Queen Bead, my 12th body painting of the series!

I am thrilled and super exited to show off my most recent body painting and photo session.

I bring you a powerful portrait study of a brave, wondrous muse, artist and all around powerful and beautiful woman: Queen Bead!


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )


(process shot taken by Danny )
Saturday was a hot one so as soon as Danny and I got to our shoot location, T.Ruth Artspace Gallery, we cranked the AC. Queen Bead arrived around 10:30am and we got to painting after plugging in a few fans in the back of the gallery.


(process shot taken by Danny )
I was truly amazed at how quickly this body painting was finished. We got started around 10:30am and finished around 1:30pm, then took pictures till around 2:30/3pm.

Queen Bead was my 12 body painting for this series/women's study and I am very pleased with the photos and how it all turned out.

I was positively bursting with inspiration as soon as i met this woman a couple months ago at the art fair "Craft in the Village" in Vancouver WA. She was sitting at a booth with her son selling colored pencil and ink illustrations of powerful queens, empresses and goddesses. I was entranced by her persona and energy and couldn't help but run up and ask if she might be interested in modeling for my body painting women's study. To my glee she instantly seemed interested in the project saying it sounds like just the thing she needs for her CD/Album cover art! Turns out she is an inspired reggae singer- her stage name being Queen Bead. Listen to a few of her songs here. ( my favorite song of hers is the one called "Barefoot Healer")

I feel blessed to have her unique energy and beauty entered in to this project of mine- the universe works in mysterious and wonderful ways!

More from this shoot to be posted soon.

Much love,
-Chelsea Rose

Queen Bead, my 12th body painting of the series!

I am thrilled and super exited to show off my most recent body painting and photo session.

I bring you a powerful portrait study of a brave, wondrous muse, artist and all around powerful and beautiful woman: Queen Bead!


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Queen Bead )


(process shot taken by Danny )
Saturday was a hot one so as soon as Danny and I got to our shoot location, T.Ruth Artspace Gallery, we cranked the AC. Queen Bead arrived around 10:30am and we got to painting after plugging in a few fans in the back of the gallery.


(process shot taken by Danny )
I was truly amazed at how quickly this body painting was finished. We got started around 10:30am and finished around 1:30pm, then took pictures till around 2:30/3pm.

Queen Bead was my 12 body painting for this series/women's study and I am very pleased with the photos and how it all turned out.

I was positively bursting with inspiration as soon as i met this woman a couple months ago at the art fair "Craft in the Village" in Vancouver WA. She was sitting at a booth with her son selling colored pencil and ink illustrations of powerful queens, empresses and goddesses. I was entranced by her persona and energy and couldn't help but run up and ask if she might be interested in modeling for my body painting women's study. To my glee she instantly seemed interested in the project saying it sounds like just the thing she needs for her CD/Album cover art! Turns out she is an inspired reggae singer- her stage name being Queen Bead. Listen to a few of her songs here. ( my favorite song of hers is the one called "Barefoot Healer")

I feel blessed to have her unique energy and beauty entered in to this project of mine- the universe works in mysterious and wonderful ways!

More from this shoot to be posted soon.

Much love,
-Chelsea Rose

3 day weekend of art- body painting, art fairs and new acrylic on canvas!

Thank goodness for 3 day weekends! I got so much done and even had time to play and have some fun too.
....I have a lot of photos to share but i am going to start with what i am most excited to post: my new body painting photos:


Wise Woman
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model:Suzanne Owens-Duval )

I feel blessed to have been able to work with Suzanne and include her in this growing women's study art project of mine.
A few weeks back i realized that my body painting project had a lot going for it: a wide rang of body type, ethnicity and culture but was missing a nice range of age. With this realization in mind i posted a craigslist ad asking for elderly women who might be interested in participating in my project. I only got one response and that was from my model Suzanne who turned out to be a super vivacious and skilled professional actor for screen and stage!


Wise Woman
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Suzanne Owens-Duval)

We did the body painting in the loft of T.Ruth Artspace gallery on Sunday- walking down the stairs to stand in front of the backdrop on the main floor of the gallery. As always it was wondrous getting to know my model and it was uncanny how much we had in common in thoughts, feelings and intention. She seemed to have a real love for life and was well equipped to roll with life's punches through the years. We both agreed that everything happens for a reason and there is little point in regretting things. We also seemed to think that the body is a person's temple and that as women age the beauty matures and changes anew- our bodies becoming road maps showing the signs of a life lived well and to the fullest.


