Has your grandmother ever planted a big wet kiss on your cheek? Embarrassing, yes. But even more so when minutes later you look in the mirror and realize grandma was wearing lipstick, and your cheek is now branded with heart-shaped rouge stain. You try to rub it off and the red gets all over the place, leaving you looking like a three-year-old who snuck into mom’s makeup cabinet and put just way too much blush on only one cheek. (NewsFeed could go on, but we’ll spare you.)
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But Natalie Irish, an artist based in Houston, Texas seems to put this classic lipstick snafu to good—even artistic—use. Irish employs her rouged lips in lieu of a paintbrush to paint portraits, like this one of Marilyn Monroe that seems to have forced her to pucker up with a canvas thousands of times.
And she’s not the only one to make kissable art. Digital photographer Paige Thompson has gone the other direction to create paintings on her lips.
Now that’s what you call love of the work.
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Zara Kessler is a TIME contributor. Find her on Twitter at @zarafk. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.
