Thoughts about Mother and Baby Art

   A friend of mine recently asked me to create a card for her to give her midwife for her final postpartum appointment. She wanted an image similar to this one (below) that she had purchased from me before. In my new design the woman is larger and more central, with a baby in her arms.

"The Rose Tree" c. 2010 by J.L.

    I really liked the image... I felt like it had a lot of emotional appeal but at the same time was similiar to my drawings of other women without babies. The baby herself did not change the image too much The point was not just the baby, it it was the woman and her life...

   It seems that often in art mothers with infants, and pregnant women are usually symbolic of some sort of idea. They seem to fall into 4 categories: 

1-Holy and religious (Like the virgin Mary); symbols of innocence.


2- New Age (like mother earth or somehow more in tune with the universe); symbols of life or the earth or power.


3- Tragic, as if there is something wrong with being pregnant (symbols of injustice)

4- Sentimental 

   Very rarely do we see art that includes pregnant women as just normal women going about their daily lives.., or even as background images. But my research has not been extensive, so if you have images that vary from these traditions, please send them my way!
   That said, I do really like these two more sentimental mother-child images:

"Protected" by Jody Coughlin

 & 

"PJÄTTERYD- the three ages" (Ikea reproduction of Klimt's piece "The Three Ages of Women")

    I doubt, however, my husband would want either of those images on our walls... he'd probably think they are too sentimental, at least for the living areas... perhaps for the nursery?

     What are your thoughts on mother-child/ baby art? Especially as decoration? Is it sweet or is it sappy? Is it too personal to display?

    -J.L.