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Artist paints Totoro, classic Japanese artwork, and more, all on pregnant women’s stomachs

Casey Baseel Jul 26, 2014
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In Japan, there’s a long, proud tradition of drunken men drawing faces on their bellies, then contorting in order to make them appear to talk or sing. Wait, did we say proud? We mean embarrassing.

This doesn’t mean all abdominal art is automatically silly and repulsive however, as one artist is helping enhance the radiance of pregnancy by painting beautiful works of art on the stomachs of mothers-to-be.

British artist Carrie Preston offers a number of services through her website, My Little Sweet-Pea. While we’re sure she does a fine job with her handmade plaques, clocks, and puppets, how Preston’s really making a name for herself is by using the stomachs of pregnant women as creative canvases.

Each creation takes about two hours to paint from start to finish. That’s a lot of time for anyone to be on their feet, let alone someone carrying a whole other person inside of them, so thankfully Preston’s clients can sit down and relax while the artist does her thing.

While Preston resides in Cornwall, her inspirations aren’t geographically limited to the UK. For instance, here’s her take on The Great Wave of Kanagawa, by celebrated 19th century Japanese artist Hokusai.

Other projects draw from more contemporary sources.

▼ Technically speaking, if your baby is inside the anime icon, is Totoro still his neighbor?

Looking forward to parenthood often gets people looking back on their own childhoods, which explains why children’s movies, particularly Disney classics, are in such high demand.

▼ We’re not quite sure what to think about this one. We heard a rumor about something bad happening to Bambi’s mom, but we haven’t been able to confirm it since our parents always fast forwarded through one scene in the middle of the movie for some reason.

▼ Everything worked out fine for Dumbo and his mom, though.

After two decades of producing hits, Pixar’s fanbase has grow to a size rivaling that of Disney or Studio Ghibli. As such, it’s no surprise that some expectant mothers look forward to passing on their love of the skilled computer animators to their kids.

For those who prefer their whimsy in live-action form, there’s this instantly recognizable scene of the beloved movie extra-terrestrial.

▼ And possibly his home planet

Preston can also do holiday designs, such as this Easter basket.

▼ We’re a little surprised she didn’t double up by painting a face on that pumpkin and making it a Halloween jack o’ lantern.

She’s also comfortable working with motifs from the animal kingdom.

▼ How much do you want to bet this woman is going to call her kid “Honey?”

▼ This is apparently in reference to the mother’s promise that she’ll love her child “’till the cows come home.” We don’t know if Denzel is supposed to be the name of the baby or the bovine, though.

A few of Preston’s Bump Paintings even reach Escher-like levels of playing with perspective. For example, in the below picture, we see a baby inside an apple, which is painted on the stomach of woman with an actual baby beyond the one on her belly.

We’re not sure there’s a simpler way to describe that, except maybe just “beautiful.”

Related: My Little Sweet-Pea, My Little Sweet-Pea Facebook Page
Source: bored panda
Top image: bored panda (edited by RocketNews24
Insert images: bored panda, Facebook
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