Urban Nights, May 16

At the last minute, I've been invited to display a few pieces at the "Artists of Front Street" space at 411A East Fifth Street in Dayton's Oregon District, next to Ned Pepper's. While the display is going to be part of this Friday's Urban Nights event, work from the various artists (including Dave Levingston) will be hanging in the space for several weeks. More information on other times the space will be open when I receive it, but for now, if you're in the area, make plans to attend the Urban Nights event this Friday and get a feel for the creativity happening right here in Dayton.

A work of art in her own right, here is Malinda...

Erotic Review

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Miami Vice

Well, been in Miami since Friday, so why not a report from the road? Traveling with Orrix, who I'm sure will cover her perspective on her blog in the next day or two. Did get to attend the relocated ArtUndressed show on Friday night, and it was good to see the artwork, and chat with a few of the other artists. It was a pretty low key event, and as I believe is now mandatory for art shows, they were still hanging pieces half an hour after it was supposed to open. By the time it was supposed to end at 10, they had the air conditioning working, the lights on in the place, and all the art hung and tagged. Since Friday was more of a "private" event for artists, collectors and media, I guess it doen't matter quite as much. Still no word on whether my piece sold, but not holding my breath. Did get to see printed copy of the new book from Erotic Signature that includes my piece "Cruel Shoes" and the printing was quite good, so I'm pleased with that. (Me, pleased with something? That IS a reason to alert the media!) Missed the event at the World Erotic Art Museum, not realizing how early it ended, as well as the wild party events, so you'll need to get those reports from someone else. Iris?

Got up bright and early Saturday and Sunday to shoot with Orixx on Miami's famous Haulover nude beach, and she did a great job posing (despite a few gawkers) while I fought with some "challenging" lighting conditions. I know we got a lot of winners, but I'll need to get to my home computer before I can say how many and which ones. This morning we met an intriguging Lithuanian woman at the beach, a former model and ballerina and currently an artist and fashionista. She asked Orixx to pose for a few snapshots that she may use as reference for painting, then she was gracious enough to let me do a few shots with her with Orixx and on her own. She still has the body of a ballerina, and as is the problem on nude beaches, nobody had a pen to write down contact information, but I think we'll be able to track her down. (No, do not panic... I didn't get nude at the beach... got sunburned enough with shorts and no shirt.) For those who think it's a sexy, glamorous place to be, realize that 95% of the people at this nude beach were men, most of whom were age 55+ and/or built like me...

Also on Saturday shot with a woman who was a Penthouse cover model a while back -- this was her first shoot in about 4 years, and she's thrilled with the images as seen on the back of the camera, to the point that she's considering getting back into some modeling. And let's say, I have some contenders to enter in the next "Dirty Show."

Today, after Orixx's 4th shoot of the weekend (not counting me) we made the long meandering drive to Sarasota and have basically been recovering from the energy-sap of sunburn and a busy weekend. Looking forward to seeing Radiohead on Tuesday, and making it back to Miami on Wednesday, possibly shooting with another high-profile model if we can get the stars to align. Cross your fingers!

This shot is Jessica, who has a great profile herself...

The Absolute Photographer

These first three are NOT my images.

Although I wish they were. Actually, they are self-portraits done by the lovely Whitney, who also goes by The Absolute. She's just as talented and distinctive behind the lens as she is in front of it. She just finished the large image with the feather collar, and it prompted me to just put together this entry to give her props. You can see more of her photographic work here and you can see a few of the photos I did with her in my archive. We were supposed to shoot a few weeks ago, but some scheduling wires got crossed, so we're probably going to do it after this quarter is over. We may make it a foray into the woods of central Ohio. I'm looking forward to it.

Here are a couple more that I did with her... hope I did her justice. :)

Thanks Jesslyn...

Just wanted to take a minute to thank Jesslyn for being such a lovely friend and a lovely model, even though she claims to NOT be a model. She also makes some damn fine cannoli... if you're lucky she'll share one with you.

P.S. She's just launched her own blog project... you can check it out here!

Letters never sent...

It's funny, for every blog post that actually appears here, I probably start 3 or 4 others that just languish as drafts. I guess that's a sign of frustration with expressing myself about various aspects of my work and life. Seems like my opinions are always flat out wrong and I'm expected to vigorously defend them, so it's just a lot simpler to keep my mouth shut when I can remember to do so. Others don't seem as encumbered by this and can just spout off about anything that pisses them off or irritates them, or even pleases or excites them, but I guess I'm not cut out that way or something.

Maybe I could try some non-controversial opinions, if there are such things anymore...

Cake tastes good.
Puppies are cute.
Casey looks good in red.

Let the flamewar begin.

Exhausted!

Had a whirlwind 3-days of shooting, and managed to set aside the concerns of editing and enjoy working with some exciting new models (well, new to ME) as well as several returning favorites. Nothing to show just yet, but I'm considering something mildly radical in the editing process, so possibly before too long.

