Earth Goddess body art in the Columbia River Gorge

I am FINALLY getting around to posting about the body painting and photo shoot for my Earth Goddess series that I completed back in August!

This was the 14th body painting I have completed for my Earth Goddess series. I had such a wonderful time with my model as we picnicked and painted on the bank of the Columbia River Gorge in one of Oregon's clothing optional state parks, Rooster Rock. 

As usual it took me around 4 hours to do the full body painting. 

Here are some of the finished photos from the shoot: 

My model, being an adventurous soul, was most willing to get into the water for some shots. I love the results! And I am SUPER excited to learn that the body paint held up relatively well in the water and so now I am dreaming of an entire new "Water Goddess" series. But I am getting a little ahead of myself. I feel I am pretty much finished with my Earth Goddess series so now I must get serious about finding a gallery that will show the finished images, and also start putting together a book for self publishing. 

I hope you enjoyed these photos, more soon. 

Much love,

-Chelsea Rose 

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EYES a psychedelic body paint experiment

I am happy to be experimenting with more color body painting outside of my strictly black and white body art series Earth Goddess. I wanted to share with you my most recent color body art experience:

It all started out with this concept sketch done on sticker paper. 

and then paint to flesh!

The actual body painting took around 4 hours to do.

My friend and model Hannah was very patient and so we had fun hanging out as I painted her on the sunny nude beach of Sauvie Island in Portland Oregon. 

By the time I was finished with the body painting, the sun was beginning to set. I loved the colors in the sky, and the overall mellow lighting produced. 

And yes, I used creepy cat heads to censor this photo. The original was deleted by Instagram & Facebook because it violated the online communities puritanical rules against posting photos of the human body. I am deeply conflicted about having to censor my art, but using disturbing cat head stickers has made it a lil less painful. Why must society perpetuate fear and shame of the human body? Why do we treat our bodies as profane and distasteful things? 

The nudity found throughout my art is an innocent, natural non sexualized nudity. And for those who find my work offensive, well get your mind out of the gutter. 

And on that happy note...Much love! 

-Chelsea Rose 

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Earth Goddess UPDATE

So it has been quite some time since I have shared with you the progress of my Earth Goddess body art photography series. So far I have painted 13 women for the series resulting in 10 photo shoot sessions.

Scrolling back through my blog posts It looks like the last photoshoot I shared on my blog was my Triple Goddess session which was my 6th photoshoot in the series( the first time I had painted and photographed three women in one session.)

So picking up where I left off, My 7th photoshoot was with the gorgeous India-born, Portland raised model and artist Maulie:

I was quite excited to have the chance to add an Indian woman to my Earth Goddess series, thus broadening the diversity represented.  And this location was one that I had picked out from the very beginning as a definite spot for an Earth Goddess shoot, but it had taken some time to find a model who was willing to trudge up the long vertical hike through soggy cliff sides and precarious foot bridges.

Maulie proved amazing despite the fact that it was early May, thus resulting in a cold rainy morning in the mountains which was certainly not the most comfortable time to be nude in the wild.

And here are a couple of the finished photos:

My 8th body painting/photo shoot session was with amazing Sonoko, a Japanese born, Hawaiian raised  intellectual and all around babe.

I painted and photographed her on Sauvie Island on the nude side of the beach during an intensely bright day in June. The harsh direct lighting proved a bit of a challenge during the photo shoot but we still came away with an amazing amount of breathtaking photos. And Sonoko later reported having some super crazy, spirally tan lines!

Check out a couple of the finished photos:

My 9th body painting/photoshoot session was with a strong and vibrant Puerto Rican woman from New York.  I photographed her in one of my most favorite spots along the northern oregon coast:

I particularly enjoy how she is connecting with the earth here as she runs her fingers through the sand.

And then I really enjoyed the way her hands worked to collaborate with the rocky horizon line.

My most recent body painting/photoshoot session was with super mama and model Monis Ayala:

I painted her inside a canopy we set up for some much needed shade and privacy during a particularly sunny and crowded day at Rooster Rock state park.

Luckily within the clothing optional section we found plenty of privacy as we made our way through the reeds and berry bushes till we came upon shady forest paths.

Her son was due any day, her womb so full and yet she had lots of energy and strength and was able endure the long hot hike like a true champion. I feel she really reflected the amazing rasiliance and beauty of the Mother Goddess / Mother Earth.

So whats next?

Well I am having a particularly hard time casting for a couple of the last photo shoots I have planned. I am in dire need of a pregnant black woman and a elderly black woman. I have had no luck casting for either of these models through my usual channels so I will have to find new ways of reaching out. If you know of someone who fits what I described above please feel free to send them my way. Otherwise, wish me luck!

Much love always,
-Chelsea Rose 

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