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I bring you a powerful portrait study of a brave, wondrous muse, artist and all around powerful and beautiful woman: Queen Bead!
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )
(process shot taken by Danny )
Saturday was a hot one so as soon as Danny and I got to our shoot location, T.Ruth Artspace Gallery, we cranked the AC. Queen Bead arrived around 10:30am and we got to painting after plugging in a few fans in the back of the gallery.
I was truly amazed at how quickly this body painting was finished. We got started around 10:30am and finished around 1:30pm, then took pictures till around 2:30/3pm.
Queen Bead was my 12 body painting for this series/women's study and I am very pleased with the photos and how it all turned out.
I was positively bursting with inspiration as soon as i met this woman a couple months ago at the art fair "Craft in the Village" in Vancouver WA. She was sitting at a booth with her son selling colored pencil and ink illustrations of powerful queens, empresses and goddesses. I was entranced by her persona and energy and couldn't help but run up and ask if she might be interested in modeling for my body painting women's study. To my glee she instantly seemed interested in the project saying it sounds like just the thing she needs for her CD/Album cover art! Turns out she is an inspired reggae singer- her stage name being Queen Bead. Listen to a few of her songs here. ( my favorite song of hers is the one called "Barefoot Healer")
I feel blessed to have her unique energy and beauty entered in to this project of mine- the universe works in mysterious and wonderful ways!
More from this shoot to be posted soon.
Much love,
-Chelsea Rose
seriously, you're awesome. you're very talented. i love your works, chelsea.
ReplyDeleteanyway, can you spare me some tips on body painting?
Thank you for sharing this body painting project. I have enjoyed each set of photos that you have posted. It is so nice that you have chosen to paint all different women not just one body type
ReplyDeleteWow! This looks amazing. I love this series.
ReplyDeleteShe is a fabulous model! And she makes a great addition to your many models and paintings...I think one of these photos would make a dynamic and wonderful album cover! What synchronicity!
ReplyDeleteOkay I was thinking about your shoot of Queen Bead and I thought to myself "Man, that last shot of her standing with the stick would make an awesome album cover". I hadn't had the time to read your post on her, just the pics as I ran off to get some green bug killer. Now that I am back I had a chance to read your post and bam, there it is, she's going to use it for her album cover. Yep, brilliant! She looks AWESOME! Great painting, great shot, great model!
ReplyDeletethis may very well be my favorite model in your series yet. :)
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful! A wonderful series showing the beauty, power and spirituality of all different kinds of women. Queen Bead is my sister but your collaboration with her in these photos have shown her in a different powerful light. Thank you.
ReplyDeletePaulette
Wow Chelsea, your work just gets better and better! I can see you're really getting into the stride of things with it taking you less time for each successive body painting too.
ReplyDeleteWas that a Ben Nye product you were using for the body painting too? I think I just caught the Ben Nye logo on the side of the bottle. Would be interesting to hear how you found using it; I guess using a liquid paint will save time as opposed to a cake formulation, as you won't be having to spend time dipping the brush into water and mixing it with the paint each time...
I love the 4th picture of her.
ReplyDeleteI also love the color sewn or tied into her dreads.
Thanks so much for the outpour of interest and support!
ReplyDeleteI really do feel this shoot within my series helps boost the truth i am trying to represent- that women are naturally beautiful in all their various manifestations of flesh and spirit regardless of age, body type or ethnicity. Our differences only work towards building individual and wondrous brews of strength and beauty. Our bodies are our temples and i feel we all must take strides to love and cherish ourselves despite all the negative projections that society and culture tend to project on the female body and spirit.
Know thy self.
Love thy self.
Vinda Sonata and Superdus- you both asked question about the sort of paint i am using and the process. I started out using Snazaroo body paint and used it for almost all of my body painting sessions until just recently when i got a hold of some Ben Nye liquid face and body paint. Both Snazaroo and Ben Nye paints do seem to crack and fade/flake off with movement so touchups and detailing work was needed after i got the entire body covered in design. I guess there is a “stay on” spray that Ben Nye produces that is supposed to stop the flaking…but I have yet to try it. What i prefer about the Ben Nye Liquid paint does have to do a great deal with the fact that i do not have to mix with water- i can use the paint the way it is right out of the bottle saving time and energy trying to mix water with the paint to get the right consistency for it to flow with the paint brush strokes.
Paulette - I am so glad that you can see the intent of my body painting series- i hope it is empowering and thought provoking. I hope the series also challenges people’s belief systems and thoughts regarding stereotypes and prejudices as well as ideas about what makes a woman beautiful and powerful. I am also so glad that you caught on to the fact that your sister did "transform" in this shoot as i have watched all my other models do with the body painting. And really I am never surprised to see this transformation bloom in each model because body painting has always been a part of many shamanic rituals from all over the world often signifying and honoring changes and stages that our living vessels and spirits experience through this life. Body painting seems to have a way to morph a person into a higher self. In your sisters case i really also could feel throughout the shoot that she was channeling some deep ancestral knowledge and roots which was a fascinating thing to behold. I feel its extremely important that we reach back in time and existence and try to awaken our spiritual centers- tapping back in the collective consciousness. I think this can be extremely healing in a world increasingly focus on the material and scientific spectrum of things. I am striving to find a balance within these spheres myself and this body painting series has been an amazing journey- I think I am on my way…up up and away :)
Gwen- that is so funny- sounds like you already tapped into the idea of the album- no need for silly words on a screen! I am interested to see which one she ends up using for an album cover….i have so many more photos to share its crazy but I am beginning to think sometimes “less is more”?
Knitsteel- I do also LOVE the color she put through her weave/braids. I actually fought with myself over a lot of the photos goin “ oh man! This photo is pretty cool in color but I know my project is strictly black and white.” Maybe I will post some in color for fun cuz her mutli colored locks are just stunning.
Thanks Chelsea for being the one who is able to explain my existance thus far.. Shamanism is hard to explain to the un-initiated..I've been looking at the image CD you gave me, and trying to decide which one to use for the cover..I'm going to have to come by the gallery this weekend so we can talk about it, I'm having a difficult time choosing just one..
ReplyDeleteI'm also glad that Athena-Amanita my magic walking stick called out to me and asked me to take her home just in time for the photo shoot !!. I'm thinking that I must look a lot like the "One-Eyed" African Queen Amanita in all her Warrior-Queen glory : )
ReplyDeleteOops thats Queen Amina..my bad?...nope just lil alzheimer-ish... : *
ReplyDelete