Wednesday, October 13, 2010

women of wonder: my second mission - life drawing.

It's week 2 of the WonderBra Rediscover Your Wonder project.  This week's theme is "rediscover your beauty".  My mission?:

Beautiful Bodies: Take a life drawing class and contemplate the things that define you as a woman.

I was very nervous about this mission – way more nervous than I was about rock climbing (which I'm doing again with Jen this Saturday!). I even got a pre-lesson from my friend Alana.  I think that rock climbing is something you do, and very different than expressing yourself through something creative like art, which is more of a representation of who you are. While drawing is most certainly a skill, you are creating something that wasn’t there before. It’s personal, it can be judged, it’s an extension of you. For the second week in a row, I was throwing myself head first into a completely unfamiliar environment – one that I knew nothing about. I imagined that there would be a group of talented artists who would know the minute I entered the studio that I didn’t belong, and I wasn’t one of them – an “artist”.
Well, you know what Oscar Wilde said about assumptions…yeah, that. Turns out it wasn’t that way at all. I got to the Visual Arts Brampton Creative Studios about 15 minutes early (eager beaver) and nobody was there. Hmmm…hope I didn’t get the time wrong? I sat on the stairs to wait, pad and pencils in hand, novice art student that I was. I few minutes later a young woman walked into the foyer, saw my pad and sat down on the stairs next to me. I asked her if she was there for the class and she said “I’m the model”. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but we chatted for a bit and I told her about the Rediscover Your Wonder project and she was really into it. The studio finally opened up and we went in. There were only 4 people there to draw, so there was a lot of choice as to where to sit in the studio. Everyone was friendly, and the vibe was very relaxed.

When the model came out, she got up on the platform area, disrobed and posed. She held each pose for 2 minutes – she did 10 of these short poses. Then she did three 10 minute poses. I was blown away by how natural it all was. She was so comfortable in her skin, and I was so focused on trying to create respectable lines and shapes that I actually forgot that there was a nude model in front of me. She became just someone I was drawing. Interestingly enough, later on she said that she is at the point now that she thinks of herself as the banana and the orange in a fruit arrangement when she is posing.

This model, she had a beautiful body to draw. Curves and hips and breasts and a tummy – her body told a story. She was so confident too, and she made me realize that it isn’t the shape of your body that matters at all, it’s if you yourself believe that you are beautiful and own it.  She was kind enough to let me interview her during her break, which you will see in this week's video:



Oooo! Also - new sexy underwear from WonderBra (a girl could get used to this!).  Look! See!
And, I figured since this week is all about rediscovering your beauty, I would share a (very tame) picture of me modeling my new underwear.  Hey, if Devon can pose nude for 2.5 hours, I can pose in a picture of a bra that is the equivalent of a bikini top!  Enjoy ;-)
Check out WonderBra.ca to see what the other Women of Wonder are up to!

6 comments:

  1. Kat, you deserve a session for yourself! I know you have a state of the art friend who can do this, but it you want a more removed, detatched approach, I'd be honoured to be a part of your project!

    Well done Lady! You raise the bench mark marvelously!

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  2. awh, thanks Heather! I'll let you know if I'm feeling super brave ;-)

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  3. Anonymous7:42 p.m.

    Kat, The hand you did in the vid is miles improved from the first one you did at my house last week! I'm really impressed with your fast progress. You need to ask Santa for art pencils in your stocking, my dear ;o)

    A. xo
    p.s. Hi Bunny

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  4. thanks Alana! I want another drinking and drawing lesson :-) I will definitely be asking for some art pencils from Santa! Let me know when I can come back with the girl.

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  5. You know, I live in Brampton and love art and have neve taken any of the courses that Visual Arts Brampton hosts. Maybe I should give it a try.

    I've been taking art classes in Norval and loving it, though I've discovered that my drawing skills need help. Way to go with the self-discovery, Kat!

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  6. Oh, and I still feel like an imposter even after two years of classes!

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