A Pop Star Poses Nude for Art

Well, I guess I have to go ahead and post about this. Museworthy is first and foremost an art modeling blog and I try my best to stay on top of any “art modeling” stories that make it into news circulation. Yes I purposely put art modeling in quotes just there. Pop star Lady Gaga, she of the meat dress and horrible music, took part in a life drawing session with none other than Tony Bennett.

Gaga and Bennett recently recorded a duet of “The Lady is a Tramp” and have apparently become good friends. For his part, Tony Bennett has been a dedicated painter throughout his life. He is as passionate about it as he is about his singing career, perhaps more. For her part, Lady Gaga is a marginally talented, gimmick-laden, attention-starved exhibitionist who would probably shrivel up and die if her name wasn’t in the pop culture headlines at least once a week.

Am I coming across a little cynical? I apologize. Lady Gaga is no doubt a perfectly nice person with loads of class who takes very seriously her responsibility as a positive role model to her millions of impressionable young fans. I myself have not been able to get on the Gaga bandwagon. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, as someone who came of age in the early 1980s, I went through all this sex/shock/scandalous outfits/brash antics thing already, ad nauseum, with Madonna. So there’s kind of a “been there, done that” feeling going on with many of my generation. Wearing just a bra and panties in public? Replicating sex acts on stage? Yawn. Lame. That’s so 1985. What else you got?

The other reason I’ve not gotten on the Gaga bandwagon is that she sucks.

So now this creature from the Upper West Side is exploiting her fleeting foray into my profession and will no doubt be giving interview after interview in which she bullshits about how “nerve-wracking” it was to pose nude for art and what a “different” experience it was for her, yadda, yadda. Girl, please. You’re barely clothed most of the time, in front of the entire world. Spare us the phony bashful routine.

The full series of Tony Bennett Lady Gaga drawings will appear in the January issue of Vanity Fair, but one is circulating online as a teaser. It’s very good:

Here are some links to the Gaga posing nude for Tony Bennett extravaganza: The Sun,  Blackbook, and whatever . . .  <— not into it, sorry.

Let’s consider this this week’s Music Monday post and be done with it, ok? I’m going to go listen to some Nina Simone.

Expressions of Thanks

A few quotes for Thanksgiving-

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”

- William Arthur Ward

“If the only prayer you say in your life is thank you, that would suffice.”

- Meister Eckhart

“You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”

- G.K. Chesterton

“Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty.”

- Doris Day

 “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

- Epictetus

“Blessed are those that can give without remembering and receive without forgetting.”

- Author Unknown

 “Find the good and praise it.”

- Alex Haley

Autumn, by John Atkinson Grimshaw:

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my readers. Be grateful today and every day. I know I am

Claudia

America in Five Minutes

Hellooo my dahlings! How is everyone? I haven’t posted since last Thursday, sorry about that. I have come to the end of my final blast of work before the Thanksgiving break. In fact, the job I had booked for tomorrow has been cancelled, which means my holiday break kicks off a day early. Yay!! So now I have five whole days, instead of four, to get my weary art model’s spine back into alignment. For that I use a very sophisticated technique. It’s called “laying on the couch in a near comatose state while wearing sweatpants”. Works like a charm

I will post again on Thanksgiving morning. Until then here’s a video I think is pretty cool. I’m a sucker for time lapse film projects. This one is from freelance photographer Brian DeFrees. He took a two month, 12,000 mile road trip across America, starting in his hometown of Syracuse, NY, with his Canon digital camera mounted on his dashboard and programmed to take a picture every five seconds. I first came across this video via Laughing Squid.

So here, condensed into five minutes, is Brian’s journey through our vast, incredible country, in which we travel through small towns and big cities, flat open plains and rugged mountains, golden canyons and deserts, through tunnels and across bridges, under blue skies and rolling clouds. Look for the rainbow and, my favorite, the hot springs of Yellowstone. Wyoming looks amazing. I’ve always wanted to go there.

Birdwatching

A strutting peacock. A waddling duck. A swooping hawk. Those are some of the “poses” that my model partner Andrea and I tried to create for Wednesday night’s drawing session at Spring Studio. Minerva Durham, art instructor and director of Spring Studio, had the idea to explore bird anatomy, compare and contrast with human anatomy, and encourage the artists in attendance to produce interesting drawings of model-as-bird. Fun theme! When I first walked into Spring and Minerva told me that Andrea and I were to do bird poses, I was enthusiastic but knew it would also be challenging.

