More Black on White Body Art photos and painting in processs shots

This week has been pretty mellow. I have been working on revising more of the photos that i took last Saturday of my model Wenseay for my body painting project. She was my first dark model. I used white paint instead of the black that i have been using on my lighter models.
The effect was startling and very lovely.
Here are a couple more shots that I released over the week:

(Body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Wenseay)


(Body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Wenseay)

I have a lot more to edit and release!
This weekend i was hoping to do another shoot with a dark model and the white paint but nothing seems to have materialized. However, i did get a certain model to confirm to do a body painting shoot on March the 13th. Im very excited! She is a beautiful black lady with a tun of curves and sultry roundness. She will do perfectly. More details soon!

So, this weekend I guess I will be free to do a lot of photo editing and work on the painting I have been working on.
here are a few work in progress shots that I took during the week as I was working on the painting:

I had painted this much during Tuesday night.


I made a lot of progress and a bunch of changes Wednesday night. It seems my color palette has changed from green and purple to more oranges and reds. Not sure if i am content with this color scheme but I'm going to play with it a lot more over the weekend.

So now you know what i have been up to all week and what i will probably be doing all weekend since its predicted to be a rainy one.

Best wishes to all!
and hello to all my new blog followers. thanks so much for the support!

Love,
-Chelsea Rose
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White on Black. New Body painting shoot!

On Saturday I completed my 5th body painting photo shoot. This time i painted a darker woman, thus i got to try out using the white paint instead of black. I really enjoyed the results:

(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Wenseay)


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Wenseay)

...those are the two shots that i have released so far, however here are a few process shots that Danny took while i painted Wenseay:

We got to a late start this time by beginning the painting work around 11:00am. Strangely enough time flew by and i was finished painting an hour early then i normally finish when starting around 10:00am. I'm thinking perhaps as i do these body paintings more and more the speed in which i can get them done may increase? that would be nice.

So we painted from 11:00am-2:00pm and then photographed from 2:00pm to 4:00pm.
Danny says that perhaps if i was not chatting so much with Wenseay i probably could have finished even earlier. I do love to talk with my models and get to know them as i paint them.

So the shoot went well and i really love the shots i took.
However the white snazaroo paint did behave a lot differently then the black snazaroo paint.
I found it to be a lot thicker which made it crack and flake off much more severely then the black paint did. Thus, in many of the shots you can see the flaky/cracking paint. im undecided on whether or not i like the bits of texture this made within the photos. Im going to try and see if i can find a smoother white body paint to use on my next darker skinned model.
So far i dont have any other dark models who have agreed to do this project with me but i am going to go once again on the look out and see if i can find someone to book for a shoot next weekend. Wenseay says she knows a few girls who might be interested. we shall see!

In the meantime i am doing a tun of painting to get ready for my solo show in spring and also to pump up inventory for when the art fairs are back in season( so soon!!)
Also danny is working on fleshing out our tie-dye inventory. We had intentions of doing a lot of tie-dye through the winter so we would be ready for spring but it never happened. We got bogged down by so many other projects and now the winter is nearing its end!
In my next post i will be sharing some of my work in progress shots from the painting i am working on now. she is a 3 eyed sea creature with polka dot tentacles for arms!

Much love,
-Chelsea Rose
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Love show Redemption and more

Last night I got a call around 8:00pm from Ben Pink the Gallery Director for Launch Pad. He let me know that he was able to get my painting taken out of the explicit section of the 5th Annual Portland Love Show and hung elsewhere around the main walls. I am so happy to know this! I am curious to see where it ended up hanging. Maybe Danny and I will go venture over there soon so we can take a peak. But its VERY good news. and i really appreciate the help and support i received from Ben Pink. I hope he didn't have to go through too much to move my painting.

