Category Archives: Other Birth Art

Aug2

Meredith Lovell

Posted on by
Standard

About Meredith…

Meredith Lovell-Thayer has been using art as an emotional outlet for years. She studied painting at Frostburg State University but was drawn into the birth world. She is now a student at Sacred Mountain Midwifery School and working under a midwife in the apprenticeship setting. While pregnant with her first she planned a home birth but had to transport due to high blood pressure. Medical interventions and birth rape resulted in a surgical birth. Through the Mandala Journey and her own art she has found an outlet to help her heal.

Jun27

Adrian Baker

Posted on by
Standard

"The Midwife" - acrylic on canvas, 30” X 40”

"Transition" - acrylic on canvas, 28" X 20"

 

"Autumn II" - acrylic on canvas, 52” X 36”

"Madonna of the Woods" - acrylic on canvas, 60” X 28”

"Waterbirth" - acrylic on canvas, 48” X 34”

"Madonna and Child" - acrylic on canvas, 32” X 20”

"The Bath" - acrylic on canvas, 28” X 20”

"Madonna in Winter" - acrylic on canvas, 36” X 26”

"L'amour" - acrylic on canvas, 20” x 24”

About Adrian…

Adrian Baker, professional artist and mother of three, has been painting and exhibiting her work since 1980, as well as working as a portraitist, muralist and art teacher. Career highlights include a commissioned portrait of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau 1984, paintings featured on the covers of Reader’s Digest Magazine and The Canadian Medical Journal  in 1996, and The Practicing Midwife (U.K.) in 2011. She was chosen as a finalist in the Kingston Prize for Contemporary Canadian Portraiture in both 2005 an 2007. In 2009 Adrian was selected to be artist-in-residence in Bermuda, followed by a very successful solo exhibition of her work at the Bermuda Masterworks Museum.

Adrian’s work has been exhibited in galleries in Canada and internationally, in group shows as well as solo exhibitions. Her most recent solo exhibit was ‘Labours of Love’ at Dale Smith Gallery, Ottawa, in 2009. This was a fundraiser she organized for the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood, an international charity working to combat high rates of maternal mortality. In 2010 one of her paintings was selected for an international juried show ‘Mothers’ in Chicago. Adrian spent the first four months of 2011 volunteering at an orphanage in southern India, along with her husband and daughter.

Adrian’s work can be found in numerous public and private collections across Canada, the USA, and abroad. Her work can be viewed at www.adrianbakerart.com.

May28

Charlie Saunders

Posted on by
Standard

Just to explain it a little, the rose symbolises where I’m from in England – Lancashire.  It’s symbol is a red rose.  The fern next to it represents New Zealand and Craig’s heritage.

The womb and baby represents a large part of my life – childbirth education.  It’s opened many doors and introduced me to many people.  Ironically, the act of childbirth is what introduced me to this wonderful world of sharing information with expectant parents.

The multiple Koru represent everlasting and the cycle of life

The ‘eggs’ at the bottom are my babies!  First the twins (joined eggs) and then the two boys.

Next bit is blank!

The other section is letters that mainly represent the children’s names or names of those who are important in my life.  It also represents my love for words and publications!  This again has opened up lots of new projects and a new world.  Actually, I think that I’ve just realised what needs to go in that blank space – my parents!  

My mum is a journalist and so the written word is very significant and symbolic in my life.  My parents have also instilled great values in me (and my sisters) and I’m constantly recognising myself in my mother as I get older!!  She’s also a compulsive committee member!!  My Grandma was the same so clearly it stems from way back and it’s written in our paths!

About Charlie…

I am originally from the UK and am the mother of four energetic, crazy and funny children.  Jessica & Finlay were born in October ’03 and were the awakening to my Childbirth Education path.  I became a qualified CBE when they were 1 ½ years old and have continued facilitating antenatal and postnatal classes since 2005.  Riley (boy) was born in January 2008 and Zach followed in March 2010.  My long suffering husband, Craig, is very used to me constantly wanting to watch any birth related shows – and anything on the Food Channel!  He’s a gem J  We all live in rural New Zealand and love life here!

