Body painting close up photos and news!

So that past week has been an eventful one. Just yesterday we finished moving to our new apartment- its amazing how much time and energy this can eat up but im happy for the change. I finally have my art space set up in a somewhat functional way so now i have little excuse not to work on the painting i have been neglecting for some time now. I hope to finish said painting this week. if all goes well on Friday i will do a blog entry to unveil the finished piece and talk about the creative process with a bunch of "work in progress" pictures.
In the meantime, last night i went through some of my body painting photos and chose 5 pictures i have yet to post that are more "close ups" then full body shots.
I wanted to share them with you:

Apparition of Truth

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

Your Body is Your Temple

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

Blissful Hope

(Body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
model: Blissful Hope)

Love Thy Self

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

Rebel Heiress

(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
model: Thierra )

...I also wanted to share with you an "out take" photo that i came across last night and knew i had to post:
Powah!

This is a photo i snapped of my model Blissful Hope as we had finished up with the shoot. She had washed her face and put her clothing on and was struck by how the body painting suddenly looked like fierce tattoo sleeves with her tank top on. so she posed just like that and insisted i get my camera out and snap one. I love it! It just reminds me that granted this body painting/photo project takes a lot of energy to generate but I have so much fun doing these shoots!

I have another pregnant body painting shoot scheduled for this Saturday inside T.Ruth Artspace gallery, so i am excited and looking forward to the weekend.
Thus far this body painting project has been a fascinating adventure. I am thrilled to have gotten to know the women who volunteered to be a part of the project. Their personal strengths and beauty have lent so much amazing energy- its extremely inspiring for me. I'm excited to see what the next step/level to this project might entail.

Id also like to give thanks, praise and many blessings to Tiffany Ruth, the owner of T.Ruth Art space where i have been painting and photographing my models. Tiffany is currently in the hospital due to medical complications. She should be released in a few days but I'm asking for those who can spare some good vibe to send it her way. She is an amazing and dear friend, strong and beautiful independant woman and an amazing asset and Jewel to the artistic community. I give thanks to her for all that she has done for me! I feel truly blessed to have her presence in my life.

Much love to all!
-Chelsea Rose
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The Dread Goddess- finished acrylic painting

So, I did manage to finish my "Dread Goddess" painting over the weekend!
Here is a quick picture of it that i took before i went to bed last night:

Rainbow Roots Dread Goddess
18"x24"
original acrylic painting by Chelsea Rose
(these colors are slightly off. I will get a better picture of the painting soon.)

...It had all started with a pen and ink drawing that I did back in 2009:

(Original pen and ink drawing by Chelsea Rose)
When I posted this drawing online i got a lot of interest on it. It seemed the drawing was well received and people had expressed hope that i would end up painting it some day soon.
I didn't get around to painting it for long time. In fact i started the painting process on April 3rd, 2010, which was only last weekend.

The creation process went like this:

....Last weekend I woke up Saturday morning and took a look at all the blank walls of my apartment and freaked out. It seems i have parted with most of my artwork for the time being since its up in a few different places around town for the month of April. Seeing the blank white walls staring at me jump started my need to create. I began this blue background that is visible in the above photo with the intent of finally trying my hand at painting my "Dread Goddess."

The next step was to transfer my original drawing onto the painted background:

Here you begin to see the humble beginnings of my 'Dread Goddess' painting. I transferred my original pen and ink drawing by way of art projector. I projected my drawing and then outline it onto the canvas using my favorite pens: Faber Castell India Ink pens.


When i got to this point i began to work out what the overall color palette would be for the painting. Once this was established it took about one more week of me layering color to finish the painting. However i have two things left to do for this afternoon when i get home.
1. I have to paint the sides of the canvas a nice solid and neat black.
2. I need to gloss Varnish the painting and allow it to dry.
....then it will truly be done, ready for hanging, for displaying and even for selling!
I love work in progress pictures and information and i have found that its very interesting for me to document my creative process. Its allowing me to not only share my projects with others but to study and prefect my techniques.
....So now that this painting is done its time to start a new one!!
I will keep you posted on when and how this new painting materializes.

Other then that i had a wonderful weekend. Danny and I found a new hiking trail not far from our house. We hiked 3 miles on Saturday and then 3 more on sunday( not a very big hike, i know but it was the first leg stretch of spring- got to get back into the groove.) It was nice to have a sunny weekend amidst all the rain and blustryness that we have been experiencing up here in Portland Oregon. Plus, a dear friend from out of state has been visiting which means we cooked wonderfully yummy dinners, had fun catching up and exploring Portland with our friend.
So that is indeed the latest scoop.

...Oh, and did i mention we finally listed some baby onesies tie dye in our etsy shop?
Here is an idea of the colors currently available:


check out all of our baby tiedye onesies in our new shop section called Baby Tie Dye.
FYI: we are currently 1 sale away from hitting our 90th , so who ever is our 90th sale will get some free Lucid Optic Lab goodies!

