Legal in Virginia - topless sunbathing - with one tiny caveat

Legal in Virginia

Valley Haggard and I gave a presentation and did some exercises at a Women's Group a couple of weeks ago.  It was great talking to a group of women about our work together.  (I've photographed and painted and drawn her, and she's written about the experience.  Our collaboration will be part of the show Artists and Writers coming up at Randolph Macon College in February 2011.) 

In the course of the discussion, one of the women, who has recovered from breast cancer, told us something which is so absurdly ridiculous as to be hysterical.  She got a double mastectomy then had breast reconstruction surgery but chose not to have nipples tattooed on.  Her surgeon told her that she may legally go topless in the state of Virginia now because she wouldn't be showing her nipples.

True story.

Valley Haggard's Brazilian Experience

Valley Haggard is the wonderful woman with whom I'm doing the Collaborative show in Ashland in February.  Right before she came to model for me the second time a couple of weeks ago, she had gotten a Brazilian - don't know what that is?  Read on!

The Heartbreaker

Seeing myself differently, or how to wax poetic.
By Valley Haggard

Ever since my husband and I went to see “The Vagina Monologues” on Valentine’s Day in 2001, I swore I would never, ever shave Down There. I barely shave my legs past the knees and only recently have I started shaving my armpits in any season other than summer. But approaching my 35th
birthday, I feel it is time to find a rite of passage for my entry into this new stage of womanhood.

One of my best friends flew to Africa for her 35th, another to Paris. Me? I book a Brazilian.  To be honest, I don’t know precisely what a Brazilian Heartbreaker is when I call Bombshell Brazilian
Waxing and Skincare Studio in Carytown to schedule my appointment, but when the owner, Melissa Bryant, advises me to take four ibuprofen before I come in, I start to get a clearer picture.

“I’m not interested in money, I just want to be wonderful,” proclaims Marilyn Monroe from the wall of the adorable, spotless salon where everything is either pink, black or leopard print. Melissa greets me, nodding with empathy as I explain how terrified and excited I am. The former general manager of Nesbit’s Salon, Melissa opened Bombshell in February, offering tanning, hair and nail work, makeup and all manner of waxing. She has spent many years making women wonderful.

As I make myself comfortable on her table, inspecting various bottles of ointment, tweezers and a huge vat of hot green wax, Melissa turns down Frank Sinatra on the phonograph and explains the process. “First,” she says, “you’re going to do the frog.” There are, I discover, several other yoga positions I will find myself in over the course of the next hour, including the pretzel and a modified happy baby. Totally exposed from the waist down, I bend my legs into V’s as Melissa slathers me with a healthy dose of lotion and lidocaine numbing spray. “I call this greasing the pan,” she laughs, before trimming me with an electric razor. I imagine that I am about to mow the lawn with a sickle on the hottest day of the year, and a tiny bead of sweat forms on my brow.

But the wax is hot in a pleasant way and although I brace every muscle in my body for the first pull, the pain is surprisingly mild. I thank my lucky stars, because in order to complete the job, Melissa must revisit my most delicate regions with this wax and yank process a few dozen more times. Her upbeat, professional bedside manner could school more than a few gynecologists, I think, shocked to find myself yammering away as if I were wearing pants, in a coffee shop somewhere.

“I am so OCD,” says Melissa, fastidiously cleaning me up with a razor and tweezers, fashioning
a perfect heart out of heretofore raw materials, coating the final product in baby powder and tea tree oil. “This is Bactine for your hoo-ha,” she explains, admiring her handiwork. And I must say, for a girl like me, the results are both pretty and pretty shocking. “I kicked ass!” I tell Melissa and she agrees. After this, I could do most anything.

She sends me out the door with congratulations and a care package: detailed maintenance instructions, an exfoliating glove and a blow pop. As I walk to the car I feel triumphant with my secret. There’s a fine line between a skinned cat and a fresh peach, but who’s splitting hairs?

Reprinted with permission by the author.  Original article can be found at http://issuu.com/styleweekly/docs/belleonline.  Valley's writing will be combined with my paintings in our collaborative show at Randolph Macon College in Ashland, VA, in Feburary 2011.  More details to follow as the time gets closer!