When asked to assume roles, artist’s models have to really be creative, as we have no benefit of costumes, props, sound effects, etc. We have, at our disposal, only our nude bodies, our movements and gestures, and our theatrical talents, and can hopefully convey an imaginary creature or action to good effect. I enjoyed it!

During her first lecture of the night, Minerva distributed printouts of a bird skeletal structure and then made her own sketch using charcoal and colored pastels:

Some distinguishing traits of avian anatomy are commonly known, namely the thin, hollow, lightweight bones adpated for flying. (It should be noted that flightless birds, such as penguins and ostriches, have solid bones.) Another distinguishing feature is the bird’s collarbone. Unlike in other vertebrates, it is fused together. The fused collarbone of the bird constitutes what we call the “wishbone”. A bird’s sternum (breastbone) must be solidly constructed to handle the attached muscles and bones of the wings and stressful, repetitive flapping action. In fact, the entire bird skeleton is full of ossified fused bones that are not found in other vertebrates, hence birds have fewer bones overall. If I remember Minerva’s lecture correctly, I think she said that the tibia and tarsal and metatarsal bones in the bird’s three-part leg structure are all fused pieces. Also, in the pelvic girdle region, bird skeletons have even more fused bones, functionally to handle the impact of takeoff and landing. So birds’ bodies are not particularly pliant and flexible. They can’t rotate, twist, and extend the way, say, cats and humans can. The only part of a bird’s anatomy that allows for some flexibility is the neck. Birds have more neck vertebrae than most other animals. Watch a bird move its head around to preen its feathers and notice how it is able to reach some difficult spots with ease.

Leonardo da Vinci sketch of a bird in flight:

So no matter how adept and imaginative an art model may be, anatomy cannot be altered, assumed, or emulated in any realistic way. Not that Minerva or the artists at Spring Studio were expecting “realism” from me and Andrea. In all living creatures, anatomy is fixed, and that anatomy lends itself to unique postures, shapes, and movements, singular to those creatures. Visualize for a moment the amazing variety of shapes, skeletons, and musculature of different beasts: elephant, shark, bear, iguana, falcon. But we humans – whether in drama class, children’s game, or life drawing session – can always pretend. We can impersonate. We can engage in make-believe. And that’s exactly what Andrea and I did Wednesday night.

A gorgeous illustration of Audubon Birds:

As I was doing my duck, my pigeon, my soaring eagle, my balancing-on-one-leg flamingo, I kept wondering if the artists, with only my naked body and gestures to work from, were seeing exactly what I wanted them to see. Part of me wished I could make an announcement before each pose, describing what I was about to do, but that would have ruined all the fun. Then, when I looked at the drawings on breaks it was clear that they did see it. Artists always see it. They always get it. One of them, Liza, even said to me, “I liked your duck!”. That made me so happy. I had used my hand to make tush feathers and shook it around the way ducks do when they come out of the water. I love that Liza totally got it

When Minerva asked for a ten minute bird pose, I actually stole from her bird sketch, the one I posted above. She had left it right at the base of the modeling platform. So I took a quick glance and copied it as best I could. Now check this out. Here is what comic book artist Carl Sciacchitano  created. I am bird lady. Awesome!

And here is Carl’s bird Andrea:

Many thanks to Carl for letting me post his drawings here. To conclude, I’ll post this John William Waterhouse work from 1891, Ulysses and the Sirens. Now if only Andrea and I could have recreated this! We’d need bird suits, feathers, and harnesses. And a big boat.

Beethoven, Above Ground and Underground

It breaks my heart a little to write this new blog post and knock the Museworthy Art Show off the top spot of the home page :sob, sniffle: But it was a great success! One last time I’d like to say thank you to everyone to participated and to all of you who generously linked to the post on your blogs, Facebooks, Twitters, and shared it with friends through email. I think we may have to do it again next year

Friday night my brother and I went on one of our concert dates to Lincoln Center. Our superb hometown orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, performed Strauss’ “Don Quixote” and Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony, “Pastoral”. Both Chris and I are tremendous – and I do mean tremendous - Beethoven fans, so “Pastoral” was the main reason we chose this particular concert. Although “Don Quixote” was phenomenal.