Peace n Love,
-Chelsea Rose
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Plans are made to be broken- recounting Lost Thursday and the weekend

I have noticed in my short life thus far that plans made tend to be broken. For the art walk that i had been rambling about for some time, that was to occur last Thursday, was indeed canceled by the unpredictable rain of the pacific north west.
I had also made plans to do another body painting photo shoot on Saturday but Friday night received a text that undid those plans. I enjoyed turning the alarm clock off, sinking back into bed with the knowledge id get to sleep in on Saturday instead of rush off to a photo shoot.
That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the weekend. I didn't leave the couch much. I read books, with a warm sleeping cat on my lap and a mug of tea within reach for the better part of Saturday and Sunday. Even though none of that was the initial plan for the weekend, id say it all worked itself out rather nicely.
When i did get my butt of the couch it was to work a lil bit on my ink on acrylic paintings.
Took a few photos of my work table to share:


I ended up listing two of these new ink and acrylic paintings for sale in our etsy shop:

yellow Bastet cat goddess
9"x12"
hand drawn pen and ink illustration and acrylic painting on canvas
by Chelsea Rose
going for $40
for more info check out the listing here


...i have a bunch more to list and will be doing so throughout the week along with more tie dye!

Last night I browsed through more of the photos of Ana and posted another shot:


Love Thy Self
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Ana)


Rebel Heiress
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Thierra)

Just wanted to share these few things this morning with you all.

A lot is coming up this week and next week. Tomorrow i drop off my art to be hung for April Fools in the Practical Magic Group show, that i am super pleased to be in:

If you are in Portland on April fools i highly recommend stopping by and checking out this show which will be full to the brim with some of Portland's best and local art!
Once i have submitted the art for the this group show i will start piecing together the artwork that i will be displaying at the feminist book store: InOtherWords which should be up for all of April to check out after April the 3rd!
Cool stuff.
I will keep you posted on the goings about.

So yep, thats about it for now.

Much love,
-Chelsea Rose
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more Love Thy Self body painting photos with Ana and new tie dye!

This week Danny and I have both been busy preparing our work for Last Thursday Artwalk on Alberta St which just so happens to be this week. It will be the first art walk of the year and im not exactly sure what to expect in the way of attendance. I guess we will find out. I should have taken photos of my work table since its brimming over with all sorts of art projects but i hadn't found the time.

But i did manage to post a couple more shots from my last body painting session:

Love thy Self
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Ana)
This is one of the last poses we did. I love her beaming smile here. Getting to know Ana was wonderful. She is a dedicated mother, a career woman and an aspiring model. She doesn't let anything in the entire world stop her from reaching her goals and dreams.
It was a pleasure working with her. what a muse!

Its Wednesday and i still dont have a shoot scheduled for the weekend. I do have a model in mind, I just need to find the time to call her and schedule!

Over the last few days i have released two more tie dye goodies:


Blue Green Orb tie dye shirt
100%cotton
size: Medium
Bust: 38"
Waist: 36"
hips: 38"
going for $20
check out the listing here.

and another skirt perfect for spring and summer:


Purple Jellyfish tie dye skirt
elastic stretchable waist band with belt loops
side pockets
lightly pleated
waist: 34-38"
hips: 44"
length: 32"
goin for $20 also
check out the listing here

So thats about it for now.
I will do another blog post on Friday with a recap of how the artwalk went. Wish us luck!

Much love,
-Chelsea Rose
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Love Thy Self body painting and photography

So I wanted to share what I was up to over the weekend.
I did my 7th body painting and photography shoot for my body art series.
Here are the first 3 images I released over the weekend from the shoot:

Love Thy Self
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Ana)

I had a wonderful time working and hanging out with Ana.
As she was telling me about herself a heart mysteriously appeared in the middle of her chest which was quite interesting seeing that she had recently been through some heart complications.

Love Thy Self
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Ana)

I really enjoyed Ana's vibe in these photos. She seems to have a gentle strength to her that is both bewitching and inspirational.



It was a bright sunny day in Portland on Saturday both i think both of us were quite satisfied to be hanging out inside the loft of T.Ruth Art space and creating art. I love this project. I enjoy getting to know my models. I view them as art collaborators. Its fascinating to talk and hear each woman's personal wisdom. I could easily say i learn a thing or two with each woman i work with on this project.

...so thats it for now. i will be posting more photos from the shoot gradually per day for a couple weeks. So far i dont believe i have a photoshoot scheduled for this coming Saturday, so i will be working on trying to book one!

As for Sunday it was a stay at home kind of day. I spent most of the day sitting on the couch drinking tea, watchin movies while drawing with my ink pens atop a bunch of acrylic painted wood that i had prepped on Friday. I will be taking photos of the finished illustrations very soon and they will most probably end up listed in our etsy shop for sale!

Many blessings,
-Chelsea Rose
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