Schoolgirl Santa
23 Dec 2011 2 Comments
in Body Image, Empowerment, Health and Wellness, Mind and Body, Personalized Gifts, Unique Gift Ideas, Women Photography Tags: christmas, coping with illness, fundraisers, gift to self, jewelry, last minute gifts, mom's wishlist, multiple sclerosis, personalized, schoolgirl, sexy santa, unique
Thank goodness I was never sent to school…
That would have rubbed off some of my originality.
This Goddess was a little anxious. She had never done anything like this before and she worried about all the things she thought she needed to fix about her body to look good in photos. She had given up a career in the corporate world to adapt to the demands of multiple sclerosis while raising two small children. Thanks to the help of her loving sisters, she prevails over adversity and has given birth to www.lula-belle.com, a jewelry line dedicated to raising awareness on various afflictions, what truly matters, and how we can support each other in our struggles.
Imagine her thrill at how her images exceeded her expectations! She tells me, “My favorite part of the experience had to be your laugh. It lightened up the whole session making everything feel safe, fun, and delightful! Your patience with an amateur like me was amazing, too… You made me feel pretty the whole time. Thank you for sharing your creativity and changing the way I see things about myself.”
Imagine her husband’s surprise when he opens this Christmas present he’d never expect from his demure wife. Oh, joy!
Let’s marvel at what truly matters and the gifts of 2011 that can’t be wrapped. In the school of life:
Where did I go in my travels and introspection?
Where have my choices led me?
What did I learn from my successes and failures?
What meaningful connections did I make?
Whom did I cherish? How generous was I with praise?
How have I given myself appreciation and gratitude?
Be the HAPPY in your Ho-Ho-HOLIDAYS!
xoxox
Sharky
© Sharon Birke
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
Powerful Goddess is a trademark of DoubleSmart LLC
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Very Koi Body Painting
11 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Women Photography, Body Image, Unique Gift Ideas, Personalized Gifts, Health and Wellness, Body Painting, Art and Crafts, Party Ideas Tags: boudoir photography, creativity, gift giving, christmas, body painting, unique gift ideas, personalized gifts, holiday party, family gift giving, body art, artist date, inner artist, Julia Cameron, mother daughter, girlfriends
It is a paradox of creativity that
we must get serious about taking ourselves lightly.
We must work at learning to play.
“The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron recommends a weekly “artist date” to continually replenish our reservoir of creativity before we dredge a dried out bottom and feel stuck, blocked, or uninspired. An artist date is any activity that’s fun, enjoyable, akin to childlike play and exploration. My inner artist happens to be an uptown girl so for a recent artist date, I had to drag her kicking and screaming over the Brooklyn bridge to the new body painting studio of Danny Setiawan of www.DenArtNY.com (he’s matching me in red below.) And, Goddess, was she glad I did!
Models patiently stood/sat through a couple hours of being a human canvas–whoever wasn’t comfortable being topless covered her front torso with a scarf or halter top . My inner artist had not touched a brush in months. She quickly got carried away painting the biggest koi fish possible, extending the design all over my model’s forearms and the contours of her voluptuous body. After 3 hours of painting punctuated by fits of laughter and dancing, my model and I squeezed into the studio’se tiny bathroom where a wall of painted curls and swirls provided a matching graphic backdrop. The perfect souvenir for a most memorable afternoon.
Add body painting to your possibilities for playdates and unique gift ideas. Make a party out of it and ask Danny to bring his art to your venue!
Where will you take your inner artist on your next date?
© Sharon Birke
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
Powerful Goddess is a trademark of DoubleSmart LLC
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Feathers of Freedom
25 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Body Image, Boudoir Photography, Health and Wellness, Lifestyle, Mind and Body, NYC Nightlife, Personalized Gifts, Women Photography Tags: birdcage, Body Image, boudoir photography, burlesque, dance, empowerment, entertainment, freedom to choose, Glamour, mind and body, NYC Nightlife, ostrich fans, pin up, self confidence, self help, thanksgiving, therapy, unique gift ideas, women photography
The function of freedom is to free someone else.
“You have a bird?,” inquired the woman standing behind me at checkout. I was holding a big birdcage so my answer could have gone a few different ways.
“No, I don’t,” I winked. “It’s a reminder that my bird is free!”
She grinned.
This Thanksgiving, I celebrate our freedom to choose by sharing the true story of a woman who liberated herself in fine feathery style. Kitty Cavalier reveals:
I wasn’t always the confident life of the party. For most of my life, I was suicidally depressed with a severe eating disorder. My world revolved around my body, my weight and what diet I was on or not. I wore long sleeves and long pants even in the summertime. I made up crazy excuses so friends wouldn’t take me to the beach. Getting undressed became traumatic even for the simple routine of taking a shower in the privacy of my own home.
Underneath all this shame was a deep seated belief that if only I were pretty enough, thin enough, charismatic enough, successful enough, fill-in-the-blank enough, my life would be better. My body became the battleground of my grief, shame, fear, anxieties and I hated it for not cooperating with my wishes. Then one evening, I went to see a burlesque show…
Click here for more on Kitty’s story and her School of Charm and Cheek.
Which freedom will you celebrate this Thanksgiving?
© Sharon Birke
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
Powerful Goddess is a trademark of DoubleSmart LLC
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For Santa’s Marvel-ous Stockings
21 Nov 2011 4 Comments
in Beauty and Fashion, Body Image, Boudoir Photography, Creative Photography, Fantasy, Personalized Gifts, Portraits, Unique Gift Ideas, Women Photography Tags: black friday, Boudoir, christmas, collection, comics, creativity, digital photography, fantasy, funny, gift ideas, gift to self, gifts for her, gifts for him, Glamour, Goddess, hanukkah, holidays, humor, husband, interior design, last minute gifts, marvel, original, personlaized gifts, Photography, Portraits, present, santa's stocking, spiderman, Super Heroes, super woman, surpirse, unique ideas, Women
Without playing with fantasy
no creative work has ever yet come to birth.
The debt we owe to
the play of imagination is incalculable.
A couple of years ago, this Goddess transformed her basement into a fantastic home for her husband’s extensive comics paraphernalia. After decades of sitting in storage–the stuff, not the husband–his vintage comic books from the very first Marvel issue now proudly line the entire length of one wall. A “Bat light” hovers over the pool table covered with “CRASH WHAM BOOM” felt and framed original illustrations mix cheerfully with casual cardboard pop ups like Spiderman above. You can count my comics illustrator brother among the many drooling over their whimsical interior decor and state of the art home theater.
For the coming holidays, she’s topping that feat with humorous sexy portraits as the Super Heroine her husband doesn’t know he lives with–certain to knock the socks off his feet with an original gift that’s beyond personalized. Ssshhh! Don’t tell him it doesn’t involve stockings.
What unique gift idea can you give yourself if Santa won’t?
© Sharon Birke
Photography for the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother
Powerful Goddess is a trademark of DoubleSmart LLC
Makeup by www.ByJulez.com
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