As a face painter I am used to wriggling, giggling children scrunching up their eyes and making all kinds of faces while I transform them into superheroes, butterflies or animals and I enjoy every minute of the job.
Last year while l was looking for high quality hypo-allergenic supplies online I began to notice a new trend involving the paints and bellies.
I can remember a time when the pregnant figure was hidden, maternity clothes were bulky and unflattering and it wasn't proper to talk about the life phase in mixed company. Today, in North America at least, pregnancy is a celebration. Clothing is attractive, pre-natal photo sessions are popular and belly or 'bump' painting has become a fun way celebrate the pregnant body.
I've mentioned to a few friends it might be fun to paint a belly, but I didn't push it because I wasn't completely comfortable with spending the required time touching someone else's stomach. I remember my own pregnancies and discomfort when a stranger wanted to put their hands on my tummy but I also recall guiding my friends' and family members' hands across my skin to the places where the growing child was beating me up from the inside and decided I wanted to give it a try.
This weekend I stopped to visit a lovely young woman pregnant with her second child. She is only 34 weeks pregnant but expects to deliver any day and I knew I probably wouldn't get another chance to paint her belly. She stretched out on a comfortable lounger in her living room and I made sure my water was warm.
I use the safest face paints on the market. They are similar to artists' watercolours and even though the young mom is a fantastic professional artist she let me choose a theme and design.
I began with blue and pink (they don't know if it is boy or a girl) because I wanted to honour the idea of either the femininity or masculinity of the child. As I painted a butterfly and flowers the mother relaxed and her belly stretched and rolled as the little one flexed inside making it the most interesting surface I'd ever painted. I could see and feel the movement as I tried to work with a steady hand.
I was a little nervous at first hoping I wouldn't do anything to make mommy uncomfortable. I know she feels as if the baby is trying to pull her ribs apart and hasn't had the most pleasant of pregnancies. We relaxed and chatted as I took quite a bit longer than I take when I paint faces.
I felt with the gentle strokes and time I could offer my canvas a bit of pampering. After I'd layered on several colours and was satisfied with my first attempt at the art form I took some pictures of the glowing woman and her adoring husband, capturing some of the tenderness that comes near the end of a long period of anticipation and hopefulness.
The couple was happy to share their pregnancy with me and I can't wait to meet their new little bundle of joy.
As an artist my work is fleeting, lasting only until it's time to wash up for bed, but it brought us joy for the moment and a little quiet time to celebrate the wonderful miracle of the female body.
