Markings of motherhood, the beauty in growth, a muse to me and many. The work of Meg, self portraits and more, offer an honest perspective of transformation, motherhood and creation.
An honouring of the beauty of her skin with delicate transparency.
I'm always in awe of a woman at home within her own body and a woman who facilitates a space for others to be at home in theirs.
Meg is both, a space holder the sensual guise of an honest body and a creator of bodily art.
And, after months of gazing in awe upon her work, I asked Meg a few questions about her art, her motherhood and her inspirations.
Her words more beautiful than I could have envisioned, perhaps even more sensual than her photo's.
With a wonderful addition from her partner Connor who adds the most magical musing of all. This interview is one I deeply enjoy. I hope that you do too.
a self portrait by Meg
Your work is incredibly sensual, honest and grounding, there is a sense of finding a home within your body that many People long for. Do you find your body to be an inspiration for your art?
To have not only found home within myself, but imparted my new found love onto other women.. ugh wow. To be that for someone else is truly magical. I have always been inspired by movement, specifically the body. In the shadows, bathing in golden sunlight, reflections, curves, texture, glow. The body knows no limits to how it inspires me everyday. I am drawn to it’s radiating beauty.
Everything inspires me, movement in all forms, light or darkness both within and visual, those I love, strangers, nature, you name it my brain makes art from it.
There is a sense of gentle power in all that you bring to your art, and that is reflected too in your motherhood that you show to the world. I've loved witnessing your journey from maiden to mother through your art, I wonder, how your art plays into your mothering experience and what about motherhood inspires you to document it in such a poetic way?
I don’t feel as if my art has influenced motherhood but rather the other way around. Growing up I knew I wanted to raise my children a certain way, it’s something I thought about often. I was a sensitive child raised in a unstable environment, pretty early on I knew adults spoke down to me, I was not heard, nor cared for in the gentle demeanour I longed for. Coming into motherhood I already had a incline as to how I’d be the softness I craved so bad! And because of the beautiful moments we create together everyday I am inspired to capture the beauty I have manifested into existence. I guess in a way it sparked my self love path into light, I am a role model to this brand new human. I should be talking to myself how I wish they’d treat their own being and others. We were both born that summer evening on the 10th of June 2020, I had the chance to raise us both how I always wanted, what a blessing that has been.
What is it about motherhood that you love the most?
To of been chosen by a soul to be their passage earth side is the greatest blessing, the added bonus (along with so many others) to get to watch them grow and have an impact on this brand new human. To not only teach them, but to be taught so much about myself along the way. I love the vulnerability, the unconditional love, the growth, most importantly the patience. It’s just so beautiful in every way. You seem to reflect a lot of your partner in your work, and I believe he's a photographer too. There is such beauty in how your work mirrors each other, it feels as if there is a constant source of inspiration for the both of you, reflecting light and creation onto one another. I'm curious to know what life is like with a partner who is similar to you in the artists approach and what differences you have that make your relationship all the more beautiful?
The fact that mine and Megan’s work seems to mirror one another’s is largely to the fact that we are both very similar and quite solitary people, so our free time is predominantly spent in each other’s company. Our relationship is one of compromise and duality. We share a language that has no words, something rare and purely intuitive. We can communicate with as little as a glance. Something I will always treasure about our relationship. It is because of this bound consciousness that we mirror each other so much in day to day life, especially with humour. We have an extensive catalogue of inside jokes. This connection stems through our work as individuals and collaboratively. We both love to produce art so naturally will share ideas and community our inspirations or what we want to achieve from the piece with each other. On the subject of photography, Megan is one for capturing a wider frame, the subject, surrounding and setting context. Whereas I have an eye for the finer details. Because we’re both similar and creatives, we trust each other with our ideas. We can confidently share our thoughts whether we like each other’s work or not. Often our similarities are used to confirm one another’s thoughts however, we are both comfortable enough to tell each other if we think it’s a bit shit. Codependent but fearlessly stubborn we will either allow our own ideas to be influenced by one other or not. “Fuck off I’m doing it anyway” Inspiration. For me inspiration is small bites of direction negated by the outcome of the last bite. I don’t necessarily look for the end result but will allow whatever initially inspires me to cave the path for me. However, Megan will have an idea of the end result and will plan to achieve that. Where this difference complements our collaboration is that Megan will, let’s say do the heavy lifting, the initial idea which is something I struggle with. Once Megan has laid down that first ‘bite’ I can then start looking for the details which then constantly nudge me in different directions throughout the creative process or the shoot in this case. This is quite the opposite to how we are in our day to day life’s as Megan is a lot more spontaneous than me. This allows me to influence the end result while keeping on theme. The end result may not be what Megan envisioned initially but she values my ability to mould her ideas and I value the opportunity to create with her. - Connor
Yes! What he said. - Meg
And lastly, how do you let your fae fly free?
I listen to my mind, body, soul. I’m very aware of my limits, and though I like to push boundaries I know when to stop and care for myself.
You can find the work of Meg & her partner Conner via their instagram pages -
@marsbudge - Meg
@_.cjbrodie - Connor
@beautiful.strangers._ - a joint creation
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