Birthing thru the pickles in life

Introducing "Birtha"

I was compelled to design this whimsical lil Lady to pay homage to some really special women in my personal, professional, & online life.

These women (& you KNOW who you are) teach me & inspire me that no matter how cold it may seem in life, or what kind of pickle we may be in....that THIS is the time to push...also reminding me to P-U-S-H "Pray Until Something Happens...that this is the time to embrace change & honor my spirit of "expectancy"

Reminding me of Maya Angelous magnificent quote...

"I can be changed by whats happened to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it"

Its not that I believe in miracles.....

I rely on them!

This network of women show me that the pickles in life arent important... but how I handle them...are.

Lawdy how I love me my wimmens!♥

Im not sure whether its just the circle of life, or something in the air, but quite a few of my friends seem to be going thru some really challenging, painful & ambiguous times in their lives.

I cant fix em...

I cant control em...

all I can do is "Push" with them.

Im grateful having just come out of a really dark place myself recently, I have the energy to encourage & support them.

Im so incredibly grateful that the only reason I walked into the light was because of some of these very women Im celebrating by creating "Birtha"

Some of these friends are being faced with health issues, their childrens health issues, going back to school, work, trying to deal with family members who are dangerously stuck in self sabatoge & battling addictions, depression, high risk behaviors, broken hearts & the list goes on & on.

Ive been thru so many of these issues on my own journey & although it wasnt until after Id walked thru it, I realized because of the experience, Im able to express compassion & support void of any judgement.

So I created "Birtha" from muslin fabric, I sculpted her eye area & stitched 2 little black seed beads for her eyes...her ultra long paper clay sculpted nose (that Im quite sure Freud would have something to say about that!) (chuckle)

Then I went on to tack raw sheeps wool for hair I picked up from a sheep shearing contest at the Hebron Fair this year, I gently stained her cheese cloth head/shoulder shawl with a light recipie of prim smelling goodies & then stitched & stuffed a large belly ( I was merciful & made her free of any stretch marks) underneath her soft, cotton, rose bud, fabric dress. (I wished her pregnant belly showed up in the pictures better) I scuplted her stash of pickles with the same paper clay I used for her carrot nose.

I painted a little textured snow on her to help us appreciate how sometimes we may feel really cold on our journey but as long as we stand tall, feed ourselves that which sustains us, we can continue our birthing process.

And then lastly my favorite embellishment I added was the soft glitter that I was hoping to express that as women we indeed sparkle & shine...always in all ways.

I hope you all can appreciate my efforts in creating some of the joy in the lessons & experiences each of you have blessed me with in one amazing way or another.