Thanks to everyone who made the weekend possible and fun... almost too many to name: Orixx, Spilt Sugar, Suzi, PXE, Minxy D, Nihilus, Lovely Real, Dreamscapes, IXI, Naughtya, Mary, Adrianna, Sage, Kitten, Missy Vinyl, Erin, Deb & Bill, Boyd, JJ, Matt & Krissy, Eric, DVS, Andi, Jesslyn, Xania, Foxy Tigress, and everyone else I got to work with or chat with.

Here's Dreamscapes again from March... I attempted to recreate one of the early Marilyn Monroe nudes from my Swiss-cheese memory, and got it about 30% right, but I'd still say she looks great here. Since I was a ways off remembering the pose, I changed the angle to vertical... perhaps another try soon. :)

Lovely, Real...

Here's a couple of recently finished shots of the lovely Laura (aka Alkemie, Lovely_Real, Cuardtheoir, etc.), and she's featured a number of the images in two beautiful entries on her blog, here and here. They are quite moving entries, and will tell you more than I could hope to convey about this remarkable young woman. Sweet, talented, smart, funny, and beautiful...I'm hoping to capture some of that in my images. I'm fortunate enough to work with her again this weekend, and hopefully again this summer... thank you Laura for being the awesome one. :D

ARTundressed

Another event that once seemed so far in the future is ready to happen... the ARTundressed weekend in Miami is May 2-4, and one of the main events will be the Erotic Signature Art Show, featuring artists selected for inclusion in Volumes I & II of "The World's Greatest Erotic Art of Today" compilation books. (I blogged about it a while back...) I'm planning to be there for the show opening Friday night, so if you're in the Miami area, do make a point of coming out for the big show. Tickets are available here.

It seems the hardcover of Volume I has already sold out, with some paperbacks still available. Volume II (which includes my shot "Cruel Shoes") is available for pre-order.

• Vol. II - Hardcover
  
• Vol. II - Softcover
  
• Vol. I - Softcover

It is an honor to be selected for the book, and it will be interesting to see the show, with my shot among the many other artists' work. As always, big thanks to Iris for striking the memorable pose and providing the memorable shoes. If I'm not mistaken, she may be down in Miami for the show, too.

See you there!

Stressed

Just seems like waaay too much going on, compounded by being on meds for an abscessed tooth. Hopefully things will settle down by Sunday a bit...

Here's Brooke Lynne expressing how I'm feeling at the moment.

"...what dreams may come"

As promised, a couple more lovely Dreamscapes, with more to come.

You may recognize the title of this post from the somewhat overwrought Robin Williams movie of a few years ago, but they lifted it from Shakespeare, Hamlet's soliloquy to be precise. I just finished the audiobook version of "Brave New World" in which the central character quotes Shakespeare at length, which revved up those sorts of references in my mind. I'd not read it since college, so it was interesting to revisit how its dystopian future compared to today's reality. I'd say in many respects, we're well on our way, with its society's "stability through satiation" approach -- prisoners of cheap pleasures, where an individual's primary role in society is that of consumer, not citizen. Overall, I'd say Orwell's "1984" got more things right on a political basis, but both seem quite prescient. Of course, all of these are books students (at least of my generation) were forced to read in high school, so their message might have been clouded by obligation at the time, but revisiting them by choice can lead to new and better insights. Check 'em out.

And now, back to bed. To sleep, perchance to dream...

Shut up and play yer guitar...

Once again, I'm a bit chagrined by lack of comments on this here blog, but I also realize I've been posting a lot of "hey, I'm really busy, here are a couple pictures for now" kinds of entries. Nobody's complaining, but in some senses, getting complaints would be better than silence. So, what to do?

I've posted a little poll thing at the top of the right column where you can tell me what you think. The response will sort of let me know who's visiting, who's actually reading, and who can be bothered to provide some feedback. Or feel free to post a comment on this entry, as always.

I do have a lot on my mind, but it seems I'm far more likely to piss someone off than to inform, inspire or entertain. And not to sound paranoid, but I know that at least a couple of my most faithful readers are simply monitoring to ensure that if I post something they have a problem with, they won't miss a good chance to feel offended. (Indignation can be SO addictive.) But I know I shouldn't censor myself for these people and give them that kind of power over me.

So what about the rest of you? You stop by here now and again... what are you hoping to see/read? I know one reader who thinks my political rants are kind of hot, so there's a vote there. Here's me being democratic and letting you have a voice... let me hear it!

Here's another crowd favorite, Zinn Star. She certainly gets my vote.

Cheeky...

Just a different perspective this afternoon...

More Megan

A few more of the svelte Megan... looking forward to another shoot with her before long. The top image here showcased on OMP, I'm sure thanks to her remarkable definition. Heading to Chicago for the weekend, and looking forward to working with a few of the local gems up that way. A full report upon my return. And to models still awaiting edited images, thank you for your continued patience...

No use crying...

A couple from my introductory shoot with Spilt Sugar, another excellent Detroit area model. A total blast to shoot with, I'm looking forward to a return engagement in a couple weeks. It'll be sweet!