Belly Painting for WFLA Daytime TV in Tampa!
I was a little surprised when WFLA Daytime TV called to see if I would be interested in a little segment for pregnancy and women and paint a maternity belly for them. It was short notice but that didn’t hold me back! I had a lot of ideas but wasn’t sure if it would be a boy or girl baby and that can change a lot of things, turns out people don’t love a lot of flowers for their boys! I narrowed it down to a baby fox with some foliage around the edges. When I was able to talk to the mom she was all for the idea and very open minded. This was her 7th baby and she had never had her belly painted before. We actually had a lot in common, both grew up in Arizona (her in Tucson, me in Prescott), we are both a little hippy or crunchy (no one in Florida uses that term but we both did!), she is a baby wearing mama and if my boys were small enough I would be too (did when they were little) and we are both homeschooling moms. It couldn’t be a better match!
We showed up at the studio right on time and Jeff even volunteered to go with me, even though the belly painting would be a little boring for him. We were escorted into the green room and I was able to meet the mom, Ashley and we learned a lot in a few short minutes. We were then escorted onto set and shown where to be. We made sure Ashley would be comfortable (being 7 months pregnant and all!) and I adjusted my set up to make sure the images of the progression would work out well.
Jerry Penacoli and Cyndi Edwards came over and introduced themselves and since it wasn’t live TV we had a lot of flexibility. We were given microphones and then the recording started. I’m proud to say it only took one try without any do-overs. After the first interview we continued to paint while they finished the rest of their show on the other portion of the set. It was a really neat process and I’m so impressed with how professional and nice both Jerry and Cyndi are to everyone!
The crew would check on us to see how we were doing but once we were near the end we had a little warning. I worked up until the last moment too. The final interview was really fast and once we were done they were done with the entire show. A lot of work goes into a pre-recorded show, I think more than a live one! It was amazing to be a part of it and I’m so grateful to have been called. I just love painting pregnant women and the opportunity to show it to the entire Bay area was very special. Maternity paintings or belly paintings are so unique for each person, can’t wait to do another one!
