Mummy Tummies
Forgive the babbling, but Edna Manley Textiles & Fabric Arts graduate 23-year-old Michela Lee’s “Mummy Tummies” has us all pretty gung-ho.
Okay, not enough to want to contemplate sleepless nights and colic, but perhaps to retrieve all of those Tiffany rattlers and to present instead Lee’s custom-made tummies. The idea is certainly not new to the world, but it’s certainly something novel for those of us constantly in search of the next ‘wow’.
Watching the ever-so-petite and sweet Lee work is to watch an artist in search of perfection and without revealing too much, she’s had to assume the role of cosmetic surgeon too – I mean, not all pregnant mums will look like Demi Moore immortalised forever on the cover of Vanity Fair, and we can already imagine just how fabulous Halle will look when she unveils the tummy.
Lee, who stumbled into this as a result of wanting to make something special for a pregnant neighbour was herself blown away by the absolute satisfaction she felt as she found a way to preserve ‘the pregnant glow.’ “Papier mâché was my first option.it kept the shape but was nothing compared to the Plaster of Paris bandages cut into strips,” explains Lee, whose artistic training is deployed each day by Super Plus as a special projects manager.
The first mould, made three years ago soon after her return from post-graduate studies in Conceptual Art & Sculpture, Land Art and Environment at the Pont-Aven School in France, has increased to a mere six. “I get referrals and let’s face it, Mummy Tummies are still pretty novel.”
They are indeed, with some mothers opting for a temporary tummy paint-job instead of a mould. After watching mum-to-be Suzanne Hendricks’ belly-cast (she is in fact due anytime soon) we’re eager to spread the word. And what happens to the mould after it’s made, we feel obliged to ask? “Treat it the way you would a piece of art,” suggests Lee. That, we recommend, should be very easy to do.
Attention all family and friends of the fabulously pregnant Billie-Jean Constantine, I’ve already booked Lee. So sorry!
