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 painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Courtney)



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

I love doing these body painting sessions in the upper loft of T.Ruth Artspace gallery. 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.


It took most of the day to get the body painting finished.
We started painting around 10:00am and did not finish with it till around 3:30pm.
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.
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!

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:

...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.

....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. :)

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!

Check out this amazing blog give away that is being hosted by one of my favorite blogs to read! Enter for a chance to win a custom made dread tam by Sand and Sky!

So thats all the tid bits i can muster up for today.
Good tidings and luck with this last week of May.

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.

Much love always!
-Chelsea Rose



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May is here- new beginnings!

So its May already? That means my two gallery shows have come to an end. On Sunday i went to InOtherWords feminist bookstore to take down my artwork which had been on display for the entire month of April. Today after work i go downtown to grab my artwork from the Practical Magic show. It was a great month with wonderful opportunities! I'm excited to see what May has in store.
...Speaking of new beginnings Danny and I had our rental applications approved for a glorious 2 bedroom apartment that we have had our eye on for a couple weeks now. Thus...we will be moving in another week! And yes...this does in fact mean i finally get an art room vs an art corner!
So on Saturday we went on over to the rental office and put a deposit down that takes the place off the market. We will be signing contracts come Wednesday...and then the moving maddess will begin!
Danny got a new lens for his camera so i was playing with it over the weekend. Its an 18-55mm ...which is significantly wider then his other lens. The wider lens really allows for more versatility. It can focus up to 11 inches close to the subject...and captures so much more of the suroundings too!
...i also found out that i can actually take pictures of myself using this lense without having to set up a tripod:

so yes...here are a few shots done in the oh so cliché "stretch you arm out far enough and snap your photo" self portrait way. Fun huh?
my dreads are about 16 months old now. they stopped shrinking but they still seem to be getting fatter. cant wait till i finally grow some length.


here is a snapshot i took of danny as he was daydreamin on the couch. He was talking about cutting off his dreadlocks once we are finished moving to the new apartment as a sort of "cleansing" ritual sorta thing. I am going to miss his dreadies. This is the longest he has ever had his hair.

I also wanted to share a goodie i got in the mail on Friday:

My Aunt Char sent me this really cool head wrap in the mail. It was a great surprise and the wrap is super bright and colorfull.
I loved what the label said- " Life is an illusion, dress accordingly."
Thanks Aunt Char! I love it :)

So thats about it! It may prove to be a busy week. We have to find some moving boxes and start packing all the books and trinkets. Im really looking forward to this move. Change can be a beautiful thing.

I wish you all health, happiness and success in this new month!
Much love,
-Chelsea Rose
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More of the Mother Goddess shoot, Trades n Bartering, News n projects

Its Friday! We made it!
I wanted to share a couple more photos that i released. These are from my most recent body painting shoot that occurred last weekend with a very pregnant and dear woman as my model. She seemed to naturally channel and personify The Great Mother Goddess.

(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Michelle Davis)
It took me a lot longer to paint her. I started painting around 10am and didn't finish till around 4pm so we had a lot of time to chat. We had some wonderful conversations and i remember Michelle bringing up an interesting point. We were on the topic of nudity in art and how its being received today and even how our community seems to be responding to the nudity in my artwork. She brought up the fact that since this particular nude body painting shoot is featuring a naked PREGNANT body- the finished images may be more widely accepted...even by those who find themselves feeling ill at ease with images of the naked human form. I think there is a truth to her thought here. It seems people tend to be more comfortable with the nude female body if it is in fact pregnant. I truly feel there is a fascinating and mysterious beauty that can be found in the female form during this special and sacred time that is undeniable and inspiring. Its almost as if The Mother Goddess her self favors women during this time by shining through the vessel thus opening up peoples hearts and minds with truth.
Fascinating.
...and I will be sharing more finished photos from this shoot soon, so keep an eye out for updates!

I also wanted to share some recent trades that i made with other fellow etsy sellers. I love trading/bartering. its a hell of a lot better then this monetary system we have going!

