Alisha Brighton names her paintings after her friends.
One is called Anna, another is Natalie and another is Rhani.
Her paintings are not of faces, but vulvas.
The hobby artist said the choice to name the works after her friends caused some to think she had been doing live sittings.
"People think I am actually painting my friend's vulvas, which no, I am not — not yet!" she laughed.
But they are inspired by her friends, some of whom have experienced conditions like endometriosis and others who have been sexually assaulted.
Some of the vulvas have red dots which represent endometriosis.
Others were rendered in cool pastels.
All the designs are quite different.
"A lot of people go through a lot of things in terms of their vulva and they can cause them a lot of stress and shame," Brighton said.
"I think it [differences] should not [cause shame] at all … every vulva is unique and every person is unique, and they should be proud of what they have."
Brighton donates half the money from selling her works towards charities.
She has donated hundreds of dollars so far.
The remaining money goes towards supplies and some of her time.
"We started with Endometriosis Australia as one of the charities to support and then also looking into some of the sexual assault ones as well, as I know a lot of people that have sort of been through that experience," she said.
Customers could choose whether they wanted to donate to Endometriosis Australia, Teach Us Consent, or both.
'What the hell could I paint?'
Brighton, a dietician, moved to the regional New South Wales town of Tamworth and began the side hustle, which she had named The Lady Bits.
"I have never really been that much of an artist," she said.
She said she wanted a hobby.
"I was struggling to find stuff to paint, and one day I was thinking, 'What the hell could I paint?'"
She said vulvas struck her as quite mesmerising.
"They are quite nice to look at," she said.
First laughter, then conversation
The decision to harness her hobby to help was inspired by the likes of Grace Tame's story and her work in raising awareness about sexual assault.
There were some influences a little closer to home too.
"There were lots of things going on and at the time — my friend was going through endometriosis and I kind of saw the effects it had on her," Brighton said.
"I kind of combined all these ideas together and was like, 'Why don't we sell these paintings and raise money for things that are related to women and stuff that is close to our hearts?'"
But there was also a not-so-subtle by-product of people hanging vulvas on their walls that she enjoyed.
"I am really into taboo topics as well and I think talking about vulvas is definitely a great place to start, just sparking conversations about things that are related to women," she said.
Her housemate Anna Falkenmire, a proud owner of one of the artworks, had to explain to her mother the painting on the wall was not inspired by her own vagina.
"It has definitely lived its purpose … starting that conversation, but, no, they are not portraits of anyone in particular," Ms Falkenmire said.
She said she felt proud to be backing work that went towards helping those affected by endometriosis and sexual assault, especially given she had people in her life who had experienced both.
But she said hanging the piece loudly and proudly in her room was also important.
"Having that confidence to hang it up for anyone that comes into my room, it is kind of front and centre.
"It makes me feel really good having it hung up as well, like I have added a little piece of that conversation to the world as well," Ms Falkenmire said.
"It is such an important conversation and it shouldn't be something that is awkward to talk about … half of the world has a vulva, so it is definitely something not to be ashamed about," said Alisha Brighton, who has one of her pictures hanging in her bathroom.
"I think when people look at the painting, they kind of know what it is and it can be quite an awkward, funny thing that they might laugh at first, but it definitely brings conversation," Brighton said.
