to participate in my body painting project. So guess what i did on Saturday?<br />Danny and I met our VERY pregnant model inside <a href="http://www.truthartspace.com/"><strong>T.Ruth Artspace gallery</strong></a> (portland, oregon) at 10:am on Saturday and got to painting right away:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucidrose/4529657779/" title="body painting process by lucidRose, on Flickr"><img alt="body painting process" height="335" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/4529657779_9aa2438d52.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />I started the painting process at 10:00am and didn't finish till close to 4:00pm. We then photographed from 4:00pm-6:00pm so it was a looong day. But as always i thoroughly enjoyed myself. I love getting to know my models. Spending over 6 hours in very close proximity- you end up learning alot about each other. Her story was sweet. She is 38+ weeks pregnant and her baby bump was huge! It was amazing painting the soft smooth and firm flesh of the belly and watching as her baby kicked and moved around within. What an amazing connection!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucidrose/4532071252/" title="Mother Goddess by lucidRose, on Flickr"><img alt="Mother Goddess" height="500" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4030/4532071252_8471c3b6c8.jpg" width="415" /></a><br />(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose<br />Model: Michelle Davis)<br /><br />....in the initial email she wrote, answering my wanted add i knew instantly that she had a strong grasp of what i was interested in capturing during the art creating session.<br />This is what she had to say about the scared beauty and strength inherit in the pregnant woman and the pregnancy process:<br /><br />"I have always felt that the pregnant body is captivating and empowered. In pregnancy we are home to one of the most complex, mysterious projects of nature - very close to the earth and very alive. Many movements in recent years that have celebrated the female have neglected this part of our being due to old trappings associated with motherhood. I think this robs us of one of our most sacred assets." -Michelle Davis.<br /><br />Truth be told!<br /><br />There are a lot more photos to be posted shortly so keep an eye out on my blog for updates.<br /><br />Other then that i didn't end up working on a new painting yet. However i did quite a lot of varnishing. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucidrose/4513340531/in/set-72157610826099576/"><strong>The Dread Goddess</strong></a> painting is now absolutely 100% finished since she has her gloss coat on. I also started 2 new pen and ink over acrylic artworks that i will be finishing tonight and listing for sale in our etsy shop.<br />I had good news on Friday that one of my paintings sold at <a href="http://www.inotherwords.org/"><strong>InOtherWords feminist bookstore</strong></a> where I have my artwork being featured through the month of April. So i was super thrilled to hear that! Over the weekend we had a good bout of sales in <a href="http://www.lucidopticlab.etsy.com/"><strong>our etsy shop</strong></a> which has pushed us over 90 sales...and we are now zeroing in on our 100th sale!!! Just a few more purchases will do it! Wow. I cant believe it! This is all wonderful news and very encouraging. My drive to create right now is fierce! I cant wait to get home and get to work.<br />Thank so much to all the supports our there!<br /><br />So how was your weekend? Any victories( small or large) or tribulations?<br /><br />Best wishes,<br />-Chelsea Rose

Mother Goddess body painting session

I find that plans are made to be broken. This weekend's plans that i wrote out in Friday's blog post were quickly unraveled when i g...

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