More Body painting session photos + new ink over acrylic paintings

So, in case you noticed i missed my blog update for last Friday i was in California visiting my family- so yee be warned this is a rather lengthy blog post since i am trying to catch up! I arrived back in Portland late night on Saturday and had Sunday to acclimate back into the groove of things. I was able to post 3 more photos from my most recent body painting shoot and i also took the time to document and list some new artwork for sale. Check it out:

Queen Omega -


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


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


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

....And there is a lot more of these to come! In about an hour i shot about 400 photos- which has left me with a bunch to pick and choose from. it has taken me awhile to narrow the catch down to a chosen few but i am making progress.
I am looking forward to this weekend's shoot with a lovely elderly woman- she will add some mature beauty and wisdom to the project- widening the age range and body type spectrum. I know i have said it before... but its interesting to see the twists and turns this project has made. Its unfurled to be a lot grander then i had visioned and im interested to see where and how it grows next.

In other news, while i was out of town danny held the fort by himself and set up a small booth of our art wares at the Last Thursday Artwalk on Alberta st fair:

The fair was swelling with people and vendors hanging out in the bright sunlight- i am so sorry to have missed it! But there is always next month now that the rain is pretty much backed off a bit.

I also have one more special something to share. Danny released a new podcast of music he has been working on under the name Bone and All.

check out his newly released music here. Its pretty trippy/psychedelic stuff and i make my first debut in his music in the 4th track where he used clips he recorded of me reading a poem of mine!
So yes...do have a listen to.

...and so its Monday and i have to get to work, so i better get going!

Best wishes to all and have a blessed week.
-Chelsea Rose
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White on Black- new body painting session!

On Sunday I painted my 10th body painting model and have the pictures to prove it!

I bring you Queen Omega:


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


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


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

I count myself lucky to have been contacted by Deonte through modelmayhem.com
I believe she found me by searching for female photographers in the Portland area and noticed that i had a casting call out stating my need for dark ethnic women to feed my body painting women's study project. So indeed...we set up a date for the body painting right away.


As always i had the most wonderful time getting to know my model as i painted her from head to toe. By her enchanting accent i guessed that she had exotic roots- turns out she was born and raised in the Caribbean islands thus her speech was quite musicale and fun. She is in Portland on a full scholarship for her amazing athletic abilities in sprint running...and she has the legs to prove it! Her body was one big muscle and i found within her a spring of energy that had me painting in a flurry of strokes. I actually did one of my most detailed body paintings on this women in less time then i have painted any of the other 9 woman before her. I began painting her around 10am and we finished well before 2pm and were done with the photoshoot by 3pm!
In many of the shots she seems to exude a wonderful balance of strength and grace often looking so regal and strong it beckons to ones mind images of warrior women. She was sooo fun to work with and i am smitten with the results.
I cant wait share more from out shoot- so stay tuned.

Peace n Love,
-Chelsea Rose
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Body Painting plans, Political Stencil Art and an Interview

Happy Friday All!
So, quite honestly I wasn't all that productive this week. I did manage to do some pen and ink over acrylic paintings, however they are quite unfinished and i was a bit shy about showing them in their undone state since they are commissions.
However, I have big plans for Sunday- another body painting/photo shoot for my women's study project!

( body painting process photo by Danny )
So come on down to T.Ruth Artspace gallery and hang out/drink some tea and watch as i do a body painting and photo shoot live. I will be starting the body painting around 10am and wont probably be done till 3pm or 4pm( yes it does take quite a lot of time and energy!) I will then take about an hour or two to photograph the result downstairs in front of the gallery's main windows with the model in front of a backdrop.
( body painting process photo by Danny )
This is going to be my 3rd white paint over a dark skinned model so i am super jazzed. It will also be the 10th body painting i have done for the series....and i hope to keep going with this and see where it takes me! I have booked another body painting photo shoot for July 4th. I will be painting a wonderfully charismatic elderly woman. I am very excited to start adding a more widened age range within this project for i feel it important to show that women as they age tend to mature in beauty and energy- their bodies changing to show the signs of a life lived and fully actualized- a profound beauty that i feel should be cherished but that is often forsaken in our society and media. So hang in there- i am aiming on taking this project to new levels!

I also wanted to share some of Danny's recent creations: Political stencil art on records

from top to bottom:

STOP THE 5 WARS! Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia.
WAR IS OVER when the profit stops.
CAUTION-police state.

