Our first newspaper write-up

Art Bellies was just mentioned in the Keene Sentinal under the Business Briefs heading. Here is a copy of the article.

Belly profiles make their mark

HANCOCK — Hancock couple Michael and Paola Dias recently turned an experience from Paola’s pregnancy into a new art business venture.

The two are the purveyors of Art Bellies, a collection of kits for sale in stores and online. Each kit contains everything needed to make art silhouettes of expectant mothers’ bellies — a variety of papers, calligraphy brushes, earthen ochre, Japanese Sumi-e ink, a paint dish and an instruction booklet.

Michael Dias said the idea was born when, much like charting a child’s growth on a wall, he used watercolors to trace the growth of Paola’s stomach during her pregnancy.

The two realized this made interesting art and started making standalone silhouettes of Paola’s form.

“We kind of came up with a really nice kit that we wanted to send to our friends and family who were also pregnant.” Michael Dias said. The response to their about-to-Pop-Art kits was positive, he said, and eventually the two were getting calls about the kits from people they didn’t even know.

Besides selling online, Art Bellies kits are carried at WoollyBear in Keene, Precious Cargo in Peterborough and Mother & Child Clothing and Gifts in Nashua, according to Michael Dias. In addition, he said, the kits will soon be available at the gift shop of Monadnock Community Hospital.

While valuable in its own right, Michael Dias said the art’s portrayal of the mother’s body and the new baby makes it unique and special to couples.

As for Paola’s pregnancy, which inspired it all, Michael Dias said Wednesday, “My wife is due any moment now.”

For more information, please visit www.artbellies.com