elizabeth barnes captures
the art of pregnacy
BODY CASTS OF PREGNANT TUMMIES ADDS A NEW DIRECTION FOR MUTLI-TALENTED sculptor and painter
Though it can be difficult for some, most mothers say that being pregnant was a special time in their lives. Elizabeth Barnes, a sculptor who lives in North Augusta, captures the transformation of a woman’s body during pregnancy by creating belly casts with original designs. Body casting dates back to ancient Egypt, when the casts were made to transport dead bodies to the next world. Francine Krause is credited with creating the first modern belly cast in 1986 when she was pregnant with her first child. Since then, many women have had the three-dimensional plaster sculptures of their abdomens or torsos created. Though normally done in the eighth or ninth month, some women choose to make a series of casts to capture the progression of the pregnancy. The process begins with a plaster cast of the belly or abdomen. Once the cast is made, Barnes creates a work of art that will be a cherished keepsake for the entire family. Barnes grew up in southern Maine and says her love of art and threedimensional surroundings began at home. She had a creative family who took frequent trips to the countryside and shores of New England. In high school, she joined the art club and realized her interest in sculptures. “I remember going to a winter fest at the University of New Hampshire and seeing an ice sculpture,” she says. “I thought ‘Wow! This is so cool.’” After high school Barnes attended a business college, but continued to take classes in a variety of crafts. After her marriage to her husband, Jerry, they moved to Indiana where they raised their two daughters. “When the kids were young, I painted figures on our windows at each holiday,” Barnes smiles. Her enthusiasm for painting and learning different crafts did not stop there. After moving to Rockingham, N.C., she took classes whenever she could and joined the local homemaker extension. It was during a ceramics class at a community college that she realized sculpting was her passion. In 1985, her family relocated to Aiken where she worked as a secretary, though she still dreamed of continuing her education and being an artist. Then, when Augusta State University waived its out-of-state tuition fees in 1988, she enrolled as a full-time student. In 1992, she graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Fine Art. “At the time, I had one daughter in high school and one in college,” she says. “We were all freshmen and would sit at the dining table with our algebra homework.” In 1999, they moved to Alabama where she continued to attend art workshops and spent her free time scouting the area for different media to use in her sculptures. “I call that my ‘gathering’ time,” Barnes says. “I collected stones and rocks from all over the area whenever we traveled.” After returning to the area, they settled in North Augusta and Barnes decided to work as an artist full-time. She taught classes at the Art Factory and worked at an after-school program for disadvantaged children. Her artwork, including bronze, alabaster, terra cotta and intaglio prints and paintings in oil and acrylic, have been shown at galleries and art shows around the country, she is listed in Who’s Who of American Women and her artwork has won many awards. In July of 2000, a pregnant client approached Barnes to do a cast of her torso. Her love of motherhood and passion for art sparked her curiosity.
“I said, ‘Sure, no problem,’ ” she laughs. “ ‘ OK, now what do I do?’ ”
“But as soon as they became pregnant again, they called me.”
She completed her first belly cast and began to get referrals. In 2003, her company, Artful Expectations, was born.
The cast-making process takes about two hours to complete. She works in the client’s home for privacy and a more comfortable setting. The father’s involvement sometimes includes his hands casted on her abdomen.
“I love what I do,” she says. “I have samples of designs to give inspiration, but the final designs are chosen by my clients. And usually the design they choose is perfect for their body.”
Barnes says her passion is preserving memories and she hopes a legacy for her family.
Though animal designs are very popular, she has painted famous masterpieces and even a James Brown series on some of the casts. A Mona Lisa belly cast hangs in her living room.
“There are two bronze turtles in my daughter Jessica’s garden,” Barnes says. “When my daughter was pregnant, I made casts of her and bronzed them. This is my legacy to my grandchildren.”
“A friend asked me what I would do if someone asked me to do a Mona Lisa,” she explains. “So, I just did it.”
Her daughter, also an artist living in South Carolina, helps Barnes with some of the castings and artwork.
Barnes says she loves the work and the selfesteem it brings to the women. She says she feels they discover a different awareness of their body. She also looks forward to meeting the babies after they are born. “I love it when they see the finished cast for the first time,” she says. “They see the image as not just the body, but a memory of their baby’s first home in the world. It is a happy time in their life.”
Belly casting is not for everyone. But Barnes says when she sees a pregnant woman she envisions a creative and cherished gift the mother can give to her child - a timeless gift of original art. Visit her website at
artfulexpectations.com. article and photo by KAREN E. FARLEY body casts by ELIZABETH BARNES
So, what happens if the moms deliver early? “I have had a few moms that delivered before their cast was made,” Barnes says.
vergelive.com | community driven news | December 14, 2011 15