He also just recently came out with 3 more that i love:

Babylon system is the vampire.


Peaceful Meditation.


Freedom!

I feel they do capture truths about movements within our world right now that have been coming to head for some time. I often feel political art is muchly needed in a time where the media is corrupt- we need to hear each other's independent voices and cries. Its essential for our local and global communities to have dialogue about these things so that we can prepare to enact or jubilantly be inspired to make grievously important changes in our personal beings, live styles as well as governmental affairs. What ever happen to For the people, By the people? or for our constitution for that matter? or our supposed global commitment to human rights?
To see more of Danny's work click here.

Hey! check this out:
I filled out a questioner for a fellow blogger about " Being an artist in a bad economy."
Click here to read the interview.

One last bit of show and tell:

...went out with a box of wild flower seed and romped about after a good rain. i hope the seeds take.
this is the sadly unused piece of land that my patio looks down onto. I want to turn it into a community garden but i first have to figure out how to get in contact with the owner. From what i understand from local rumor...he is a dentist who does not plan to build anything for a few years... land is such a commodity and i feel its essential to make use of- to make food and build community. I personally want to be a lot less reliant on mass production and consumer goods. I hope to become more self reliant and im trying to take steps to do so in this heightened consumersitic society. I find i am greatly encouraged and inspired by other like minded souls who seem to be growing in numbers around the country!

Wish me luck for Sunday's body painting. I am sure my Monday blog post will be filled with process shots and a finished photo or two from the shoot.

PEACE n LOVE,
-Chelsea Rose
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Sidewalk Art Sale + Finished painting

This weekend was lovely with all of its sunshine and activity. It seems Portland had come alive, to be quickly followed by rain again. Oh well, at least we had a nice stretch of sunny weekend before the rain returns.
On Saturday Danny and I were to watch T.Ruth art space gallery for the day. We had the idea to set up a lil sidewalk art sale to see if we could catch the interest of the passer byes. It worked!


It certainly caught peoples interest and pulled a lot more traffic into the gallery.

Meanwhile Danny was working on getting more of his stencil artworks cutout while i was working on a painting:

I love working in the art gallery. I really am able to focus and sit there and paint for hours.

While i do love my home art room....working at home can be tough because there is always plenty of things to distract me, mainly my cat, my love and the computer...not to mention my patio( which was just beckoning to me all weekend because of the nice weather. All most all of my herb and flower seeds have sprouted! I hope they grow up quickly so i can enjoy them before the summer is gone and the cold seeps back into place.)

So i painted in the gallery from 1-6pm and was able to finish the painting i was working on

On Sunday i managed to paint the sides of the canvas black, sign, date and varnish the painting. Today when i am home from work i will do my best to get a good, crisp photo of the finished painting in its whole to share.

On Sunday i was also able to schedule another body painting photo shoot for this coming Sunday the 19th! It will be another white paint on dark skin painting/photo session. I hope it all works out and that the plans do not fall through!
Also excited to learn that Danny and I will be putting some artwork into a group show in Vancouver. The theme is Freedom. I will report more details soon, as they come to me.

So yes, many blessings to this new week.
I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.

With love,
-Chelsea Rose
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Group Art Show: Sera Se Sol at Vino Vixens

Last night was fun. Danny and I attended the opening night of Sera De Sol, a group art show at a local Portland wine and coffee loung called Vino Vixens.

I had submitted 4 main art pieces to be hung the day before and was pleasantly surprised to find the back lougue of Vino Vixens much changed and filled with art, music and lovely belly dancers for the opening.




Danny snapped these shots of me hanging out by where my art was hung. The mood of the joint was enjoyable especially with such amazing live music.

We had the pleasure of listing to an amazing band: Nuestro Nuestro



They had a wonderfully refreshing energy to them- just very genuine with their music making, the sounds quite obviously deeply inspired by the lead's Cuban heritage. Danny and i really enjoyed the live drumming that accompanied it all.

and with the enchantress belly dancers swirling about it made for a true dream scape setting.

