Nude Realism in Toronto

OK, six months and no blog. Hey, six months and no readers either. My plan for the fourth blog was my first sexual experience. Maybe that will get some marginal literary types. But, no. I am going to break the mold. I will move to present day. I shall move??? We shall move... We shall not be moved...

I had a friend tell me. "I want a life like yours." It was a nice compliment and yes, for 58, my life is pretty good- in the summers anyway. (You know I am a teacher?) I flew to Toronto on July third to attend a two week workshop in figure painting- nude of course, at the Academy of Realist Art. During the first days I was overwhelmed by my incompetence. By the second week, I was starting to feel a little practiced again. All of this explanation for you is an esoteric discipline but I love it- a la prima, French 19th Century Realist methodology.


An abbreviated version of a longer story: About 15 years ago I began taking lessons from David Hardy in Oakland and he changed my life- Since moving from the East Bay, I have been using my summers to pursue this style of art. I teach all year long- history..., computer skills, etc. Then in the summers I take this fantastic journeys trying to learn this style of art. It has been a family tradition. Well, my dad was an amatuer artist, but instilled in me a love for it. I have done it as an avocation for my whole life, sometimes marginally, sometimes very seriously.

In Toronto I stayed in a 10 foot by 10 foot room (toilet and shower right there in the room), tiny color TV, sink, my clock radio and a Chinese computer (another story that will not be told here). I will tell the address: 588 Dundas, an incredible deal at $40 a night but no English spoken- the heart of Chinatown and near Kensington Market. I purchase a bicycle for $50 and drove to the other end of Dundas for my lessons- wonderful and perhaps a little dangerous commuting by bicycle especially over the the railroad bridge under construction.

Back to painting: You may know this. Talent in art is overrated. Practice is the key and there were some wonderful artists at the school and in our class. I was on Day 4 of the 4 day pose by Cindy (not her real name). I needed one more day for a basic fill in of areas but then another week for final glazing. I write this because I feel compelled to show at least one of the pieces I did in Toronto. (My sister in Philadelphia is the proud (embarrassed) owner of this partially finished work. Then I would need another week for the final glazing. With all of those caveats I am posting the painting here. I will leave for another blog the rest of my exciting summer and the my earliest sexual experience.

Hey, maybe the words: nude and sexual will get me some more readers. Feel free to write me. I will give a prize to my first unsolictied reader. That another good word unsolicited, rather solicited may jar the search engines of the sexually bored.