A shift in Valley

A few days ago I had the joy of re-photographing a model, Valley Haggard.  I worked with her first in February of this year when we began the collaboration which will peak with our exhibit at Randolph Macon College in Ashland, VA in Feb 2011.  We had a great session then.  She was open, vulnerable, and perhaps a bit shy.  She brought a book with her and wore her glasses and used the book as a prop for much of the session.  We got some terrific shots, and I've already painted her twice.  We've had some great conversations about the process of being photographed and painted and how that's all been for her.  She is writing about the process as am I, and that writing will be part of the exhibit along with the paintings, drawings and photographs.  We're hoping to put together a book about our collaboration as well.

Recently I ran into her at a social event and we started talking.   I told her I'd loved doing the two paintings so far but would love some new input.  I asked her if she'd like me to photograph her again.  She delightedly agreed.  She came over Thursday evening.  She said that her life has changed since our previous session.  Some of it has to do with her personal life which has shifted tremendously since then, but she said much of it has to do with how she's feeling about her body - much of which is a direct result of the work we've done together.  I could see the difference right away when I began taking pictures.  The first two pictures here are from our first session.  The last two are from the more recent session.  I think the difference is quite evident.

This time she had no props and didn't even think about wearing her glasses.  She came out and started posing with joy and verve.  She pranced around full of herself in the most wonderful way!  She was joy-filled.  It was evident that she is really happy with herself and her body.  She said she's lost some weight this year, but I don't think that has anything to do with it.  She was simply holding herself completely differently.  Her level of comfort in her body was palpable.  It was thrilling to see.  She made me feel really happy.  Ever since our session, I, too, have felt more comfortable in my own body.  I think back to how she was and feel inspired to walk around strutting my stuff, feeling like a million bucks.  It's so beautiful, so completely fantastic, to be in the presence of someone who is so delighted to be inside her own skin.

It makes me know that the work I'm doing is important, really important.  Just imagine if every one of us felt so supremely happy with ourselves.  That is an image I'll cherish!

Stardust

Thank the good Lord I finally started feeling better today!  I'd spent the last 3 days in bed, almost unable to get up except to go to the doctor.  Yesterday I went to the accupuncturist and got a treatment and some Chinese herbs.  Afterwards I didn't feel any better, but today I feel half well.  I've been awake all day - quite an accomplishment this week! - and have even been able to get into the studio. 

I've been thrilled to have had the energy to work on Stardust.  In fact, the piece is almost finished.  There are some details I need to take care of, and I might do another layer on her face to make it a bit more refined, but other than that, I feel finished.  I'm delighted with how it's turned out. 

This piece will probably be the centerpiece of the collaborative show I'm doing with Valley Haggard in February at Randolph Macon College in Ashland, VA.  She's writing about her experience of being photographed and painted and I'm creating the artwork for the show as well as writing about it on this blog.

The canvas for this piece is 60"x44", but somehow it doesn't feel that large.  She's larger than lifesize but fits just right on the canvas.

I'm realizing that the name doesn't fit the piece anymore.  I had plans to do the background a bit differently, but I don't think I will.  I'd love suggestions if you have a thought about a good title!

Working on a new piece

I'm starting work on a new piece now.  It's a large one - 66"x44".  I tried to make it smaller by cropping part of it and by shrinking the size, but when Chris made me the canvas, I knew right away I'd made a mistake and that it had to be larger.  I don't have a formula for figuring out the size the canvases should be.  I simply look at the photo and visualize how big the final picture should be.  I hold out my hands to the final size then measure my hand span with a measuring tape then determine the second proportion using a calculator. 

The piece I'm beginning is a painting of Valley Haggard.  She and I are collaborating on a show which will be at Randolph Macon College in Ashland, VA in February, 2011.  There will be three other sets of collaborators since the show is about collaboration.

About 6 weeks ago Valley came over to model for me.  We took some time before I photographed her to talk about the process and how she was feeling.  This photo session was a bit different than others I've done because I knew she would be an integral part of the entire process.  She had already decided I'd be able to use her face in the paintings, so it was extremely important to me to make sure the photos were ones that would work as portraits as well as body shots.  I felt different thinking in those terms.  Usually I just take pictures thinking about the composition of the body within the frame.  With Valley, I thought about her entire being since the paintings might become portraits. 

Valley had been nervous about our session and had written about it before coming over.  Her thoughts, feelings, and writings will become part of the exhibition.  We may encorporate them into a book, or into posters to display along with the paintings.  That part of the exhibit is still in flux.

After our session, Valley and I looked through the photos to see which ones appealed to each of us.  I found myself very protective of Valley and wanting to find photographs which showed her beauty as well as possible.  Some of the photos were interesting but more challenging to be with (i.e. showed parts of her which weren't, perhaps, as traditionally beautiful because of how I'd photographed them).  I've chosen not to paint those.  Knowing that Valley will be there during the exhibit and that her face will be showing in some of the pieces makes me want to make them especially beautiful and comfortable for her to be with.

