Getting known as the Artsy Girl

 

August 6, 2016

I was in the office checking in for a day visit with my mom one Sunday, just after Jo and her family left for the East Coast.   Rita was working in the office that morning and my mom was bragging about the nudes I had done of Jo in my sketchbook.  When Rita saw them, she immediately put my sketchbook on the color copier in the little office and made a series of copies that she pinned up on the wall of the office.

Soon everyone at Muir Grove was complimenting me on my drawing skills.  Alex Shabkhiz, a member at the club was the first one to ask me if I would do a portrait of him.  His wedding anniversary was coming up and his idea was to give his wife a framed portrait.  He and his wife were really excited by how my drawing came out, and my Sundays soon became booked with appointments for club members who wanted their portraits painted.  Everyone offered to pay me, but I mostly did it for free.  It just felt right to share what people thought was my gift to the club.

Outside of Muir Grove, people hardly have time to sit still enough for me to draw them.  My family and friends are always running around.  By contrast, the club had lots of retired couples, folks who were practiced at relaxing and enjoying the moment.  I found lots of willing subjects for my sketching.

I didn’t start this blog to fill it with images and stories of petite, nudist teen girls running around and frolicking in the sun.   This is about the community that I found, and the people of that community come in all shapes, ages, and colors.  In the weeks that I spent drawing them all, I found them all to be so beautiful.  They were harry, lumpy, wrinkled, and had plenty of blemishes and spots on their skin, but each one of them understood what a marvel their bodies were, what a unique gift they are.  I was happy with the sketches I had done of Jo, but some of my most engaging drawings, the ones that really had something to say, were the ones that I did of the older members of the club.