Also i wanted to share some photos that Anni Becker( an amazing photographer + artist and absolute sweet heart!!) took of Danny and I when we visited The Space, art collective in Vancouver WA:

I talked briefly about visiting The Space in my last blog but i felt i wanted to say a bit more.
We visited The Space on Valentines day. There were home made cup cakes, lots of friendly smiles, good vibes and art creating all around. Danny and I went in and we were introduced to the "community art supplies section." We then grabbed pieces of card board which we painted with tempera while talking and hanging out with Anni and Kelly as well as the other amazing artists in the space. it was so uplifting and cozy. I'm so glad that places like The Space exist! They just opened up and so we were able to come and have a peak at the space they have and envision with them all the awesomeness that can be done with the studio. Its a work in progress, but it already feels like home.
After we were done there Danny and I drove back over to our neck of the woods to participate in another Wisdom Circle at T.Ruth Artspace.
Its really wonderful that we have managed to find such amazing communities to partake and be a part of up here. I cant wait to see where all of this leads to because i am already seeing the changes within my self and my artwork.
Im waiting for the last of the chill to dissipate so that we can begin to participate in the Last Thursday art walks again. Danny and I have been creating like mad so we should have plenty of new stuff to show come time.
As for my show in April at In Other Words Bookstore so far i have painted a total of 6 new paintings that i will be able to show alongside the rest of my work. I last night i started a new painting. Process pictures will be shared soon! I have also been approached to put in a few pieces for a show in April called Every Day Magic- more details soon to follow!

Best wishes and much love,
-Chelsea Rose
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Finished paintings, wonderful art events, failed experiments and more

So, this weekend I managed to finish the painting I have been working on:

"the Reckoning"
14"x18"
original acrylic painting by Chelsea Rose

I guess I managed to paint this piece in lil over a week.
Check out some other snapshots from the creative process:

(roughed out the background)

(outlined the main creature/subject)


(working on adding color to the creature and putting a posse of like creatures behind the main subject)
....its fun to document the creative process and be able to look back and see the artwork at its various stages. i think this has helped me really form a great procedure for pumping out artwork from my heart.

In other news Danny and I attended the 5th annual Portland Love Show artist reception on Friday night. There was over 350 artists who ended up participating and so it was really a site to see- sooooo much artwork everywhere! It was really amazing to see materialize into a show. The gallery where the artwork is hung is called the Olympic Mills Commerce center( 107 SE Washington st.) and the place was huge!!

here is Danny hanging out with his love show submission. His is the white mandala over blue and purple watercolor. I think the wall that his artwork was on was probably my favorite wall. He shared it with some pretty psychedelic/spiritual artwork, not to mention two mermaid pieces that i loved!

This is a shot Danny took of our collaboration piece- which is one of the body painting shoots from my photo shoot that Danny artfully photo shopped and colored.
see it big here.

Unfortunately my Love thy self painting was put into the explicit section of the love show which i think undermined and misrepresented the intent of the art and its truth. I didnt even know they were singling out artwork to be displayed separately and i was uneasy with the idea of my faery/goddess painting being hung along some of the art that was highly sexual.
i talked to Ben Pink the gallery director of LaunchPad and he was really understanding and helpful with everything. Im waiting to hear back whether or not they can move the piece to a different location.
crossin my fingers.
...just has made me think a lot about censorship lately, that of the naked human body. it think its important to take a critical look at society and the things it has named taboo. Its so strange that in this society violence is much more accepted in our mainstream media & art vs nudity & love. i think its time to reexamine ourselves, our beliefs and our comfort zones and get to the heart of things.

one step forward,
two step backward,
down inna Babylon

as far as valentines day goes:
Love thy Self
Know thy Self

Danny sold three out of the 5 pieces he had hung in the Culture Control show! Not bad at all for his first time displaying his artwork in an art show. He is already on his way to creating a bunch of new work and we are really having a wonderful time participating in the local art events.

It was perfectly wonderful fun to drive to Vancouver on Sunday and hang in the new art space ....The Space, fueled wonderfully by some of the amazing artists of Guerrilla-Media. It really was a treat to paint/create with such a wonderful art family.