Wise Woman
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Suzanne Owens-Duval)

I took over 500 photos of Suzanne in little over an hour and a half and i have been having a wonderful time in my spare moments this past weekend sifting through the shots and polishing the keepers. Needless to say, there will be more coming soon!

Now, jumping back to Friday...i wanted to share a quick snapshot of our simple set up for Craft In the Village:

Danny picked me up early from work so that we could drive on over to Vancouver Washington to participate for our second time in their "Craft in the Village" art vending event. It was predicted to rain but that sure didn't stop us! Our lil fair still went strong with live music and a dozen or more vendors braving the storm. It did rain buckets for an half an hour but we survived and were rewarded with blue sky and sun for the rest of the day. We did pretty well on sales considering! And as always it was wonderful fun to meet and hang out with all the other local artists.

On Saturday Danny and I watched T.Ruth Artspace gallery ( since our dear friend and the gallery owner is re cooperating from surgery.) Of course we had a blast greeting the people who walked in to enjoy the art. While i was there i did a lot of painting- which Danny had fun documenting:

The night before i had painted this basic background and inked a faery onto it using my fabercastell India ink pens. I brougth the canvas in and set up my tote easel and got to work.

I always start with the eyes!

can you tell my favorite things to draw and paint are lips and eyes?

....i like this photo- it shows how much my dreads have been growing!

....almost done! just working on the wings and then i need to go over everything again with another layer of shading and highlight!
goodness....this post is picture heavy...

On Sunday we had a surprise visit from two dear friends who have been living in southern Oregon on a beautiful stretch of land. We all made dinner together( fresh herb salad with home made pesto sauce and tortellinis)...then we all hung out on the patio as the sun set. Then they baked the most delicious cookies and we sat around watching episode upon episode of Avatar the Last Air Bender as i dreaded one of the dear fellow's mohawk!

All in all it was a wonderful few days!

Now that the new week is here i am looking forward to finishing up the painting i started on Saturday and hopefully beginning a new one. More photos from my "Wise Woman" shoot should be up soon.

Best wishes and much love,
-Chelsea Rose

3 day weekend of art- body painting, art fairs and new acrylic on canvas!

Thank goodness for 3 day weekends! I got so much done and even had time to play and have some fun too.
....I have a lot of photos to share but i am going to start with what i am most excited to post: my new body painting photos:


Wise Woman
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model:Suzanne Owens-Duval )

I feel blessed to have been able to work with Suzanne and include her in this growing women's study art project of mine.
A few weeks back i realized that my body painting project had a lot going for it: a wide rang of body type, ethnicity and culture but was missing a nice range of age. With this realization in mind i posted a craigslist ad asking for elderly women who might be interested in participating in my project. I only got one response and that was from my model Suzanne who turned out to be a super vivacious and skilled professional actor for screen and stage!


Wise Woman
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Suzanne Owens-Duval)

We did the body painting in the loft of T.Ruth Artspace gallery on Sunday- walking down the stairs to stand in front of the backdrop on the main floor of the gallery. As always it was wondrous getting to know my model and it was uncanny how much we had in common in thoughts, feelings and intention. She seemed to have a real love for life and was well equipped to roll with life's punches through the years. We both agreed that everything happens for a reason and there is little point in regretting things. We also seemed to think that the body is a person's temple and that as women age the beauty matures and changes anew- our bodies becoming road maps showing the signs of a life lived well and to the fullest.


Wise Woman
(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Suzanne Owens-Duval)

I took over 500 photos of Suzanne in little over an hour and a half and i have been having a wonderful time in my spare moments this past weekend sifting through the shots and polishing the keepers. Needless to say, there will be more coming soon!

Now, jumping back to Friday...i wanted to share a quick snapshot of our simple set up for Craft In the Village:

Danny picked me up early from work so that we could drive on over to Vancouver Washington to participate for our second time in their "Craft in the Village" art vending event. It was predicted to rain but that sure didn't stop us! Our lil fair still went strong with live music and a dozen or more vendors braving the storm. It did rain buckets for an half an hour but we survived and were rewarded with blue sky and sun for the rest of the day. We did pretty well on sales considering! And as always it was wonderful fun to meet and hang out with all the other local artists.