Mar23

Tamara Rachelle Schardt

Posted on by
Standard

About the Breech Project:

My “Breech” series went back to the basics of memory. Some people say most of us cannot remember before the age of three. Others state that because childbirth is so traumatic OR unlike any other experience in this world, it cannot be remembered.
I was a breech baby, and feel that led to other important parts in my life. (My mother can’t even look at those pieces; she says it brings up how much pain she went through that day).

More from the Breech Project:

Mar17

Amy Lutes

Posted on by
Standard

"Winter Tree"- in Memory of Rowan who was lost

I didn’t really go into this with the intention of it being “miscarriage art.” The idea of birth art and/or art therapy had come up a lot during the last few months of the year, both from friends and my local ICAN group. I’d been really thinking about it, and decided to get some watercolors and try my hand at it. This was my first ever actual painting, let alone with watercolor.

I realized afterward that the painting really represented my miscarriage. The tree is dead, in the middle of winter – no leaves, with snowflakes surrounding it. There is a blue background, and the tree is uprooted, which seemed to imply the fact that my baby was no longer “rooted” in my womb.
I really want to work on some other ideas I have for art about miscarriage and baby loss. One painting that I’ve started is of a pregnant woman with a skull & crossbones flag across her belly. Whether I like it or not, based on my history of loss, it’s sometimes hard for me to view my womb as a safe place for my baby, and sometimes it feels like whenever I am pregnant, my body is going to sabotage it, like pirates swooping in a killing everything.
Anyway, this painting that I’m sending you is titled “Winter Tree.” My husband and I decided to name our miscarried child Rowan. We didn’t know if it was a girl or boy, and neither of us had any particular inclination one way or another, so we chose something gender neutral.
- Amy Lutes
Jan31

Michelle Abernathy

Posted on by
Standard

"Birth Visualization 1"

"Birth Visualization 2"

"Birth Visualization 3"

These three paintings were inspired by the pending birth of my daughter.  Birth Visualization 1 was originally intended to help me focus during labor – to remind me to breath, to relax, and to have courage.  Birth Visualization 2 and Birth Visualization 3

were created in the days after my due date had come and gone.  I needed something to pass the time.  All three of these visualizations have the common theme of the lotus flower.  These reminded me to relax and let my “lotus” open for my baby.  I did not end up using them for my birth, but they were great therapeutic exercises beforehand.  Visualizations 1 and 3 are currently hanging in my midwife’s office, which is very special to me.

About Michelle…

Ever since I was able to hold a crayon I’ve been drawing, it seems.  A favorite was drawing portraits of people.  As a senior in high school, I took my first art class through which I won a scholarship to the Western Art Academy in Kerrville Texas for a portrait I drew of my step-sister’s cousin at a rodeo.  At Cedarville University in Ohio I majored in Studio Art and minored in Graphic Design.  I continued to develop my love of portraiture, but had a hard time branching out of realistic drawings and paintings.  It seemed I also had a hard time using color and truly preferred working in black and white.  But towards the end of my senior year, and in the couple of years since, I have dabbled in both representational and non-representational abstract art, full of vibrant colors.  And I love it!  In May of 2010 I had my first baby, which has left me with much inspiration to create, but no time to do it.  I look forward to the coming months and years when time will open up for that as well.  I am married to the most wonderful and supportive husband, who truly cherishes and cares for me and our daughter and encourages me in my mothering and in my art.

Oct18

Abigail Wilson

Posted on by
Standard

"Immaculate Birth" woodcut

This piece was inspired when a friend of mine became pregnant, and my thoughts turned to the responsibility and power inherent in mothers.  Birthing and raising a child is a beautiful, intricate experience connected to and affecting the larger world.  It is an opportunity to inspire a relationship between our children and the greater living web that we belong to.

"In Between Dreams" woodcut

A reduction woodcut essentially recycles a single piece of wood, carving for the first layer, printing, then carving on the same block for the next color, printing…  The process takes more careful planning both with the image and the printing process, and reduces the number of prints that can be made.  In this piece I explore the transitory and transformative space we enter in moments of growth.  Sometimes viewers speak of death, and sometimes of birth; these two experiences are just different directions through the same door and so not mutually exclusive.   The birds, soft colors, and gentle lines evoke a sense of peace and possibility, keeping away from the fear often experienced in such moments.  In this way, even the viewer who sees death will also see it as a type of birth, a natural and reverent time.

