On the road and under the stars

Two nights ago I ended up eating sushi leftovers (only two hours old, mind you) in a bathtub and felt like a sultan. Just last night I was awoken from slumber in a bathtub full of magically warm water under the stars. Life is good.

June takes me away from the east coast and through the middle east of the country (hmmm…that sounds funny) as I explore and work in Ohio, Indiana, Chicago….

My schedule has ample adventuring time, but still needs more shooting to feel more balanced. I highly doubt I will return to these areas until a year from now, so if anyone wants to work with me, this would be the trip to do it. Likewise, I should take the time to explore while in each of these states.

May 31 – June 1: Pittsburgh
June 2 – 5: Cleveland
June 6 – 8: Columbus
June 9 – 13: Family time in California
June 14 – 21: Chicago area (Illinois and Wisconsin)
June 21 – 24: Indiana
June 24 – 26: Missouri, Kansas
June 27: Arkansas

Photo by Robert Stewart in Alabama.

Spontaneity

I just made my way to Buffalo from Rochester and stumbled my way into a poetry reading group. Perhaps sitting and writing on my computer instead of sitting and listening to poetry may be less than polite?

Sometimes I am amazed at my disorganization - the majority of my trip home is not planned. I do not have a roof arranged for tomorrow night. Past versions of me could not have handled this. The new version of me finds pleasure in this little thrill of the unknown.

Photo by Edward Badham and Vassanta of Birmingham, Alabama.

Boston

This morning marked the start of my return home to Texas as I headed west to Syracuse from Boston. My first trip to Boston was a great success. I had numerous wonderful shoots and got a chance to finally spend time with my Aunt as an adult. My traveling is allowing me to not only meet new people across the country, but visit with my family who lives on the opposite coast. Although my great Aunt (not to be confused with my Aunt) thinks I am exploiting my body and asked me, "are you sure you are not doing porn?" after viewing a photo in full coverage lingerie, I know spending time with my relatives is important. From quirky conceptual photos, to art nudes in a studio and in the woods with thousands of insects, to editorial stories, to bubble bath photos, to nude fashion - I got to cover quite a spectrum of photo styles on my trip to Boston.

Two months and about a month to to go. Tonight is my night off - I intend on luxuriating in my own space for the night. In the nude of course.

Photos by Kris Rodammer, who I got to spend a couple of fantastic days with this past weekend - fashion styling from overflowing bags of goodwill clothing, shooting, eating pastries, sitting in traffic while a fife and drum band marched on, and relationship counseling (did I ever tell you I am part time model, part time counselor? - now that's an idea!).

Relaxing bath

Goodbye NYC. I'll see you in July.

The past few days I was immersed in the socialization aspect of the modeling life, staying with my friend Rebecca Lawrence, meeting Melissa Trout, and having some drinks with some cool photographers. Now I find myself in a family world, an environment where the nude aspect of my job must be kept pushed under the table.

I was exhausted, but after a relaxing bath, found myself wide awake. My mind is on working mode - I have upcoming travel I still must plan. Then again, I always do.

Photo by Jon Duenas in Nashville.

Workshops

A weekend full of workshops. One in NYC closely followed by one in Chambersburg, PA - I feel properly introduced to the experience of a workshop setting. Thank you everyone who shot me there, as always, I love broadening my shooting experiences and meeting new people (especially when they are fun and good photographers!).
The energy at the Stan Goldstein workshop was high, with three models and a minimum of over a dozen photographers in the studio at any one time. The Billy Monday workshop was in a historical prison location in Chambersburg - a place with too many shooting locations to fully explore in one day. Four models and a little over double the photographers floated in and out of rooms, shooting in the dungeon, out in the garden, in the cells, on the grounds, shooting in the nude, in shackles and in elegant hats. I survived, and thrived, with a smile on my face (wait, art models don't smile, do they?). I am officially ready to give my body a day off from toe standing and contortions, even if I still have a four hour drive back to NYC this afternoon.

