Too much?

It's time to write this post. It's time to paint these things. It's time to let fear go. 

The human body is breathtaking. It's beautiful. It's flawed. It's strong. It endures so much. As a nurse practitioner, and former ICU nurse, I see what the human body is capable of. I've seen it strong, as motherhood stretches it and softens it, and pushes it past limits. I've seen it graceful; my sisters' dancing their hearts out. I've seen it tender, daddies dancing with mommas as new life enters the world. I've seen it broken and sick, and I've seen it rise back up from past the point of expected death. I've seen it weak: in infant heads bobbing for milk, to once-strong men being spoon fed. And this exquisite body hosts an even more beautiful soul, spirit, life. The Breath of Life is in each shell. 

And the artist in me feels the pull to capture the beauty, to record and put these bodies and souls into remembrance. Sometimes with the covering of clothes, and other times in the intimate, most raw form. And that's hard to explain to my modest self. My avert-the-eyes, one-piece wearing self. And I don't want to flood social media with too much. My family and friends may see what I am creating! Isn't that the point? Or is it? How do I censor? I don't want to shock, but I also don't want to stop creating and sharing and calling out the beauty that I see. 

So. There may be bodies without their coverings on this site. Naked. As we were created. Before the need to hide. It's hard to even type that. But there are just some things that I have to express. And I think it will be an INSTA, not Facebook thing. So, following my Facebook art will be safer ;-) Feel free to unfollow on Instagram as needed. I won't be offended. 

I've been contemplating this for a good while. And then, my friend Hope won my Mother's Day giveaway on Instagram, and asked for a depiction of her mother-body, stretched and holding life. What a privilege to paint. What an honor to deliver this to beautiful momma, and baby now visible. To hear that it's been a hard season, and that this surprise gift came at the right time. What an honor to be an artist.