Have you ever asked your Mum what it was like for her being pregnant? -It was very different to today and has sparked the inspiration for our bump painting event this Valentines. We shall be having a pregnant bump painting spectacular!
My client Leisha Maguire told me of how she was showing off her bump portraits to her own Mum. Her Mum was reminded of her own pregnancy when bumps were hidden. Back in the seventies and eighties maternity dresses were infantilizing shapeless tents and Leisha’s Mum said she even wore a dress to the swimming pool! Such a far cry from today when we are celebrating our bumps, our shape and our sexiness!
With February being the traditional time for love, it’s the perfect time to launch our bump painting portrait sessions. This month’s event is designed to give all Mums to be a bit of empowering love and the chance to feel utterly fabulous about yourselves. And as a homage to our Mums of yesteryear I’m adding a touch of seventies psychedelia to this month’s bump photo shoots with a bit of bump painting.
Bump painting is a new medium to be working with, and my art degree is coming in handy. As ever I want to make something timeless and classic that you will cherish for the rest of your lives, so I’ve been pulling inspiration from a range of sources. I don’t want to create bump painting that is simply a picture on your body, it needs to flow with your body and be a beautiful addition to your whole portrait. So I’ve been looking at Seventies patterns, henna tattoos and Indian weddings for inspiration.
Beginning Bump Painting
This week has been booked up with Mum’s to be happy to let me experiment on them while I master this new skill, and I am so excited with the results we have been getting. Victoria Chestnut was my first bump painting model and she found the whole experience very empowering. We started off by creating a few traditional portraits at the start of the session, and then we sat down for half an hour of painting and good old chat.
For the bump painting photo shoot we tried out a range of poses and used fabric to cover what we wanted to hide and also to frame and accentuate her glorious bump and all her good bits.
My second model was Hayley McGinley and we tried out a bold seventies pattern for her bump painting – it reminds me of a biscuit tin we had when I was little that brings back lovely memories of eating far to many pink biscuits in one sitting.
I love the flow of the fabric in this next portrait and how Hayley almost seems to be floating in the black.
My ladies are often a bit nervous when they come along for a bump photo shoot, most of us have never done anything like this before so it can seem quite strange at first. We always have a good chat and a giggle though and I am regularly told that my clients have found the experience really empowering.
Kasey Shaw was my third model and now I wanted to try something a little darker, so I used a very fine brush to create a henna style design on her bump. I did originally look into using henna for these sessions, but realised it wouldn’t be feasible because of how long the application takes. And I rather like that these designs are so short lived, these bump paintings are just a moment in time to mark this very special event and moment in your life.
Lauren Smart and her partner Aeron were next and I felt it was time for something a little more floral but still accentuating the shape of her bump. Once again the painting took around thirty minutes and Lauren said it felt very relaxing.
My final bump painting model was Vicky Heywood and her family, as well as painting Vicky’s bump, I took the opportunity to paint little designs on her children too. They were pretty wriggly though so these designs had to be quick!
It has been a fantastic week and I am absolutely thrilled with how each of the bump painting sessions has worked out. It’s so lovely to do something so unique and special. Now it’s time to launch this new service, so I’d like to offer this extra special portrait session for just £20 to the first ten Mum’s to be who book with me. If you are interested, please follow this link and fill in the enquiry form. Thanks for reading and see you soon! x
