August is Breastfeeding Awareness Week and I’ve been busy 
even re-visiting old photos of me and my babies.
This newest painting has a story to tell… her name is Nourished By The Moment.
She has deep roots, all the way back to 2004 when my first son was born. My second baby boy arrived in 2006, and I was a drawing/painting fool the whole time!
I never took official breastfeeding photos when my boys were babes. But one day I had my hubby snap a shot of me nursing my first son at 4 months. I felt inspired by the moment, and wanted to capture it in colored pencil. Bless him, he took a few. I studied the photo and then drew it… naming it Nourished By The Moment. I hadn’t realized until I was a mother how a simple action, a single moment could nourish my own soul, as well as the body of my child… How he could call to me in the night, needing me, and I could realize that in my bed I had needed him, too. That after our time together, we were both more content and able to slip easily into another round of sleep.
I’ve captured many parts of my mothering journey through pen and paint, since then. Feeling like I was capturing a different level of memories, a level that photography couldn’t touch.
To this day I strive to capture an ethereal presence in my paintings… working through a whimsical, heart-led process to achieve a touchable finished piece that transports us back to the soft moments.
15 years after that drawing was made, several weeks ago, I was inspired to complete a painting based on Nourished By The Moment.
Dis-satisfied with how the painting was coming out, I searched for the 2004 photo to see what my son’s face had “actually” looked like in that moment. The original drawing didn’t accurately reflect what I NEW must have been visible. I needed a reference for the painted baby’s eyes and nose. I couldn’t find the photo.
An hour after my search ended unsuccessfully, a collector spontaneously messaged me a photo. Whitney’s photo helped! I’m sending her a free print of the finished painting as a thank you.
I finished the painting by loving on her surface far longer than I thought I would, musing with my husband over the large amount of time a smallish painting can require! Often it is truly hard to stop.
I gave this new painting the same name as the drawing.
Moments after finishing her, I found
the photo from 2004 that I’d been searching for 
(yay!)
Here is her process, and I’m SO GLAD I didn’t give up on her when the going got tough:
Breastfeeding photo sessions were not common (at least in my consciousness), 15 years ago, so I am thankful for the 3-4 photos I have of me feeding my boys.
In 2004, I knew this moment needed to be drawn, and I knew the drawing needed to be painted in 2019. I’m nourished, to this day, by the quiet sleepy moments I had with my baby boys. So many soft memories.
My boys are big now, but I still gratefully watch their sweet faces in sleep, and I still count on cuddly moments with them each evening.
The new 2020 Art
Calendars were already designed when I finished this painting,
but I found a way to include Nourished By The Moment, because I
love her
This original painting has sold, but prints are here.
~~~~~ It’s time for 2020 Art Calendars.
I have pre-order gifts (while supplies last)
for orders placed by 8/31 ~~~~~
I hope you have a WONDERFUL weekend!
Love & Sincerely, Katie