With other models, I'm aware that my focus is on finding the most compelling,  interesting piece.  If their face isn't involved then I don't worry about whether the image is conventionally beautiful because no one will associate it with the person herself.  I think the images do tend to be beautiful because that is part of what makes them compelling to me, but my process at arriving at those choices has been different. 

This new piece shows Valley sitting in my red chair with a book beside her.  Her face is tilted up and she is looking at some far away place.  Her toes are on the floor, pushing away from it.   She looks very young.  Chris finds it archetypal.

Today I worked on painting the chair.  I'm getting the background finished in before I start on the figure so I can play off the colors in the chair and on the wall within the figure.  I love painting that red chair with its knobbly texture and contrasting lights and darks as the sunlight strikes it.

Sexy Fruits and Veggies

Sexy Fruits

Dear Viewer,

What could be sexier than fruits and vegetables? They’re round. They’re voluptuous. They have beautiful colors. And they taste great raw. What more can you ask? So this summer when I decided to draw a series of fruits and vegetables from Ukrops and the William Byrd Farmer’s Market, I had a real sweet time. Everyday a new treat would await me patiently on my drawing table, giving me its “come hither” glance, daring me to fondle it with my pastels, acting spoiled and oozing its juices over the table if I waited too long. I learned to come when called and to sit myself right down when Nature hearkened.

Ah, the energy! Oh, the form! Ach, what colors! Allowing themselves to be created anew by my delighted fingers in two dimensions. Lucky they were to have their youths immortalized thus since they usually became too dusty and old to be of further service after their time in the limelight.

And now I present the for you, framed and matted by my loving husband - he, too, a part of the passion. Walnut and maple and acid free mats give new glory to farmers' markets' supplies. May you experience the passion yourself - the color, the form, the beauty - each time you gaze upon the bold ripeness or subtle undulations of form, my gift to you.

Passionately yours,

Susan Singer

That was the artist statement for the show I'm currently having, Sexy Fruits and Veggies, at The Listening Room at Ashland Coffee and Tea in Ashland, VA for the month of April.  The cafe is a great place to get a cup of coffee and hang out all day or go for the evening to listen to some wonderful live music.  Petie Bogen-Garrett has turned The Listening Room wall into a lovely gallery so that patrons of this great cafe can have culinary, oral and now also visual delights.  Check if out if you're in town!

Valley's Folds

Yesterday was one of the most focused days I've had in the studio in a while.  I don't have any canvases prepared (Chris has been VERY busy lately with work and hasn't had time to make them, plus I finished two canvases all of a sudden at once) so I decided to do some pieces in pastel.  I hadn't worked in pastel in quite a while, since doing Scar and Scarf which I did last year sometime.  I remember at the time being very excited to be working in pastels again, but I didn't do more than that.  What I liked about it was how skilled I feel in it and how well I was able to evoke the texture of not only her skin, but also her felted scarf.  It's an almost abstract piece, difficult to read, but beautiful despite/because of that.

A couple of days ago when I realized I was out of canvases, I decided to begin a piece for my collaboration show coming up at Randolph Macon College in February 2011.  I've already photographed the model and am beginning to work on the pieces.  I'm very excited about this show.  I think I've written about it before, so I won't explain it again, but Valley Haggard, a wonderful woman and just as wonderful writer is my collaborator in the project.  She'll be writing about her process as my model - what it's like for her to think about being photographed and painted, how the photography process is, how it is to see the work as it happens - what it's like to immortalized on canvas and/or paper.  I'm loving working with her because she's so aware of her feelings and open about sharing them.  We seem to be on the same wavelength, so our collaboration is turning out to be richer than my individual efforts would be without it.  It's a great experience!

So...  the first piece I did in pastel is called Valley's Folds, a play on her name as well as the landscape/abstract feeling of the piece.  I'm delighted by the broad range of colors and textures as well as the composition.  There are perhaps 15 layers of color which all interact with each other at the subconscious level to give a vast richness of skin and shadow tones.  It's not possible to reproduce it on the computer screen because it and the camera reproduce only a few of the layers. 

Valley has a wonderful scar on her side and back which is one of the subjects of this piece.  I believe she will be writing about it as part of her response to the process.  I look forward to seeing how it corresponds to my response to it.

Collaboration is very cool!