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Overview
The Belly Art Project is a celebration of one of humanity’s greatest gifts: motherhood! Created by Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx and the Sara Blakely Foundation, this beautiful, happy book features photographs of over 100 women who came together and used unlikely canvases - their bellies - as billboards of hope.
The Belly Art Project showcases moms-to-be with their bellies transformed into works of art--witty, eye-bending and beautifully art directed--all posed to benefit mothers in need. All kinds of mamas bellied up to the cause, from celebrities like Kate Winslet, mother of three, and Milla Jovovich, mother of two, to business leaders like Zanna Roberts Rassi, fashion editor and TV host, and Stacey Bendet, founder and CEO of fashion brand Alice and Olivia, to everyday women from all over the globe. With a complete how-to belly paint section so readers can paint themselves or their friends, The Belly Art Project is an inventive piece of design and a perfect baby shower present.
100% of the author's proceeds benefit Every Mother Counts.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781250121370 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | St. Martin's Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 10/11/2016 |
| Sold by: | Macmillan |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 200 |
| File size: | 92 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
The Belly Art Project
Moms Supporting Moms
By Sara Blakely
St. Martin's Press
Copyright © 2016 Sara BlakelyAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-250-12137-0
CHAPTER 1
Mothers are one of our planet's greatest resources. We need to do everything we can to support them.
For the basketball, we drive to a local park where I jump into the middle of an actual basketball game. The players don't speak English; after miming what I want to do, they play along, and the photographer captures the moment. For the watermelon, I walk into a nearby supermarket, head right over to the watermelon display, prop my belly on top of the pile, and walk out. (I can only imagine the person reviewing that week's surveillance video.) For the beach ball, we drive to a local community pool where families are enjoying the day. I see the disbelief in their eyes as a nine-month pregnant woman in a bikini with a beach ball painted on her belly walks up to the diving board, laughing the whole time.
A few weeks later I give these pictures to my husband who absolutely loves them and says I must do more with the concept. I can't stop thinking about his comment — but life happens, and those pics sit in a drawer for three years. Finally, I decide to see if any other mothers will be up for painting their bellies for a good cause — and the answer is YES!
Creating the book: This book was a true labor of love, and an absolutely wild process — as many of the behind-the-scenes pictures show. Each photo in The Belly Art Project is an original work of art. Everything, and I mean everything, you see is created entirely from scratch. And let me tell you, it's not easy to produce art on super pregnant women.
First, you have to find women who are eight or nine months pregnant — and work really fast. (A couple of times we didn't work fast enough, and one of those is included!) My childhood friend Chelsea, a talented producer, agrees to help me bring this book to life, finding places, props, and often the women too. On short notice she creates whatever set and belly idea I dream up. For some reason, ideas for the perfect round objects come to me while sitting at traffic lights. How about a snow globe? A pineapple? A fishbowl? Vintage barbells? (This idea requires two bellies, which gets really interesting!) Cherry on top of a sundae? And on and on. Together we hustle, we conspire, and we create a lot of wacky set pieces out of anything and everything. The craziest idea was the disco ball, the only belly that was not entirely painted, which required us to apply 1,268 crystal mirrors to Amanda Palmer's pregnant belly (but who's counting?). Let's just say it was a wild ride.
Famous and non-famous mothers came together, including women I grew up with, went to school with, built Spanx with, and some total strangers! I approach pregnant women at nail salons, airports, weddings — and after I convince them I'm not crazy, many of them agree to be in the book. What an amazing bunch of women, ranging from actresses, models, teachers, businesswomen, stay-at-home moms, artists, fashion designers, and military moms. They came together at this incredible moment in their lives, volunteering their time (and bellies) to create the downright hilarious and adorable assortment of objects you're about to see, all in the name of helping other mothers. Also, one very famous man agrees to paint his belly, and another paints his wife's belly. Look out for their cameos — in a million years you will never guess who they are!
Together, we can make an even bigger impact.
So we're inviting all moms-to-be (and everyone else!) to join in the fun. Paint your belly and share your photos on bellyartproject.org. The more pictures posted, the more awareness generated, the more will be donated. We also welcome any direct donations, 100% of which will go to help moms.
