Michael and Paola Dias

Water Dripping

Pregnant Earth

Fire

Embers

Michael and Paula Dias have started their own company centered around being able to creatively capture your own pregnancy.

"This all started once my wife and I found out we were pregnant. Her belly started to show a bit so we started drawing – trying to capture the moment and wanting to track how her belly grew and and changed over time. After we saw what beautiful forms were emerging, we wanted to share our discovery with every pregnant couple."

You can find their company at www.artbellies.com

Toni Rakestraw

SLEEPING BOY

A pencil portrait of that precious moment when baby drifts off to dreamland after filling up on milk. The look of contentment always touched my heart.

LOVE

This came into being when I knew I wanted to create something special, but I wasn't sure just what it would be. I have seen many photos of this type, with the mother's hands forming a heart over the growing baby and that morning it seemed just perfect. I know that in all of my pregnancies, the feeling of baby moving and growing was treasured. I miss it now. This image seemed to reflect all that I felt when carrying my babies safely within. This is painted in acrylic on watercolor paper and was finished in about two hours.

Toni Rakestraw has been drawing most of her life, but didn't start taking it seriously until 2005. She prefers working with graphite or acrylic at this time, but loves to dabble with other mediums and styles when she has time. Her inspiration are her eight wonderful children, who remind her every day of how they changed her life for the better. Toni is a homebirth advocate and she and her husband run Organic Birth (http://organic-birth.com), both the website and the magazine. She writes for a living, but is trying to devote more time to her art. Commissions are accepted occasionally.