...The wonderful woman, Eryka Ryn, who put this event together said she found most of the artists via The 5th Annual Portland Love show, which i had put in my Posy Nymph painting. Just goes to show its wonderful to be a part of these occasions- as if the experiences and life lessons learned were not enough you also make wonderful networking connections while finding new sources of inspiration.
...The art will be up for 2 months! So feel free to check it out in person.
here is a list of all the awesome artists and their respective web pages:

Chelsea Rose www.chelsearosearts.com/

Chris Haberman www.facebook.com/chris.haberman

Erika Ryn erikaryn.carbonmade.com/

Endymienne www.iamasite.com/

Holly Patton http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22719&id=1017042059&op=6

John Payne www.jopaart.com/

Jon MacNair www.jonmacnair.com/

Liv Rainey Smith www.livraineysmith.com/

Lesley Burke www.lesleyaburke.com/

Treigh Love treighlove.carbonmade.com/

& Wynona www.etsy.com/shop/artbywinona

So thats about it. Today after work im going to run down to T.Ruth artspace gallery and watch it till it closes( i am still babysitting the shop till Tiffany starts feelin better.) Tomorrow i will be back in the gallery from 1:00pm-6pm. I will be working on some paintings, drinkin tea, listening to music and greeting all that enter the gallery. So if you are in the area please dont hesitate to come in and say hi and have a bit of a chat and some tea!
...other then that i hope for a mellow Sunday filled with lots of tea drinking( yes more tea!), patio time. I also want to go hiking( its been awhile with all of this rain!). We shall see what adventures the weekend turns up for us.
Much love and many blessings!
-Chelsea Rose
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Craft in the Village, painting in progress and Fuchsia blooms

I had a wondrous time at Craft in the Village in Vancouver WA for the first Friday of June . It was our first time vending at the occasion, even though we have been to hang and play before.
The weather report predicted rain for Friday so we ended up downsizing our tent set up to a single table under an awning. It worked out just right in the end, and we did wonderfully.


( photo compliments of friend and photographer Anni Becker )

I sold a good many 5" x 7" prints + got a commission for an 8" x 10" pen and ink over acrylic painted canvas of my Love Thy Self mermaid drawing.

Danny sold a bunch of his stenciled records and some of his screen prints as well.

But the fun started when i met an amazing artist: Cori Bethune. She was a beautiful voluptuous black woman with multicolor dreads selling colored pencil portraits she was making of empowered ethnic women. She also just so happens to be a reggae singer. You can check out her music via myspace here. Of course, i asked her to be a part of my body painting project and she was instantly very much positive and excited about lending her energy to the project. Now all we have to do is nail down a date for the body painting/photo session. I cant wait! This will be my third white paint on dark skin body painting.

The remainder of the day was charmed.
The Space artist collective was bustling with activity:

( photo compliments of friend and photographer Anni Becker )

They had a live poetry reading, which i volunteered to read a poem of mine that i just so happened to have in my purse. Then there was a wondrous open drum circle, live music by The Shivas and Sea of Oaks ( both local bands to Vancouver WA ). To see photos of the amazing happening check out Anni Becker's flickr account here.
I LOVE VANCOUVER and her collection of wondrous souls!
...enough said :)

Saturday was beautiful too. Danny And I hung out inside T.Ruth artspace gallery greeting folks who came in to have a look at the art. I brought the painting that i started a week or so ago to work on and i got a LOT done on it:

( 14" x 14" acrylic painting-unfinished)
Here is what i have thus far. Got the first layers of color pretty much mapped out. Couple more layers of color and highlight would do. Plus im still undecided as to what to do with her hands. I don’t like the orb idea so much as i thought i would. maybe she could be holding a flower? or a purse? or a dagger? Or perhaps the orb just needs to turn into an eyeball? or have an eyeball inside of it? I will have to do more tinkering...then we shall see.

Sunday was a lazy day spent sleeping in and listening to the rain pound the roof. I had some great moments out on the patio enjoying cups of tea and watching humming birds wizz past to enjoy the Fuchsia bloom nectar:

Danny snapped this photo as i enjoyed being surrounding by the blooms on the patio. Fuchsia plants are so enchanting...something about them really sets my imagination off. I finally found a good place to hang my Faery wall art that my cousin holly bought for me years ago. I think she is happy hanging out by all the blooms. A few weeks ago i planted a bunch of seeds in pots on my patio. The first things to sprout were the various sorts of wild flower mixes, next was the morning glories flowers and third was the Thyme. We are still waiting for the rosemary, basil, Serrano chilies and chamomile to sprout. *crossin fingers*

Thats about all the news i can muster. Im excited to see what this new week has in store.
Much love and many blessings,
-Chelsea Rose
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Humble beginnings and The Space art collective

Hello dearfulls.

Its been another one of those busy weeks but i did manage to start a new painting!