We're all connected as mothers, children, artists, and inventors. So be creative, innovative, and outrageously playful in bringing your own ideas into the world. In many ways, life is like a pregnant belly, a canvas, something that will only be what it is for a very short moment in time. Make the most of it. Love it. And always, always have fun!
Be part of the movement!
Everyone with a belly, especially expectant moms, can paint their bellies and share their pics on our website, bellyartproject.org, and on social media with the hashtag #bellyartproject. We can't wait to see your own belly work of art! And the more people post and share their pics, the more awareness we'll raise for mothers in need, helping moms everywhere have the safe, healthy pregnancies they deserve.
Be fearless, be creative, have fun! Use these big, beautiful bellies of yours to start a conversation about maternal health, and to let other women know how much we support and care about them. We're changing the world one belly at a time, just with paint and some props.
It's The Belly Art Project, and you're invited. So show us what you got, mamas ...
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Belly Art Project by Sara Blakely. Copyright © 2016 Sara Blakely. Excerpted by permission of St. Martin's Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Title Page,Copyright Notice,
Dedication,
Mothers are one of our planet's greatest resources. We need to do everything we can to support them.,
Together, we can make an even bigger impact.,
GAME ON!,
* LOVE THAT BELLY,
LUCKY mama!,
Mother of invention,
JUST MAKE A LITTLE extra ROOM.,
PEACE LOVE & ROCK 'n' ROLL,
Supermom? NO WAY!,
Ooh la la ...,
COULD LIFE GET ANY Sweeter?,
every belly, every baby, every mom matters,
IT'S UP TO US MAMAS TO CHANGE THE WORLD,
JUST KEEP GOING AND GROWING ...,
MAMAS are MAGICAL,
motherhood isn't about balance — IT'S ALL ABOUT THE JUGGLE.,
EVERY PENNY COUNTS ...,
#omghavinga,
IT'S EXHAUSTING. Funny AND 100% PURE BLISS.,
REMEMBER — YOU GOT THIS.,
Big belly, small belly? you're PERFECT the way you are.,
THE BEST THING ABOUT THE BELLY IS THE REWARD.,
DON'T CHANGE YOUR STYLE. JUST BE YOU WITH A BUMP,
THERE'S NO rhyme OR REASON IT'S JUST A Miracle,
THERE IS NO MATCH FOR WHAT A WOMAN'S BODY CAN DO!,
LIFE'S GREATEST GIFT,
LOVE EVERY STAGE. Just own it!,
YOUR BABY TELLS YOU WHAT IT NEEDS. LIKE ICE CREAM!,
it's crazy WHAT YOUR BODY CAN DO. WHO KNEW?!?,
Bellylicious,
A CHANGING BODY IS A BEAUTIFUL THING,
NOTHING TAKES MORE STRENGTH THAN MAKING A BABY.,
BREATHE, BALANCE AND EMBRACE THE BEAUTY,
mother make the world go round,
ROCK THAT BELLY,
WORTH THE WAIT!,
OBEY THE BELLY!,
JUST ROLL WITH IT!,
Belly up!,
JUST BE COMFY IN YOUR OWN SKIN,
SUNNY DAYS AHEAD!,
IT'S THE WORLD'S MOST lovely SURPRISE,
EYES ON THE PRIZE, BABY!,
GLOWING AND GROWING,
100% ORGANIC!,
BIG APPLE, BIG LOVE,
BE PROUD. YOU'RE CHANGING THE WORLD!,
JOY TO THE WORLD,
LET GO OF "Should" AND JUST GO WITH THE flow ...,
YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING AMAZING. So CELEBRATE You!,
JUST KEEP SMILING ... FOR NINE MONTHS!,
Life won't be the same. IT'll BE BIGGER AND BETTER.,
WHEREVER YOU'RE FROM, DO YOUR OWN BELLY THING.,
Moms grow future Moms,
celebrate imperfect! it's all beautiful.,
Arriving July 18 OOP!,
How does Warren Buffett end up in a belly book FULL OF Pregnant WOMEN?,
INVESTMENTS Go [up arrow] UP AND [down arrow] DOWN,
BEHIND the BELLIES,
EVERY BELLY IS BEAUTIFUL.,
About the Author,
Copyright,