I bet you never thought you would be reading a blog about tits right? Or be inspired about Lucy’s reason behind this business?
I met Lucy (or Goose as her friends call her) at The Linden Market and having stalked her social media pages for a while I was really excited to meet her in person and see what she creates for myself. I was immediately attracted to her positivity and friendliness, and I left feeling like I had made a new friend.
Fast forward a few months (Lucy was off working the ski season in Andorra – lucky bum), and we were finally able to catch up. Her zest for life is still there, and she is even more bubbly and creative than I remember. I love that she is unashamedly herself, and that she is breaking barriers with her work as well as encouraging women to do self-checks for any lumps, bumps or other funnies that should be checked out by a medical professional.
So let’s skip to the good part…
Meet Goose…
Your name: Lucy Gemmell
Business name: Tits By Goose
Social media handles: Instagram
3 fun facts about you: I am very good and obsessed with standing on my hands! I can rap almost any Lil Wayne song! Can’t go a week without eating nachos!
Tits & Tuchus
So why tits: The better question is why not tits?
Why are we not normalising imperfection and undoing the patriarchal view that tits must look a certain way in order to be considered beautiful. All tits are beautiful, the weirder the more wonderful. I decided to paint tits as this small act of rebellion and liberation!
And why tuchus: Guys are so funny – most of them are either boobs or bums so I had a large demand for all the tuchus enthusiasts!
What started you on this journey: I helped host a blessing-way ceremony for a friend of mine and I decided to paint tit tarot cards for all the girls attending. Everyone loved them and asked for me to paint more. The more people saw them the more orders I got! The more it got me thinking of how close minded we are as a society and how so many people were excited by this normally taboo idea especially because they are cute and quirky as opposed to being sexual.
Have you always been creative: I went to the Waldorf school when I was younger so I have always been creative but I wouldn’t say always been talented. Tits are the best creative expression as there’s no such thing as “bad tits” they are all different and someone’s got the pair I paint no matter how weird and wonderful!
Why do you think your pics appeal to so many: After the pandemic and a long lockdown, the general mood of the country was quite sombre. Tits by Goose was a nice lighthearted giggle and reprieve from all that was so serious. People’s reactions range from shock to laughter to love to absolute disgust! It has been the best to see all the different reactions – I love them all! I think they came at the right time. We are waking up as humanity so as not to be so judgemental and, women are getting more of a voice – This is a channel for that voice to be heard!
What makes your art so unique: It’s quite simply ridiculous and that’s what I love most about it! They are so silly and that is what makes them so unique!
Do you do custom orders: Yes! I have been doing custom pieces for moms who have sent me pictures of their boobs through their pregnancy and breastfeeding stages – painting all the changes. I have done pieces for breast cancer patients as an ode to the tits before they go to tit heaven. Love doing custom pieces!
How can people order from you: Pop me an email lucy@titsbygoose.com or reach out through Instagram.
What are your Tarot cards: The Tit Tarot Cards are the best! It’s a deck of 40 tits and 40 uplifting messages. Ideal for a morning ritual to guide your awareness for the day. Ideal as a fun but meaningful gift! You always get the card you need! The tit gods are alive in this deck!
What is in the pipeline for Tits by Goose: We are currently getting on the walls at a new art gallery in The Keyes Art Mile in JHB! We are SO excited about this! We plan to take the world by tits! Spreading our message of freedom of expression, of undoing the patriarchal view that all tits should look a certain way, we want tits on every wall! Soon I will immigrate to the UK so we will be expanding across the ocean which is super exciting. There’s been some encouragement for a “Twats by Goose” “Tollies by Goose” haha but not sure we are there yet… never say never!
Women’s Month
Tell me more about your exciting Women’s Month project: The details are not finalised yet so I can’t let too much out but what I can say is that with each piece purchased in August you will not only get an extra gift for you but you will also be donating to an incredible initiative for underprivileged woman who have breast cancer and need some support! It gives me goosebumps! Keep eyes on our Instagram for details that will launch next week!
What is your personal favourite pic you have done: I am like the quintessential proud mama – you can’t have favourites with your children! All my tit children are great in their own ways! I love them all and just glow with pride when I see these silly things making such an impact!
Why do you encourage people to support local: Local is Lekker! South Africa has the most incredible talent pool of sidewalk entrepreneurs, creative minds and remarkable resilience.
Our country has so much to offer, we have a richness in culture, diversity and in creativity! Supporting locals is supporting humans. Not corporations. Not greed. Humans. Humans who are brave and courageous and the difference one can make in the life of a small business owner by just purchasing one piece is really huge!
Quote you live by: “You are personally responsible for becoming more ethical than the society you grew up in.”― Eliezer Yudkowsky
Anything else you add: My advice to anyone would be not to wait. As much as we might want to believe it, time is not on our side. DO the thing you want to do. Start the project you want to start. Leave the relationship that doesn’t feel like home. Quit the job that does not fulfil your soul. You will always find a reason to stay in your comfort zone and that comfort zone is a place of stagnance. YOU CANNOT GROW IN YOUR COMFORT ZONE.
Get into the discomfort, start being an active participant in your own life and create the feelings you want to feel, begin the actions that lead you to your goals. Writing down goals is meaningless without action attached. If I had waited to be a world class painter before selling my tits, there wouldn’t ever be any Tits By Goose. My tits are great because they are unique, not because I’m world class painter. Not perfect. Not technical. BUT they are what they are because I attached action to my goals and I believed in myself – I got out of my comfort zone and just did it!
GO AND FIND WHAT’S YOURS AND JUST DO IT! If weird and wonderful tits can make it, I promise you, anything can make it!
“YOU CANNOT GROW IN YOUR COMFORT ZONE… If weird and wonderful tits can make it, I promise you, anything can make it!”
Goose
In closing…
Isn’t this the most divine business?
And don’t you want a set of tits or tuchus (or both!) to hang in your home?
Being a person with loads of scars, and lopsided boobs, and a body that society says isn’t perfect, or even beautiful; Tits by Goose has been my inspiration to love myself and appreciate myself and my body for what it can do and what it has survived as opposed to what I don’t like about it.
