(Click image to enlarge)

8×8 Digital print (100 in a series):  $50 

15% of all sales from this image benefit the MISS Foundation

For more information about the types of printing please go here.

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As an artist I strive to represent motherhood in all it’s forms.  Stillbirth, miscarriage, and infant death are realities that are not talked about in our culture yet are expressions of motherhood, parenthood, in every sense.  This piece was done to honor that brief yet profound experience of love and loss.

A huge thank you to my dear friends Darjee and Josh Sahala who allowed me to use their birth photos of Brona, born still May 18, 2008.  To watch a video of Brona’s birth and death please visit their website here.

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.

"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.

For more information about the types of printing please go here.

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Childbirth can be one of the most amazing, rewarding, heart-opening experiences.  A woman goes through the challenging yet euphoric journey of labor, works with her baby, and together they emerge as a new creation.  Oxytocin levels will never be higher for that mom and baby then at the moment of birth.  This is birth how it is meant to be.

This piece is meant to be a response to all those “Why on earth would you not get an epidural/give birth outside a hospital/choose a midwife/etc” comments.

A huge thank you to my doula clients and midwife Sarah Stone at Mountain Midwifery Center for allowing me to use their birth photos as reference!  It was such an honor to be at their birth.

For more information about the types of printing please go here.

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Here is a piece I did for my second daughter’s birth.  She was born in the water at Mountain Midwifery Birth Center.  Her birth was amazing!  If you’d like to read all about her birth story you can visit my sister doula website here.  You can also watch a video of her birth below:

• The cherry blossom is a symbol of feminine beauty.  It also represents the feminine principle and love.
• The jasmine flower is attachment, sensuality, modesty, grace and elegance.
• The orange blossom is innocence, eternal love, marriage and fruitfulness. The orange blossom, which is the state flower of Florida, is traditionally associated with good fortune, and was popular in bridal bouquets and head wreaths for weddings.
• The flower symbolism associated with poppies is beauty, magic, consolation, fertility and eternal life.
• The flower symbolism associated with pussy willows is motherhood.

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!