Much love,
-Chelsea Rose

P.S.
Oh! and for those of you who were wondering. I didnt end up doing a body painting/photo shoot on Saturday. I had my model cancel. Hoping to make up for that this coming weekend on the 20th.
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So Glad it is Friday! Painting progress and plans for the weekend

Hi!
Its Friday which means I survived the work week without turning into a puddle of uninspired meat and bones. Yay!
...Oh yea, and I am almost done with the painting i have been working on:

This is a photo that Danny took of me last night as i was starting to paint the Fish of Perception's posse behind her in the water. In the end i ended up with three eyes coming out of the waves to the right and then one eye just barely emerging from the surface of the water on the left. I think i should be able to finish up the painting this weekend. i just need to go over everything with a extra bit of color and highlight to make it pop a bit more. Once i am done with that i will do the varnishing and take some pics to share.
In this photo i am wearing my new head band that i got in the mail yesterday. I traded for it on etsy with Baahar. She is in Austria and she hand makes all sorts of lovely head bands, scarves and beanies. check out her etsy shop here!
Also, enter the GiveAway that Baahar is putting on in her blog! Its called : Give Hope, a giveaway for Haiti

So yea...plans for today would be to stop by the 5th Annual Portland Love art show because its opening night! Danny and I have a few pieces in the show as do some friends. I heard that there are over 350 artists with work in the show so its going to be a monstrous show and i bet the opening is gonna be crammed like sardines in a can. Should be interesting!

Then tomorrow i will be doing another body painting photo shoot session at T.Ruth Artspace gallery(2403 NW Thurman st) in Portland Oregon. This one should be interesting because i will be painting and photographing a darker African American woman thus i get to experiment with using white paint instead of black. im sooo ready for a change with this project thus i am really looking forward to this shoot! If you are in the area, feel free to drop by. We will be hanging out painting and photographing from 10:00am to 5pm! And at T.Ruth artspace there is always all sorts of interesting art to look at as well as complementary yummy hot tea and goodies : )

Hope everyone has a wondrous weekend. Try not to be the good lil worker bees and make a big consumerist deal out of Valentines day :)

PEACE n LOVE,
-Chelsea Rose
ChelseaRoseArts.com

P.S.
much love to all my new followers. your support is greatly appreciated!!
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Discovering Self: Body painting photo shoot + New painting and Works in Progress

During this week I have been trying to get caught up on all my painting projects while simultaneously getting more of the shots from my last body painting session ready for posting.
So far, so good.

Here is a painting I finished on Monday:

14"x14"
Original acrylic painting by Chelsea Rose

As far as getting some more of my body painting project photos edited, here is another one for your viewing pleasure:

"Discovering Self"
body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Amata

This weekend on Saturday at T.Ruth Artspace(2403 NW Thurman) I will be body painting my 5th model. I'm interested to see how that materializes. If you are in Portland Oregon, feel free to stop on in. We will be there pretty much all day starting at 10:00am and ending around 5:00pm.

Speaking about works in progress, i started on a new painting:

This background was done on Monday as the varnish dried on the "Blossom" painting.
Im enjoying these really simplistic, semi impressionistic backgrounds vs my usual one color gradation backgrounds. For this one i was going for an "at sea sunset" kinda vibe.
hope that translates.
Last night i managed to outline the subject onto the background:

Now its time to start laying the foundation colors, mapping out the creature's basic color palette.

So thats it for now. More updates soon though!

Peace n Love,
-Chelsea Rose
ChelseaRoseArts.com
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4th body painting photoshoot! + pics from Myth and Legend show

So this weekend was intense as predicted.
On Saturday i did my 4th body painting photo shoot with my model Amatta inside T.Ruth Artspace(portland oregon)
As seems to be the way it goes we started painting at 10:00am and didn't finish till around 3:00pm. Then we photographed till 5pm.
So far i have released two finished shots from the session:


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose)


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose)

....As per usual my model and I had a great time up in the loft at T.Ruth Artspace as i painted away. Danny took a few process shot photos for me to share:


....I had run out of the paint i had originally used for my other 3 models during my last shoot, thus i had to use a different brand this time.
Instead of using snazaroo( which i couldn't find anywhere in Oregon) I ended up purchasing some Ben Nye face/body paint from a costume shop. Its a bit more expensive then the snazaroo but it seems to go on pretty nicely, also staying on a bit longer before beginning to crack and peal. I think i am still a fan of the snazaroo paint though.
...I think i am finally getting the hang of this body painting stuff. I say this because i was able to have enough time, during this session to stop and eat some lunch. This helped greatly to keep my energy flowing and when we were all done i didn't feel like a bag of bones/zombie.
I have two more shoots scheduled for this month. One for this weekend on Saturday, and then one next weekend on Saturday.

