[Art Bellies]

Hello all -

My name is Michael and my wife Paola and I just had a beautiful baby girl. The pregnancy was fantastic and we ended up creating something very special to capture it. I started tracing my wife's pregnant sillouete with water colors againts our bedroom wall and started a bit of a mural. That got slightly messy so we moved to paper and ink and one thing led to another and we started making beautiful works of art. We made a few of these kits for friends who were pregnant and they made beautiful art of their own pregnancy and then we started getting calls from people we didn't know - friends of friends of friends. So we started a very simple company that is dedicated to helping expecting families make art using the pregnant body as the theme. We've had a great time doing it and are happy to share this with new people. So please take a look at our site if this sounds interesting and we'd be happy to answer any questions.

Make art!

Art Bellies - creating pregnant art

[ClarissaNassar]

OH I AM SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU HERE!!! What a beautiful picture-I can't wait to make my art belly!

[MrsAshley]

What a fabulous idea! I've never heard anything like this.

[Art Bellies]

Hi Ashley - thank you so much for your kind words. I can't tell you how much they mean to us.

Like I said, this idea really was born from our own experience (pun intended It is deeply personal and meaningful and when I see the photo that we posted above and know that the print captures such an early memory of my little newborn daughter, I don't know what else to say. It is very special indeed.

And like I mentioned, we didn't intend to start a business - we just wanted to keep painting and capturing the changes of pregnancy. It was with quite a bit of persistence that we ended up with all the proper materials and supplies. The first bunch of papers that we used didn't really suit our needs. It took so many times to get the paper right that we finally started buying handmade paper directly from Thailand. Settling on the right brushes also was a huge challenge. And so was finding the right Sumi-e ink. I had the natural earthen ochres already left over from an old wood working project so that was a plus. It all just kept getting more refined as the pregnancy developed. And then once we had something that was truly simple to use and that didn't require any artistic ability ( you have to trust me on this - I couldn't draw a straight line if my life depended on it) we gave a few kits to friends and family. The response was positive so we are forging ahead.

We haven't seen anything like this either. I know that there is belly casting and belly painting and henna but this type of art project suits our personal tastes a bit more. We really wanted to have something that could be hung in our living room or office without having to explain it - more like art than like a pregnancy keep-sake.

The picture posted above is just one type of Art Bellies print. I am posting a few here as well to give a deeper understanding into what we were trying to accomplish. If you like what you see, please tell your friends. We can use the help. Thank you - Michael and Paola.



This is the standard Art Bellies print. I think it has a very Japanese inspired feel.


This is a print that tracks the growth every few weeks.


And this one was just us playing around right before Nisa came out. This one is my favorite and has a very African feel.