Women are now being offered the opportunity to celebrate their pregnancies in a “very artistic style” by having their enlarged tummies painted with a design of their choosing and then having photographs taken which they will have as keepsakes.
The idea is still relatively new in Guyana and has not exactly caught on in a big way, but Managing Director of Bravo Arts, Steve Douglas believes that eventually Guyanese would become more accepting of this new service, since with everything novel it will take a while to get used to.
For $10,000 women have their tummies painted ‒ and sometimes other parts of their bodies, depending on the theme ‒ and photographs are taken which are then placed on CDs and given to them. There is no limit on how many photographs can be taken. For a little more the women can also have their faces made up by the company’s make-up artist.
Maternity body painting was introduced over a year ago, but only seven women have so far allowed themselves to be “taken out of their comfort zone.” However, at least three of the women who participated ‒ 27-year-old Alicia Smith, 23-year-old Nathaya Whaul and 25-year-old Rehana Chester ‒ all gave rave reviews about the process and are encouraging other women to take the leap.
Douglas said that maternity body painting is something which is very popular in the US and he wanted to introduce it to the Guyanese public. He said they were not too sure how women would react to the idea, and so the first person they approached was Chester, since she had modelled with body paint before and was very receptive.
She became their first client about a year ago, and for months she was their only client until this year when more persons came forward. Facebook is their main advertising forum and some clients would display their images there and their friends would then become interested and contact Bravo Arts.
“But only this year we really started to push it like putting it out on Facebook and really trying to get people interested,” Douglas told the Sunday Stabroek, adding that they are happy that they have many open minded people in Guyana.
‘Something nice’
Chester, who still speaks excitedly about the process, even though her baby has been born and is now one year old, said initially photographs were taken of her tummy and when the idea about painting her body was introduced she embraced it. She recalled that the photographs were taken in the Botanical Gardens and they did a theme around her baby with her head facing downward as this had been revealed in a previous ultrasound. It was her first pregnancy and she wanted it to be memorable.
“It was just to keep memories and we ended up being something nice, a new trend,” she said to this newspaper.
She recalled that she had fun and it was just herself and Douglas, whom she trusted, and during the process she felt in tune with nature.
“Go for it, it gives you an adrenalin rush accompanied with lovely photographs,” she said.
And while Chester, Smith and Whaul are all models, Chester feels that the process would be more exciting for a woman who has never modelled in addition to which they would temporarily forget about the “gloomy parts of pregnancy like vomiting and nausea.”
Douglas feels that belly painting is a celebration of motherhood and it is preserving the memories of carrying the child in your womb for nine months in “style and in an artistic way.”
“It also helps people to take on this fantasy role and come up with any theme they want and come out of their comfort zone,” Douglas said.
For Smith it was her last pregnancy and the painting and photographs were gifts from Bravo Arts. She described it as memorable and something she could now look back on and say she thoroughly enjoyed it.
For both Chester and Smith the process lasted for about three hours each, as the painting was very detailed.
Smith said as much as Douglas would tell you what to do while the photographs are being taken women are free to be open and express themselves in whatever form they wish. When she told her partner what she intended to do, his only concern was whether the paint would have any effect on the baby, but once his fear was put to rest he had no problem.
Douglas said that there is no harm done to the baby and the painting is quickly washed off with soap and water.
Smith has already given birth and she still looks at the photos; many persons have commented positively on the photos and some have followed suit.
“Go ahead and have it done because it is a new thing…” she encouraged other women, adding that she did not have a theme when she went for the painting but told the team to wow, and they came up with a summer theme which gave the impression that that the baby was coming out.
Douglas dubbed that theme “early break.”
Whaul is in the final stages of her pregnancy and recently had the painting done. She recalled that she had seen Douglas at a party doing face painting, and she had asked him to paint her stomach. He replied he would do it when she was pregnant, but little did he know she already was, although it was not obvious at that stage. He saw her some months later when she was obviously pregnant, and he offered the shoot as a gift. While she had been told her baby was a boy, Whaul said she wanted a theme that was appropriate for both genders since she knows ultrasound readings are not always correct. And so she chose Winnie-the-Pooh which she loves.
“And we had a lot of fun… because right through the baby was just moving, I have never had so many kicks at one time,” she laughingly said.
She also models and she is accustomed to having her face made up, so her stomach being painted was not strange and she thoroughly enjoyed it. The painting and taking of photographs took more than four hours, but for Whaul it was all fun.
“It was fun and Steve had music being played to calm me a little as he was painting,” she said.
Her partner had no issues with her going through the process, and in fact wanted to go with her and have his stomach painted as well, but work commitments prevented him.
‘Concerns’
Douglas said he is aware that some persons might be concerned about the photographs getting into the public sphere, but at Bravo Arts they respect people’s privacy so persons can rest assured that once they want privacy the images would be for their viewing only.
“So we have that understanding, and even though you are reserved you can still come and have it done and they can have [the photographs] for themselves…” he said.
Bravo Arts burst onto the scene a little less than four years ago, bringing something innovative to the artistic world ‒ body painting ‒ which is still relatively new in Guyana. Some people are yet to get accustomed to this form of painting.
Douglas said persons seemed to be more open to the idea than when they started, since at that time many people did not understand what they did so there was no market. They have now created a niche, but are still working on honing it, and they hope that with the maternity line people would become more embracing of the art form.
He said from the get go they attempted to make people understand that their work is not about nudity, nor would they be indulging in anything that is obnoxious; it was rather, “pure art.”
“But we realized that there is a very thin line between the art and sex and that you could easily cross that line, but we try not [to cross that line] as we are selling art and not sex,” he said.
And the models are never completely naked.
Bravo Arts has hosted three exhibitions in the past, the first was on the theme of Guyanese culture, fauna and folklore among others; the second on aliens (he admits that this theme was a bit farfetched) and the third on heroes and villains.
But there will be no exhibition this year because contrary to his hopes Douglas said they did not receive the kind of financial returns they anticipated.
Douglas founded Bravo Arts and the idea came after he had done some face-painting of children as part of social work training. While he did not know anything about face-painting, he became interested and initially started working at parties on an appointment basis.
“It was something I think I just fell into; it wasn’t planned, it just happened,” Douglas said, adding that he likes the “wow factor” whenever persons view their work, as their curiosity amazes the team.
He has eight artists working with him and a make-up artist, but there are just two persons who work full time with the company. While they have a portfolio of models they are not kept on staff and sometimes they advertise for persons depending on the body type they need. Many times they also get new ideas from their clients.
One of the new ideas now is to have “belly casts” done as was suggested by a client, which will see pregnant women have their enlarged tummies cast. The casts are then taken off and preserved. It is then painted and the women can have that for a keepsake for as long as they want. Douglas said because this is new they would be offering it only as a gift in the immediate future until they have perfected the technique.
He said the team is equipped with creative minds and sometimes many of the ideas are spontaneous. They never stick to script, he continued, even though they may plan ahead of time.