On Friday Danny and i went to the Myth and Legends art show artist reception and we were really impressed with the group show! I have three pieces in the show. It was neat to see where they ended up hanging my work:

Here i am standing with my Fae, original acrylic painting


Hangin out with my painting the Fish of Perception.
....Looking around at the artwork that was up you would have never guessed that this was a non juried art show. The artwork that people submitted were really intriguing interpretations of the theme "Myth and Legend". This was the first Myth and legend show and they plan on doing it Annually now since this was a great success.
The current show will be up for a month:
Myth and Legend
February 5-27, 2010
Artist Reception First Friday February 5. 5-9pm
North Bank Gallery
1005 Main st.
Vancouver, WA 98660
360-693-1840
11:30am-430:00p tues-sat

Danny and I also were able to get our artwork ready and submitted to the 5th Annual Portland Love show on Saturday, so that is another thing we were able to scratch off our list of things to do.
I loved Sunday. We got up and cooked a big breakfast of potatoes eggs and beans, sat around a lot and watched movies, i also managed to finish a painting( which i will take pics of today when i get home) and started a new one!
All in all it was a wonderfully productive weekend.
....and it feels like spring up here in portland! even the flowers are confused and shooting up green. Lets hope it stays that way.

Much love and best wishes to all!
-Chelsea Rose
ChelseaRoseArts.com
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Up coming art shows, new water color painting and another body painting shot

This is going to be a busy month!

This Friday is the opening artist reception of the annual Myth and Legend art show in Vancouver Washington:


I have three pieces in this group show!

Myth and Legend
February 5-27, 2010
Artist Reception First Friday February 5. 5-9pm
North Bank Gallery
1005 Main st.
Vancouver, WA 98660
360-693-1840
11:30am-430:00p Tues-sat

.....I don't know what to expect really but i am in absolute love with the art on the show post card! Not to mention its in Vancouver WA ( about 20 mins away from us in Portland, Oregon) which is where i am starting to recognize and become a part of some amazing independent art groups and events.

and then both Danny and I have a piece in this show coming up this month too:


The 5th Annual Portland Love Show
Work by Over 300 Artists about All Different Types of Love
February 12th - March 13th, 2010
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OPENING
February 12th, 2010
7pm-12am
Free! All-Ages!
Olympic Mills Commerce Center
107 SE WASHINGTON ST

.....So i am putting in one of my paintings( posy nymph) and Danny is putting in one of his Mandala paintings. We also submitted one of the black white and red body painting shots from my shoot "Your Body is Your Temple" under our Lucid Optic Lab shop name.

So yay for group shows and finally getting more and more active in our local art communities and happenings.

Meanwhile, I have three new body painting/photo shoots each booked for the next three Saturdays! Yikes!
...i cant wait till i have this body painting project done. After two more shoots i will begin on the second half of this project which will be painting white paint on dark skin. I have my first dark model to paint Feb. 20th- cant wait to see how that comes out. I am still un sure of whether or not i should be photographing my dark models in front of the black back drop as you see in the photos i have already from the project, or if i should switch to white in hopes of making them contrast more. Like i said....gonna have to experiment a bit which is always the most fun anyhow.

I wanted to share a water color painting i did last weekend while i was in Southern Oregon on the Wolf Creek Sanctuary land visiting dear friends Wonder and TJ:

(Original watercolor painting by Chelsea Rose )
....After a nice long hike up to the sun alter with our Drums, into the heights of the wood Danny and I returned to Wonder's lovely RV named Soma. By the time we made it in, the woods were super wet and chilly and so were we. We hung out in Soma, changed into dry clothes and decided to rest up a bit. I ended up pulling out my Prang water color set and had an amazing time absentmindedly painting this piece while listing to the rain pelt the roof. Found memories indeed. I dont know what it is about that piece of land but its extremely inspiring. I would love to set up a lil painting studio in the back of the big barn( which is sorta being used as a supply room right now but has lots of nice big windows that look into the creek bed) and paint for a week or two in there. yes!! maybe someday when i can afford the time off from work.

