I don’t think I’m particularly good at it yet, but I’ll get better with time and practice, in the meantime, it’s enough to just have fun and ‘enjoy the ride’.
I've met so many talented and generous artists and have been shown nothing but kindness and encouragement. Even by those who didn't necessary 'understand’ or share the ‘vision’ of my chosen art form.
Yet one lady tickled me by asking about one of my dolls. She was disturbed by the depiction and wanted a reason why. She couldn't help but wonder what on earth possessed me to make a pregnant doll, of all things. Especially one with such a full, huge belly.
I remember looking at her and thinking back to one of the three times that I was lucky enough to get to the huge belly stage (as opposed to one of the eight miscarriages when I didn’t) and how for the first time in my life, I felt truly beautiful. I still remember standing in front of a mirror, bared to the waist and thrilled to finally have breasts, instead of just the large nipples, with barely any breast fat beneath, they'd been till then!
I loved everything about being pregnant! The passion and the love that got me pregnant. The wonder of the subtle and not so subtle changes in my body as we ‘grew’ and developed. Those first flutters of movement, felt with awe and such bliss that nothing can compare to it. Even the birthing of my children, the seemingly never-ending labour for inches, the indescribable shock and pain of delivery, falling in love with a brand new wee person. Becoming a family.
I went from an athletic girls willowy body to a woman’s rounded curves in just a few short months and became a Mother.
That’s why I made a pregnant doll. I wish I could have explained all that to her, but alas, we are from different generations and different cultures.
Now you should see Eve; my one breasted cancer survivor doll... She proudly wears a designer outfit, deliberately cut away to reveal the empty side of her chest...