My first large-format woodcut, this piece exploded with the power of women, and the struggle for independence that has defined our history.  Though not necessarily birth art, the woman shows the inner strength that allows a woman to give birth.  This same strength empowers her to take hold of her own destiny, and bring her into a greater connection with the natural cycles and energies of the world around her.

All pieces are woodcuts, a process in which I gradually carve away the negative space in the image. When finished, the wood resembles a large stamp upon which I roll a thin layer of ink.  Pressure is used to transfer the ink to paper (sometimes a press, often my own hands and baren).  The process leaves an embossed, black and white image.

About Abigail

I graduated from UNC-CH’s Studio Art program in 2009, and am planning on receiving an MFA in Printmaking as a first step in becoming a college professor.  Much of my time is spent exploring the great outdoors, which is the focus and source of my inspiration.

See Abigail’s website

Oct8

Kevin Hutchins

Posted on by
Standard

"Ocean Birth" Acrylics on custom boxed wood panel (Masonite)

A dream that inspired the piece

I awoke in a dream floating downward in the dark ocean. I feared the unknown lurking in the dark. A shark might be there to attack me. I then surrendered the fear and chose, from a knowing place within myself, to continue floating down to the depths of the ocean.
It got pitch dark and colder and colder until at a certain point I “knew” it was time. I shot like an arrow straight up through the ocean, into the bright blue sky and pierced the middle of the golden sun.
I pulled myself through to the other side of the sun peeling back the outer layer like I was opening a huge eyelid. I saw beings going about their day doing their work. In this world everything was lit up from the inside. There was no need for artificial light. Everything and everyone glowed from within.
I again “knew” I shouldn’t go any further or I might get lost and not be able to get back to earth. I cried out for help and woke up in bed.
The next day I finished most of this painting and the painting “Of Earth and Sky “.

The dream and the painting helped me transition into a new me. It was a birth.

I used modeling paste for texture helping to create the seaweed effect. Then I applied a few washes for depth and sat back gazing at it until the lady and child popped out. The rest was just using dark and light to bring them out.

About Kevin

I have been creating art all of my life. But it wasn’t until I began seeking spiritually that I found inspiration to share my journey of life through painting. I believe that artists of all kinds are scouts of the human spirit. I feel that It is our responsibility to delve deep within ourselves into the greater potential of who we are and then share that with whatever talents we are gifted with. Once, at a gathering of Native elders and youth, a spiritual leader of the Northern Cheyenne people sitting across from me stated in a very powerful way that, “To be a true Indian, you have to know who you are and then give that back to the people.”

Wado (Thank you),

Kevin Chasing Wolf Hutchins

Oct7

Stephen Martonis

Posted on by
Standard

"Harvester II" mixed media, beeswax, burlap, bread dough, insect casings

I started by creating a line painting on burlap using beeswax. Then I overlaid bread dough over the entire surface. As the bread dried, it released where the wax was and grabbed the burlap. To create the image further, I painted with water in direct sunlight. Cracks would open up where I painted the water lines. The piece was then stained with tar. Diane’s belly is filled with cocoons, her breasts are filled with bee hives and wax. I am often interested in the transfer of genetic information from one generation to the next. Specifically for this one, the recent discovery of the mothers white blood cells being transferred through breast milk and staying present in the child throughout the life of the child, fighting illnesses. The cells continue to carry the mothers unique signature, not the child. This is represented by the bees wax filling the breasts and creating/protecting the figures.

Oct7

Flossy Particles

Posted on by
Standard

 

"Heartstrings" watercolor

 

This is a print of an original watercolour painting of mine depicting the bond between mother and
child. I referenced the higher spiritual bond by using the flaming heart bursting from her chest (as often seen in Christian art), and the veins interconnecting them to represent their physical connection.  Part of the same, forever. While it uses anatomical motifs, the overall mood is one of pure joy and love above all else.

About Flossy

Flossy-P is an illustration artist from Australia. Since moving from an inner city Sydney terrace house, to a
small coastal town tucked between the beach and the bush, her art has taken on all matter of natural influences. Inspired by the
interconnections we share with each other, and with nature, her watercolour paintings often bloom with flora and sing with birdsong.  She frequently exhibits in Australia and the USA.

To see more visit:
http://www.flossyparticles.com or  http://www.flossy-p.blogspot.com