On Saturday Danny and I watched T.Ruth Artspace gallery ( since our dear friend and the gallery owner is re cooperating from surgery.) Of course we had a blast greeting the people who walked in to enjoy the art. While i was there i did a lot of painting- which Danny had fun documenting:

The night before i had painted this basic background and inked a faery onto it using my fabercastell India ink pens. I brougth the canvas in and set up my tote easel and got to work.

I always start with the eyes!

can you tell my favorite things to draw and paint are lips and eyes?

....i like this photo- it shows how much my dreads have been growing!

....almost done! just working on the wings and then i need to go over everything again with another layer of shading and highlight!
goodness....this post is picture heavy...

On Sunday we had a surprise visit from two dear friends who have been living in southern Oregon on a beautiful stretch of land. We all made dinner together( fresh herb salad with home made pesto sauce and tortellinis)...then we all hung out on the patio as the sun set. Then they baked the most delicious cookies and we sat around watching episode upon episode of Avatar the Last Air Bender as i dreaded one of the dear fellow's mohawk!

All in all it was a wonderful few days!

Now that the new week is here i am looking forward to finishing up the painting i started on Saturday and hopefully beginning a new one. More photos from my "Wise Woman" shoot should be up soon.

Best wishes and much love,
-Chelsea Rose

White on Black- new body painting session!

On Sunday I painted my 10th body painting model and have the pictures to prove it!

I bring you Queen Omega:


( body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model:Deonte )


( body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model:Deonte )


( body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model:Deonte )

I count myself lucky to have been contacted by Deonte through modelmayhem.com
I believe she found me by searching for female photographers in the Portland area and noticed that i had a casting call out stating my need for dark ethnic women to feed my body painting women's study project. So indeed...we set up a date for the body painting right away.


As always i had the most wonderful time getting to know my model as i painted her from head to toe. By her enchanting accent i guessed that she had exotic roots- turns out she was born and raised in the Caribbean islands thus her speech was quite musicale and fun. She is in Portland on a full scholarship for her amazing athletic abilities in sprint running...and she has the legs to prove it! Her body was one big muscle and i found within her a spring of energy that had me painting in a flurry of strokes. I actually did one of my most detailed body paintings on this women in less time then i have painted any of the other 9 woman before her. I began painting her around 10am and we finished well before 2pm and were done with the photoshoot by 3pm!
In many of the shots she seems to exude a wonderful balance of strength and grace often looking so regal and strong it beckons to ones mind images of warrior women. She was sooo fun to work with and i am smitten with the results.
I cant wait share more from out shoot- so stay tuned.

Peace n Love,
-Chelsea Rose

Tender Truth-body painting and weekend tidbits

So this weekend was fairly productive.

On Saturday i did another body painting/photo shoot session with a very pregnant woman:


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Courtney)



(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Courtney)

I love doing these body painting sessions in the upper loft of T.Ruth Artspace gallery. Saturday was super stormy. It rained hard for most of the day but Courtney and I were pretty cozy all cooped up and working on making her unique pregnancy portrait pictures a reality.


It took most of the day to get the body painting finished.
We started painting around 10:00am and did not finish with it till around 3:30pm.
Its amazing how much i get to know my models during this time period. Courtney felt that while the body painting process is a tedious one...it was a good way of honoring and better understanding how much time and patience there is inherent in genuine creation- such as the creation of a child. Patience, love and righteous intent are key to a healthy creating experience.
This was my second time body painting and photographing a pregnant woman but i have a feeling it will not be the last. It seems pregnant woman have a lot of interest in having their pregnancy documented in a meaningful, unique and heartfelt manner. Courtney said she thinks i should put up fliers at her pregnant yoga class to scare up more interest. I just might do that and see where it takes me!

As far as other art projects go, i am currently a step or two away from finishing a pen and ink illustration i have been working on that is based off a very iconic symbol of prosperity: the Maneki Neko - or the Japanese fortune cat:

...i should be sharing my version sometime this week if i can manage to find the time to put the last finishing touches on my drawing.

