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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To Baby or Not to Baby
03 Dec 2011 3 Comments
in Body Image, Mind and Body, Personalized Gift, Relationships, Unique Gift Ideas, Women Photography Tags: adoption, christmas, empowerment, Fertility, freezing eggs, holiday gifts, Lifestyle, Motherhood, Parenting, pregnancy, single parenthood, Women
Simply having children
does not make mothers.
John A. Shedd
Would you believe this photo series is the celebration of a Goddess who turned 43? She wishes looking a decade younger could silence the deafening tick tock of her biological clock and the nosy nags at family gatherings. Elusive Mr. Right continues to hold hostage the children she may never have–despite the parade of Mr. Right Nows who volunteer to be sperm donors.
Friends, celebrities, and experts provide a mixed bag of social proof on the matter of her biological imperative. She’s heard the cynical declare “Having kids is overrated!” She has witnessed older friends regret not having kids, single mothers who juggle an act for two, women who snob adoption for the pain of freezing eggs (aka, hope) or fertility treatments at a king’s ransom. Some unwittingly bind themselves to a lifetime of indentured parenthood with offspring who are forever dependent whether by illness or lack of ambition. She’s seen women agonize over the destiny of their yet unfertilized eggs while others plop kids out without a thought. Some consider kids as social security in their old age. Others acquire them as the latest luxury “must have.” There are those who would fare better taking a parenting license exam not just driver’s ed. And how can she not admire women who truly enjoy the thankless role of mothering? — That mythical ideal both inspiration and curse to the many of us who can’t measure up.
Childless or not, what moves you to have children?
© Sharon Birke
201 697 1947
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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