First off...check out my new hat!

This lovely purple tam was hand made with lots of love by Lively which is an amazing etsy shop that i had the pleasure of discovering. The quality of product is wondrous and the shop is full to the brim with close to 50 various knitted/crocheted hats for your fancy. The shop also makes really groovy vintage fabric purses, crotchet scarves and cowels- Yippee for Hippies!
What was my trade peice? She picked out one of my first ever silkscreen print creations that for some reason never got much attention:
Its a really cool green striped tubetop that i experimented on with a screen print design i made using the drawing fluid method. Im so glad its finally found a good home with someone who will love it dearly!

Also wanted to share my new tea!

Doesn't that look inviting?
I am a bit of a tea drinking junkie so you can imagine my delight when i found Dream Weaver shop which is full to the brim with some amazing herbal tea creations that had my mouth watering from the start.
The tea you see here brewing in my tiny lil teapot is called Triple Berry tea and it is a true delight. "Brimming with goodness, Triple Berry tea is a leafy herbal speckled with crimson rosehips and dotted with flower petals! A blend of strawberry leaves, blueberry leaves, and myrtle leaves, this infusion swirls with the aromatic harmony of a summer garden, complete with the floral undertones of hibiscus. Finishing with the refreshing breath of juniper berries, Triple Berry tea delights the nose and palate!"
yum yum yum.
I also traded for some Wiccan Women's Brew loose Tea and it really is soothing and delectable. "An all-natural blend of herbs, the Wiccan Women’s Brew combines flowers, fruits, and leaves to achieve a balanced tonic for health and happiness! Rich in iron, this profusion of ingredients includes raspberry leaf, vitex, nettles, linden flower, and cinnamon. With fruity and floral notes of luscious lemon and radiant rose, the final lingering sweet note is stevia, one of nature’s sweetest plants! Drink deeply from this magical brew!
Ingredients- Raspberry leaf, vitex, nettles, linden flower, lemon verbena, lemon peel, cinnamon, roses, and stevia."
....how can a tea lover resist?
...and what was my trade peice? An art print! This was the chosen one:
Her name is "Rainbow Goddess" and she happens to be a popular item in my etsy shop as of late.

So, all in all. Good trades. Go check out these two wonderful shops and support their awesome crafts!

...As for this weekend Danny and I will be preparing once again to do the Last Thursday Artwalk on Alberta st. in portland oregon. If you have time and you are in town do not miss this event! Its true it does get crazier and crazier as summer draws near but i am sure this one will be a success as long as it doesn't rain! There will be a bunch of local artists out there plying their trade along side traveling hippie circus that do stilt walking, fire breathing while offering free tea! Lots of live music too! People of all ages come out and explore. I love to dress up and i will be there with a full booth of artwork for sale. i will also have my body paint with me so i can do face and body painting through the day.
here are a few pictures of what our booth looked like last year:

( think this was the last Thursday of October(2009) very close to Halloween )

( this one was a few weeks before i had my first ever solo art gallery show! You can see on the table i was passing out show flyers)
So dont miss out. come find us and let loose! This event will be happening April 29th ( last thursday of this month)

So thats it folks. I hope you have a peaceful and productive weekend.
Much Love!
-Chelsea Rose
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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?
Danny and I met our VERY pregnant model inside T.Ruth Artspace gallery (portland, oregon) at 10:am on Saturday and got to painting right away:

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!


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Michelle Davis)

....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.
This is what she had to say about the scared beauty and strength inherit in the pregnant woman and the pregnancy process:

"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.

Truth be told!

There are a lot more photos to be posted shortly so keep an eye out on my blog for updates.

Other then that i didn't end up working on a new painting yet. However i did quite a lot of varnishing. The Dread Goddess 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.
I had good news on Friday that one of my paintings sold at InOtherWords feminist bookstore 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 our etsy shop 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.
Thank so much to all the supports our there!

So how was your weekend? Any victories( small or large) or tribulations?

Best wishes,
-Chelsea Rose
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