Babywearing Art

It's funny how things twist and turn and you find yourself going off in unexpected directions...

A couple of weeks ago a Facebook friend posted that it was International Babywearing Week. I've carried all my children in slings, as well as having been involved in babywearing advocacy in the past, and I'm a huge fan of all the snuggly benefits - having said that with my youngest child now being 4 1/2 it's not something we get to do so very often these days. Hearing of the event stirred up warm, fuzzy memories for me, so I decided to draw on them, have a break from the usual lines of work, and produce something fun, for pure pleasure...

'Close to my Heart'
20 x 14" watercolour and pencil on paper

Doing that little doodle gave me such a happy feeling I decided to do something a little bigger and more complex. I love textures and have been experimenting on and off with layering wonderful, buttery Sennelier pastels over acrylics. It seemed the perfect project to push this technique a little more - so many possibilities for texture. So I included the rough weave of the sling, a fluffy jumper, stylised leafy hedge in the background, smooth and curly hair - all so much fun!

'Close 1'
16 x 20", Mixed media on canvas

Once I was on a roll I couldn't stop - I'd learned a few things through the process of painting 'Close 1' and I wanted to see if I could put them into practice. I also wanted to paint with darker shades, and have some fun with giving this mum a tattoo, nose stud and funky dyed hair.

I don't know about you, but I've always been fascinated with comparingMums (and Dads!) and their babies. Not just seeing if you can spot resemblances, Mum's nose or Daddy's eyes, but also seeing the pureness of a baby's face, just as nature created it, compared to an adults face, which is at least in part how *we* have created it. For example I love seeing a Mum and kid who resemble each other, but the Mum is wearing heavy make up and the child of course none. I notice this a lot with my youngest, who is the spitting image of me at her age. I don't wear make up all the time, but when I do and I lay it on with a trowel it's so interesting to see our faces side by side in the mirror. I also get oddly sucked in by parents with lots of tattoos or piercings, say, holding a newborn. Comparing Mum's dyed hair with the shade of her child which might be far closer to her own. It kind of celebrates the diversity of people, but I also wonder if it's a kind of visual version of nature v. nurture? In any case I love all the endless possibility of how people can look and how parents and kids can compare and contrast. Can't help feeling there is a whole body of work in that...

Anyway, I digress!

'Close 2'
12 x 24" mixed media on canvas

I'm not sure if I'll be doing any more of these. I'm tempted, I think it's so good for you as an artist and person I think to do something you get a big kick out of, but there's no escaping I've got quite a few projects on the boil just now, so we shall see...