Five weeks ago I was shooting in Atlanta, and I have been on the go since. When Eric (second photo) and Photos by KC (first photo) and I jetted outside, I was in my element modeling right off the view of the road at an old farmhouse.

Sitting in stillness

May 17 - 19 stares at me blankly. May 20 is already completely set aside as a family day in Rhode Island.
When making plans, it is expected that some things will change, and shoots you hoped for and income you counted on would no longer be happening. So now I finish a shoot on May 16 in Chambersburg, PA and can be just about anywhere between there and Rhode Island for the few days after that. I can be everywhere and nowhere. This will be my only trip on the east coast in 2010 with my car, so it seems a shame to miss out on shooting with photographers far from the limits of major cities. If I do not line up shoots, I will find somewhere in nature to explore and sit in peace.

Today I had a day off in NYC. I planned it this way to give me a chance to rest before what I thought was to be a crazy weekend and following few days. I still have an ambitious weekend with a workshop in NYC and one in PA the next day. I met up with a friend from graduate school and enjoyed a wonderful Spanish meal of pork stew and fried plantains. We also met up with one of my childhood friends and went to the MOMA to view all the work, but especially the Marina Abramovic exhibit. An exhibit with a collection of about fifty works and performance pieces. Being in the city these past couple of weeks I kept hearing the hype about this show, and was not disappointed. As an art model, I was not shocked by any of her performances, but witnessed many things which would have left a sheltered person staring or recoiling in horror. There was a narrow passageway with nude man and woman on each side, which one could walk through if they chose. The tightness of this passage was surprising, and I wondered what it would be like to be the models standing there, with so many people squeezing their way through as carefully as possible. The artist was present in the longest live performance piece. She sat on a chair, with another chair facing her. Museum guests could sign up for slots and sit across from her for as long as they chose to, sitting and staring silently in stillness at the artist. Photos from this showed that some participants were moved to tears from this experience. I consider seated poses for art classes to be much like paid meditation - while unable to talk or move, and with limited stimuli around as distraction, a person can enter their own head and explore to pass their time. A sense of quiet is sometimes very possible. To me, having not experienced this artist's gaze, I feel the tears could be from this inner silence.

It has been about 6 weeks since I have figure modeled for a group of painters. Too long has passed.

Photo by Erwin Sitar of New York.

A bit of glamour

Right now I am too lazy and linguistically tired to write a blog entry, so I decided to post a couple of images from a shoot with Tight Rope Studios in Nashville instead. I think they are pretty great, combining a bit of glamour and fashion, and with the work of MUA Leah Elmquist to fancy up my face. Good MUAs are such a gift.

I am finally pulling together dates for my Chicago to Houston trip, which has proved difficult since there are so many route options. The end is in sight and yet rather far away - I am halfway through with my 3 month tour.

To continue with the random...
I am a person who wants to know many things. My most recent question was, "can you hold procrastination?" Sometimes I wonder. About me and my questions. :)

To the moon and back

Some people I have met on this journey have become special to me even if I have only shared a few hours with them. Some make me think and feel thoughts which I knew where somewhere inside me, but was unable to really embrace. While meeting up with my friends Ned and Aya Rosen it became clear to me what I really want to be doing at this moment in my life - traveling around the country. Prolonging my freedom and adventure. It may appear I am already doing precisely this, but my plans stretch further. Instead of hiking down from Chicago to Texas in July, I want to keep driving to the West. A full loop of the country, having a chance to visit places I have never visited before. A chance to be in each city for a couple of extra days, with more time to experience the people, the place, and to just exist. But I have commitments and people I love in Texas who are beckoning me back. My car is my spaceship and I want to travel to the moon, but can this be done when there are others to think about?

I want to live this to the fullest. And then I want to continue with my life.

Photos by Little Ghost of Arlington, Virginia.