....Yesterday Danny and I went to the art store to stock up on supplies. i was running super low on canvas and we also had to get hanging kits to set up our pieces for the love show art submission. last night i got a lot of painting done and i think i shall soon have a new painting to show everyone based off of this pen and ink i did awhile ago:

(original pen and ink drawing by Chelsea Rose )

...so stay tuned for that and much more to come.

Today is first thursday- meaning there will be a tun of art openings tonight all around town. So danny and I are planning on hoppin around and checkin out whats what! I am hoping to find some more local inspiration make some more community connections and enjoy the night. Wish us luck.

So, best wishes to all.

Peace n Love,
-Chelsea Rose
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A much needed break from routine

Danny and I got back from southern Oregon around 6pm last night.
We took a drive down to Wolf Creek, Oregon to visit some dear friends who have recently made the plunge into natural, woodsy living straight from busy city lives.
Wolf creek is about a 4 hour drive away but each time we make the trip we are re familiarised with just how wonderfully healing a break from routine can be.

As some may recall, i have been working on what i have called Wonder's Woodsman cloak. This was a commission from my friend Wonder who is now living in Wolf creek.
I had not actually finished the cloak in time so i spent a few hours of our stay painting the finishing touches on in the back of the land's big barn.
here ya go, modeled by Wonder himself:

(full view this image to see the detail)
....this cloak started out like this:

This was my first fabric painting project ever. I actually painted down a foundation of white screen print paint since the canvas coat was so dark. This really helped the fabric paint pop and be vibrant. I was using Lumiere metallic acrylic paint for the entire coat. I really loved those paints and their shimmery vibrancy, however i was disappointed to realize you couldn't really cross blend colors( they got kinda muddy looking)...which is true for a lot of metallic and specialty paint. I still managed though.
This project has made me think about buying canvas tote bags to do painting work on. I may also start making some patches too! ( do you think that sorta stuff would sell?)
we shall see.

The land we visited is owned my Nomenus which holds a non profit church status and is known as the home base for the Radical Faerie movement. Danny and I have been on the land a few other different times during big gatherings( such as Beltane and Samhain) so it was quite a different experience to walk the land when there was only 15 people about vs 100+. and it was sooo very soothing!

In the mornings Danny and I would get up and take hikes on the various trails around the land. Our favorite spot is called the sun alter. Its a semi vigorous uphill hike that ends on a high up rock and tree grove shelf where you can look out on the expanse of land below while being up high amidst the misty pine tree line. Its the perfect place to bring a drum- the earth and the air pulsate with each beat and the mist in the tree lines seem to dance and weave in gracefull sweeping response!
But when the crisp chill and the misty wet started to sink in the bones we would make our way to the heart of the sanctuary which was garden house.

(my favorite place to sit and drink tea in the garden house...gazing out toward the fields and the trees)
There you would find the wood furnace ablaze with a bunch of happy faeries within drinking tea, baking treats, conversating, singing, dancing, and playing. However during out stay the land was having its bi-annual meetings so it was largely all business( which was a big change from what we normally see there!). Everyone on the land but Danny and I were held up in the library via conference call with SF hashing out the plans for the faerie lands, projects, new rules, bright ideas and much more. It was both intriguing and inspiring to see an independent community at work.
Plus, the land was left entirly to us! and it was such a treat to roam.

...so it was wonderful to run away to the wild woods of southern Oregon. Now we are back in Portland at work.....but we will be back on the land to play, most certainly.

There is a lot to get done this week. Danny and I have to submit our artwork for the Myths and Legends show as well as the 5th Annual Portland Love show.

Ontop of that this weekend i have my 4th body painting photo shoot to do!
If you are in Portland Oregon this weekend feel free to drop by T.Ruth Artspace(2403 NW Thurman , Portland Or 97210) this Saturday. I will be in the art gallery painting a model from head to toe starting at 10am-ending at 5pm. Come on in, see the process and check out the artwork on display at t.ruth artspace gallery. I believe there will be free hot coco for all!

Hope to see you there!

Peace n Love to all,
-Chelsea Rose
ChelseaRoseArts.com
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