As if mine and Chris’ lifelong adoration of Beethoven weren’t enough, New York’s classical music radio station WQXR is has been sponsoring Beethoven Awareness Month in November. They’ve been spreading the word around the city with this fantastic poster designed purposely to emulate the style of Shepard Fairey. I totally love this. Only in New York could a classical radio station be so badass:

After the performance at Avery Fisher Hall, Chris and I went our separate ways. He headed home uptown and I went into the subway to catch the downtown 1 train. There, under the city streets, in the tunnels of our transit system, this happened. It. Was. Awesome. When I first got to the platform, the sax player was still licking his lips preparing to play something. In typical blasé New Yorker fashion, I just strolled past him. Then, with his saxophone case open at his feet and a cap on his head, the musician began to play his song. Echoing throughout the underground tunnel, the sweet notes reverberated luxuriously in the confined urban space of concrete, metal, tile, and asphalt. It was “Pastoral”. It stopped me in my tracks and I made a 180 degree turn. All of us concertgoers, still clutching our Playbills, shared beaming smiles and delighted surprise. In an instant, dollar bills started dropping into the saxophonist’s instrument case. You gotta love a subway musician who knows that evening’s program at Avery Fisher Hall. Bless him

So on Friday night, two quintessential urban settings that are a study in contrasts if there ever was one – an elegant, sparkling, multi-million dollar cultural institution like Lincoln Center, and the everyday, utilitarian, not-so-glamorous grimy transit system – were each imbued with the music of Beethoven. And his music, albeit in extremely disparate renditions, soared in both.

But an even greater irony exists in my little story. The musical composition I discuss here, the “Pastoral”, is a paean to country life and the joys of nature, not the city. Beethoven’s symphonic works are often described as ferocious, intense, swarming with the impassioned drama of Romanticism. While that is frequently true, it is not applicable to “Pastoral”. Beethoven often sought refuge and solace in the woods, mountains, and suburban parks outside of Vienna. He loved nature and animals, and was clearly inspired by it. He composed, after all, an entire symphony to the delights of earthly beauty, its rhythms, harmonies, movements, and the spiritual uplift they unceasingly provide. Beethoven was not all fire and torment. He was both a man and a composer of immense range and profound sensitivities. He was a man tragically isolated in his deafness but still miraculously, stunningly, deeply engaged with the world around him, deafness be dammed.

The concert Playbill quoted from a letter Beethoven wrote to Therese Malfatti in anticipation of his visit to the country. He said, “How delighted I shall be to ramble for a while through the bushes, woods, under trees, through grass, and around rocks. No one can love the country as much as I do. For surely woods, trees, and rocks produce the echo which man desires to hear.”  Yes, they do. I wonder if Beethoven would be surprised to know that the 1 train subway platform at 66th and Broadway produces an interesting echo as well

For those of you unfamiliar with the Pastoral melody, shame on you!  I will slap you silly! :just kidding: So here it is, for Music Monday. In all its buoyant and cheerful joy, this is the first nine minutes of Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony “Pastoral”, performed by The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. Take note of Beethoven’s brilliant melodic structure and instrumentation.

The Museworthy Art Show

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life”

- Pablo Picasso

From England to New Zealand, from California to Brooklyn, Museworthy readers have come together for the first ever Museworthy Art Show. I want to express great thanks to all of you who submitted work. And I also encourage everyone to share this link on their Facebooks, Twitters, blogs, and other social media, so the world can see the stunning diversity of styles, visions, imaginations and sensibilities of Museworthy artists. If there is a mistake in anyone’s listing, please let me know and I will correct it right away. I am so proud to publish this post, and I feel privileged to have such a generous, vibrant, creative community of readers. Now, without further ado, I present the Museworthy Art Show!

Jennifer Knight

Luton, England

Rodinesque, pastel

Rodinesque is from a life drawing event that consists of two models who spend the day presenting us with life drawing poses that aim, as the name suggests, to emulate the spirit of Rodin.

