Heather's pictures and Shelia's make up - the real and the even more real me!

Heather Addley arrived first and we immediately started taking pictures.  I had the curtain and the lights set up.  And I was dressed for the shoot.  I'd decided to wear a tight-fitting chemise-type shirt primarily so I wouldn't get make up on my clothing once Shelia got there.  Heather was quick - she took a couple of preliminary  shots to set the camera up then began shooting.  My intention with these pictures is to radiate my authentic soulful self to show that beauty has nothing to do with make up or artifice but actually comes from within.  I believe there is nothing make up or clothing or hair cuts or jewelry can do to make a person beautiful who can't access it from within her/himself.  

You can judge for yourself how you think they turned out.

A few minutes later Shelia Gray arrived and began setting up her supplies.  I had originally asked her to do "glamour" makeup, but she felt like someone else might be able to do that better, so I asked her to make me up like a feline instead.  Why?  you might very well ask...  Well, when I was doing the work with Karen Morris a couple of weeks ago, I had an image of myself as very feline.  Strong, sleek, muscular, fierce yet not ferocious, powerful, ready to strike but not needing to.  I wanted to experiment with that image.  It was a bit tricky because I couldn't articulate it since it wasn't clear enough to me yet.  I thought the make up and pictures could help me a bit with that.  They have.  I can picture it better now.  These pictures capture a little bit of what I was going after, but I may have to do it again to get exactly what I was looking for.  

I can say, it was really fun having Shelia put the make up on.  It felt good being so attended to.  I also really liked letting myself go in front of the camera.  I took a few minutes first to find the energy I was looking for then began posing.  I am fairly shy by nature, so this was a stretch, but I decided I wouldn't have a better chance than this to access that spirit, so I let myself go for it.  It felt good.  Like what I want to do with my painting.  Just let it go and enjoy the flow.  It's a lovely thing!