....speaking of good fortune and prosperity- I have some great news.I am thrilled to say that my Grandmother who has been fighting lung cancer is in remission! I love you Mom Mom! Now all we have to work on is getting Pop Pop to gain some weight back and we will be in fairly good shape. :)

I am also working on an interesting commission- a coloring book! A dear who is also a friendly blogger and etsy seller had asked that i make a coloring book for her 7 year old daughter's birthday in June. I jumped at the challenge! While i have never done a project quite like this before it sounded rather irresistible. So far i have all the coloring book pages printed out. Now i have to craft the cover and do the binding. I think it might be interesting to use a heavy watercolor paper as the cover and back...and then use a sewing machine to put in some brightly colored stitching as the binding. This is a very experimental project for me- i cant wait to see how it turns out. I will be taking pictures of it to share!

Check out this amazing blog give away that is being hosted by one of my favorite blogs to read! Enter for a chance to win a custom made dread tam by Sand and Sky!

So thats all the tid bits i can muster up for today.
Good tidings and luck with this last week of May.

I do so hope that the rain will let up for Thursday since it will be the big Last Thursday artwalk on Alberta st fair. Seeing that the fair has been rained our for the last two months- we are really crossing our fingers that we will have a dry one, other wise we are going to be getting a super late start at the art vending season.

Much love always!
-Chelsea Rose

Tender Truth-body painting and weekend tidbits

So this weekend was fairly productive.

On Saturday i did another body painting/photo shoot session with a very pregnant woman:


(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Courtney)



(body painting and photography by Chelsea Rose
Model: Courtney)

I love doing these body painting sessions in the upper loft of T.Ruth Artspace gallery. Saturday was super stormy. It rained hard for most of the day but Courtney and I were pretty cozy all cooped up and working on making her unique pregnancy portrait pictures a reality.


It took most of the day to get the body painting finished.
We started painting around 10:00am and did not finish with it till around 3:30pm.
Its amazing how much i get to know my models during this time period. Courtney felt that while the body painting process is a tedious one...it was a good way of honoring and better understanding how much time and patience there is inherent in genuine creation- such as the creation of a child. Patience, love and righteous intent are key to a healthy creating experience.
This was my second time body painting and photographing a pregnant woman but i have a feeling it will not be the last. It seems pregnant woman have a lot of interest in having their pregnancy documented in a meaningful, unique and heartfelt manner. Courtney said she thinks i should put up fliers at her pregnant yoga class to scare up more interest. I just might do that and see where it takes me!

As far as other art projects go, i am currently a step or two away from finishing a pen and ink illustration i have been working on that is based off a very iconic symbol of prosperity: the Maneki Neko - or the Japanese fortune cat:

...i should be sharing my version sometime this week if i can manage to find the time to put the last finishing touches on my drawing.

....speaking of good fortune and prosperity- I have some great news.I am thrilled to say that my Grandmother who has been fighting lung cancer is in remission! I love you Mom Mom! Now all we have to work on is getting Pop Pop to gain some weight back and we will be in fairly good shape. :)

I am also working on an interesting commission- a coloring book! A dear who is also a friendly blogger and etsy seller had asked that i make a coloring book for her 7 year old daughter's birthday in June. I jumped at the challenge! While i have never done a project quite like this before it sounded rather irresistible. So far i have all the coloring book pages printed out. Now i have to craft the cover and do the binding. I think it might be interesting to use a heavy watercolor paper as the cover and back...and then use a sewing machine to put in some brightly colored stitching as the binding. This is a very experimental project for me- i cant wait to see how it turns out. I will be taking pictures of it to share!

Check out this amazing blog give away that is being hosted by one of my favorite blogs to read! Enter for a chance to win a custom made dread tam by Sand and Sky!

So thats all the tid bits i can muster up for today.
Good tidings and luck with this last week of May.

I do so hope that the rain will let up for Thursday since it will be the big Last Thursday artwalk on Alberta st fair. Seeing that the fair has been rained our for the last two months- we are really crossing our fingers that we will have a dry one, other wise we are going to be getting a super late start at the art vending season.

Much love always!
-Chelsea Rose