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Bruce Williams

New York City

Madelyn, charcoal on paper

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Daniel Maidman

Brooklyn, NY

Blue Leah 5, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches

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Devon Lawrence

Hampton Roads, Virginia

Samika, watercolor

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Elaine Hajian

New York City

Summer in Provence, pastel on paper, 24 x 30 inches

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Todd Fife

Bowling Green, Kentucky

College Days, pencil on paper

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Jim O’Neil

Alaska

The Model as a Sand Dune, watercolor on 5 x 8 inch Bee’s sketch paper.

I started playing, at recent life drawing sessions with the idea of painting the model as a landscape, seascape ,or whatever ‘scape. This is part of that set.

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William MacDonald

Quincy, Massachusetts

Head Study, graphite

Original 15 minute sketch is a miniature, about 2 inches tall.

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Brian Smith

Toronto, Canada

Through a Glass Lightly,  pastel pencil in sanguine and white on a mid-tone paper, 35 x 23.

Done from life, working from one of my favorite models, Denise.

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Dave Rudin

Brooklyn, NY

Untitled Nude, graphite on paper

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Bob Palevitz

New York City

Heat Wave, oil on linen, 8 x 10 inches

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Rob Carroll

Swindon, England

Rose, charcoal

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Ron Anticevich

Southern California

Sheepshearer, Netherlands, oil on linen, 30 x 36 inches

We were taking a bike ride in the countryside outside of Amsterdam and saw this man working in a shed. When my friend, who speaks Dutch, asked him if we could take his picture he took of his hat, smoothed down his hair and then said yes.

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Maurice Judd

New Zealand

Figure Study, gel pen

Done at the Palmerston North Life Drawing Society here in New Zealand.

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Jane Gardiner

Glasgow, Scotland

The Smile, oil on linen, 25 cm square.

A painting of the fabulous Anna Lehr, a German actress currently working in Glasgow as part of Louna Productions.

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Doug Rogers

London, Ontario, Canada

Yellow cloud with lightning, acrylic and paper on canvas, 16 x 20 inches

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Fred Hatt

Brooklyn, NY

Cycle, aquarelle crayons on paper, 37 x 48 inches

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Jean Marcellino

New York City

Benjamin, pastel pencil

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Kelly Borsheim

Cedar Creek, Texas

Hindsight, charcoal with pastel on light brown Roma brand paper, 16 x 24 inches, drawn from life

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Mark Miltz

Virginia Beach, Virginia

Rising Muse, oil on linen

This is the central panel of an autobiographical triptych. It will be included in “Spectrum 18; The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art” coming out next month.

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Robert Bent

Greenfield, Massachusetts

Embrace, oil, 18 x 20 inches

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Claudia Hajian

New York City

My Eyes, pastel on toned paper

One More Day

Hi friends! Well, my crazy week of nonstop work has come to an end. Monday is a day off (finally!) which means I can rest up and put the finishing touches on the Museworthy Art Show post! It will be published on Tuesday

That’s all for now. I would chitchat a bit more but I’m going to pour myself a glass of wine and watch “Boardwalk Empire” in a few minutes. Hope everyone has a wonderful evening! See you soon.

Working Through It

I’m here everyone! Sorry for not posting since Sunday. It’s just been work, work, and more work. And today I seem to have been striken by one of those 24 hour bugs. Ugh. I wouldn’t mind it so much if it didn’t happen right in the middle of the busiest modeling week in my calendar. But I guess those pesky viruses don’t care about our personal schedules! I’ve had a queasy, lethargic feeling all day, but it’s nothing serious and I’m functioning fine. I modeled right through it. Hey, that’s all you can do sometimes – just work through it. A thick hearty slice of multigrain bread from Dean & DeLuca helped a lot too. It fortified me. Who says you can’t live on bread alone?

Here’s a really cute, fun drawing of me by Gordon Fitch. This is from a recent session at Spring Studio. I was doing short poses and in a spontaneous creation (which quick poses usually are for the model) I put my hands in the prayer position, lifted my arms over my head, and made a little hip pivot. And there you have it! A pose with personality immortalized in a drawing with personality. I think Gordon used some kind of white pen on black paper.

We’re getting close to the Museworthy Art Show! Tuesday is the big day. I will post here again on Sunday and let everyone know how it’s going. And to those who submitted work, check your emails over the weekend as I might need a little more info from some of you. The post is in draft form right now and I must say it’s looking quite spectacular