This is where i am at with it thus far:

this is a close up of some of the humble beginnings of the color layout.

I was flipping through an old sketch book of mine and came across this drawing which i ended up using very loosely as inspiration for the painting:

this was a pen and ink sketch done a year or so ago. As you can see for some strange reason i drew her smack dab in the middle of two pages in my sketch book-thus i have never been able to get a good scan of it. Ah well.


This is a quick process shot i took of it after i had kinda free handed a basic sketch onto my 14"x14" painted canvas. I think i might change up the shape of the wings a bit...or add more detail and flow. We shall see. I still need to build out the rest of her form + poofy skirt. Also thinking about adding some green into the background on the bottom to suggest water at sunset...or grassy hill of some sort.


and here i am workin in the home studio. I call this hairdo my "art bun." I have found that its best to keep the dreads tucked up into a high bun while painting, otherwise my tips end up as paintbrushes rather quickly! And acrylic paint is perhaps the hardest thing to clean out of dreads other then peanut butter :P My headband was handmade by Livley! and yes, i love it.

Today i am leaving work early so that Danny and I can cruise on over to Vancouver, Washington. We are participating in their Craft in the Village, where we will have a table out sellin our art prints, paintings, tie dye and screen prints!
We will also be actively participating in another art space opening at The Space!
Check it out:

I will be the official face and body painter for the event! And there will be an open drum circle and a community canvas free for all. I LOVE IT!
for more info on The Space check them out here.

I wanted to leave off with another body painting photo that i posted a few days ago:

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

Have a super yumtazmic weekend, everyone.

PEACE n LOVE!
-Chelsea Rose
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Out with the Old, In with the New- paintings

3 day weekends are such blessings.

On Saturday morning I was very excited to learn that i had sold a painting!

------------SOLD---------------
14"x 18"
Original acrylic painting
by Chelsea Rose

I was contacted by someone who had been passing through Oregon and just so happened to wander into the feminist bookstore InOtherWords where i had a bunch of artwork being featured. While they couldn't buy and take anything home right away because they had a lot of musical equipment to fly home with...they decided to contact me once they were home about purchasing the piece. Thus,today after work i will be shipping this one out. This will be the first time i have shipped a larger painting of mine and I was a little nervous about it but I am happy to learn it isn't going to be a super expensive endeavour.
I am very glad "The Reckoning" has found a good home, although i am going to miss my gaggle of "fish of perceptions" and their weighty stares.

In the afternoon on Saturday Danny and I watched T.Ruth Art space Gallery from 1-6. We both brought art projects to work on. I was finally able to finish a painting i had been neglecting for far too long:


"Endowed"
11"x14"
original acrylic painting
by Chelsea Rose
( the quality on this photo is poor. I will try and replace it with a better one soon)

....and because i love process shots, here are a couple photos i took while creating the painting:

The painting was based on this drawing of mine:

( pen and ink drawing by Chelsea Rose)

i made this drawing while watching an interesting cartoon movie about Wonder Woman's amazonian princess origins. Seeing all the fierce strong warrior women was inspiring. I got to doodling and this daunting creature came out. I think she is some kind of druid, high priestess warrior woman who is "endowed" with an extra set of "windows to the soul." I wonder if they shoot laser beams?! :P

I transferred the drawing onto a red painted canvas. I transferred the pen and ink by projecting my illustration onto the canvas and tracing the outline. I then went in and began to put down the first layers of color.


...more color work being done here.


...and here it is all finished. I was letting the varnish dry at this point.
You can see a lot of changes from this photo and the one above. I added a heavy black vignette around the piece while dropping her arms down and repositioning her hands. I also made the skin more blue/green with darker shadow.

...now i have to decide what i want to paint next. I have a bunch of blank canvas and they are all calling.

On Sunday Danny and I ran around to the local hardware stores working on getting the new apartment more livable. I picked up a bunch of pots and seeds and planted an herb garden on the patio: rosemary, chamomile, thyme, basil, cilantro, serreno chilies + more. I also planted some wild flower mixes and some morning glory vine. I am really hoping i get some sprouts!

Monday involved more home improvement chores...although Danny and I did slip away to hang out with some dear friends we had not seen in a long time.

All in all...it was a pleasant and productive 3 day weekend and i find myself feeling refreshed and ready to face the rest of the week. How was your 3 day weekend/memorial day weekend?

Much love and many blessings,
-Chelsea Rose
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