hello! here’s a little cropped sneakpeek for this artwork that i did for a certain publication that i just finished today. well, its finished for today anyway. because my eyes are about to bleed out. the only other person who probably gets to see this before the world does would be my oh-so-privileged partner, hurhur. and maybe a handful of my personal sweethearts.

anyway i just learned from someone that im somebody’s muse. errr what. well whoever you are (i dont know who), you totally made my day! thank you!

Seedling ©nataliette, 2010. digital painting.

a sadistic mother is the worst of all children’s nightmares: my parents, who were fruitsellers, would supply me with all the watermelons i loved to eat. when i was a little girl of perhaps five or six, my mother sat beside me while i was chomping down on an especially juicy slice. she asked me if i had eaten any seeds. i warily replied yes. “oh, dear. you will grow a watermelon tree inside you!” she exclaimed. thus, over the course of the next few years i would occasionally check my nostrils and ears for any signs of peeking branches. one day when i was an older child, i went up to my mother and accused her: “you lied! there isnt any tree growing inside me at all. see, im fine!” my mother simply replied, “dont be silly. trees take many years to grow.” and then i spent the next few years living in paranoia again.

of course, when i retold this story to my mates in college, they laughed. then someone said that watermelons do not grow on trees at all. and i only realized this when i was 18…

this picture tells that story of my tortured childhood, being the daughter of my mother (whom i love very much of course, but she is a wicked creature!). the little leaves on the bottom are actually leaves of the watermelon plant.