Some Encouragement

I often have to tell myself: you're on the right track; you're moving forward; hang in there. Here are a few comments I've received lately that are encouraging.

From Larissa in Australia:
this work is truly amazing.
i live in Australia & i am completing my yr 12 HSC this year & for art im doing a peice on the human body in its natural form. this has evolved from the origional concept of 'protection' of the unborn child by the mother & the womb, but as i find new inspiration it broardens.
your work in this HBP is by far the MOST inspirational work i have found, & am likely to find.
its so raw & beautiful...everything about it.
the blog is so interesting just to hear what you have to say about everything, about your girls & your husband & peoples reaction to your work & when you have events & how you feel about what happens & how you feel about how they went & your expectation beforehand.
its honestly intreguing to even begin to comprehend how you feel being naked infront of so many people.
As a part of my body of work, i have made full body prints of myself. this meant i had to be fully naked while my mum painted me & pressed up agains massive peices of paper, after doing these the day i took them to school & showed the teacher she was pretty excited because of how well they turned out, but the rest of the class didnt get it, they looked at me strage because i got naked & painted & stuck myself to paper... the most important thing to me at that time was to make them realise that i wasnt doing it to show my body off (im a 17 year old girl), as you mentioned in the January 4, 2007 blog 'private Vs. public" naked = sexual...which leads to the judgment about beauty/sexiness, but seeing your work now, i realise that i was just trying to redeem some sick sense of detatchment from the reality that is my body.. that is the human body in everyones oppinion in general i guess.
which is ironic that i immediatly felt that way if im looking at it in the light that i am,
but anyway..thankyou so so much for the inspiration.. you are wonderful.
take care.

From Jess in Lethbridge:
I've never seen anything quite like this before. Raw. Live. Personal and Private all at once. Courageous. Judge-less. Inspiring. Against the Norm. But then, what is normal? Humbling. Shameless for the presenter as well as the viewer. Beautiful.
I don't really know what I'm trying to say, or why I really clicked on the 'contact us' button. I just needed to put that out there. Those are the first things that came to mind when I toured through the different types of art, as well as the photos. Amazing. I will try to attend to have my own creativity flow.
Cheers
Jess

From John in southern Alberta:
Dear Tasha,
I congratulate you with your new Motherhood. Nudity is not strange to me. I grew up in Europe and many beaches were clothing optional. I spent a year in Germany on sabbatical and went to the public sauna once a week. Similarly, I regularly went to a nude beach when in Australia for a year. The thing that always fascinated me was the Gaussian curve of human bodies, and yet, all those bodies represented Homo sapiens. Of course, pluck 100 leaves of a tree and one will see a Gaussian (may be sometimes somewhat skewed) curve re shapes of leaves. The same with the human body. I have made a note of your next staging. You will not be in my eyes vulnerable; you will be who you are as a human being. I will try to come to support you silently in your art project. I laud your effort.
Regards, John

From Lisa in Lethbridge:
Hi Tasha,
I don't know if I will be able to make it, but I will be sending you good vibes the whole time -- you are a strong, amazing, beautiful person and I admire your dedication to this art form.
Good luck!
Lisa
P.S. FWIW, when I look at my own body and its very weird twin skin (among other new additions over the years), I try to remember the power of pregnancy and childbirth instead of some impossible "ideal". The strength and power it took to grow and birth three living beings is amazing to me, still... and I feel the same about all women, that we have this incredible strength and ability that men can't ever really know...