Inspiring others

Just in my short blogging life I've seen the birth of a few blogs. Its fun to see, how they burst forth upon the world and develop and evolve into a thing of beauty. I know mine has developed since I first started, and I like the change in it, and the people I've met through it - both in real life, and in blogland. And its been good to know that I've inspired two other people to start blogging in the first place - blog virgins! - who are both getting a lot out of it, and pleasure from the subjects they write about. The newest of whom is Racy Redhead - an exhibitionist submissive (what an exciting mix that is!) who already has made some exciting posts including some very interesting (to an erotic artist) photographs of herself in some compromising and sexy positions. I can see a lot of inspiration for more erotic drawings coming my way!! She's also the latest participant of the "Pussy Portraits" collection, and had a lot of fun taking the photos with her cameraman of choice!

So, just to let you know I haven't forgotten the Pussy Portraits at all - nor the Erotic landscapes which are taking priority over them, as they're for a deadline, and the others aren't, as yet. Plus, in the background, I've got other things happening which may well take me more into another offshoot of art................ I'll tell you about it when I've finished setting it up!

People watching

When I'm out and about I tend to look at people with an artists eye - thinking how I'd love paint them if they're exceptional in anyway. The other night in the local take-away there was a stunning looking blonde girl who'd come to collect her order, and I could hardly take my eyes off her - she was gorgeous, with blonde shoulder length hair, neat features, snub nose, large dark brown eyes and very slim petite body. I just wanted to paint her, she was so lovely. Fortunately she didn't catch me staring at her, although the way she looked, I bet she was used to everyone looking!

A day or so after that, I was doing my supermarket shopping, when I noticed an electrician sitting perched on top of one of the tall fridge units, intently looking at something out of sight above the shoppers. He was drop dead gorgeous too, so I couldn't help but stare at him. Dark hair, good looking with a cheeky grin, dark eyes and an athletic body. Sigh. Very nice. He was busy doing something I couldn't see, but as it seemed so incongruous that he was being ignored by everyone, I felt I should speak to him, caught his eye, and asked if he was for sale too? His eyes twinkled, he smiled, and said he could be. Gulp (wishes do come true!) and said it was a pity he didn't have a twin because then I could have two for the price of one! Temptation indeed. That made me laugh!! What I could do with twins!

I've got a half finished painting of a nude woman in my studio, and have been looking at it for the last couple of years, wondering if I should finish her off (in a painterly sort of way, I mean!) and what I should do to do that. I'm not fully happy with the painting, as there are aspects of it that need more detail putting in. I like the idea of the subject matter - the back view of a woman, with her breast in silhouette, her full buttocks resting on her feet, as she suggestively runs her fingers through her hair. The painting is called "Without a care" - technically, its all done, but there's just something making me think I can do more to improve on it. So, I'll leave it on show, until I get a brainwave. I tend to leave paintings lying about my studio as a reminder of things to do, but just occasionally, I think I need to have a tidy up and put things away.

I'm also half way through the first pussy portrait which I am itching to get on with and finish off, and get on to the next ones. I want them to have a connecting theme, and that works best when they are all painted chronologically close together. If I struggle too much with this first painting I'll end up doing it again once I've got going on the other ones, and got into momentum with them. So..... I'm off to do some painting.........

What do you call a collection of pussies?

The fantasy fanny collection seems to have got properly off the ground now - which I am delighted about! Todate, I have ...........wait for it...............ten ........participants! Yay!! Which makes a good set of paintings, and bodes well for the start of an interesting collection. My plan is for them to be exhibited somewhere - hopefully a gallery will be interested in them, as I would love to see them all shown together. Since this is a celebration of womanhood and the desirability of women, it should be big, bright and beautiful. And I have to make the paintings slightly abstract with a surreal twist otherwise the collection will look something like a gynaecologists convention!


But..... what to call the paintings - I've been thinking about it ever since the idea was first discussed. I've been referring to it as "Pussy portraits" or "Fanny fantasies" but I knew that wouldn't be the finished title as I didn't want the local cat lovers group arriving and being shocked that it wasn't a set of paintings featuring fluffy kittens playing with balls of string. And since the word fanny means something totally different to the English than to Americans, neither did I want an Americans thinking it was of bums! Plus I didn't want the title to particularly have the normal swear words in it, as that would make it seem derogatory - and that is CERTAINLY not my intention. So........ on to other words....... but then there were words that have differing meanings - slits, snatches etc. and I wasn't happy with them either. So - a bit of further investigation has come up with much better words, and included in them is what I consider to be the perfect word - one that is suitably apt for what I am doing........ I love the old words for pussy like coint, coynte, quaint, qwaynt but my favourite of them all is queynte. Queynte is an old English word that is apparently a pun on the word "cunt" and its also from where the word "quim" is derived, and it means "many layered in-folded mystery". How perfect is that????!!!! So the paintings will be anonymous as to the identity of the owner and will be very simply called:"Queynte 1", "Queynte 2", "Queynte 3" etc.


And it's particularly apt regarding the many layered mystery as the point of the paintings is an affirmation of the desirability of women, especially the part that a lot of women may not be wholly comfortable with, and which is normally hidden from the world. I like the idea of calling the whole collection "Shameless" as they will be without shame about their beauty and their power. They know they are desirable, that their lovers want to be there, it's where they accept lovers, and where life starts. And in particular to this, I want the identities of the women to be a secret, so that whilst they are happy to have their pussies on show, the normal recognition of their identities and faces will be the part that's hidden. Regarding the participants, each persons identity will remain a secret unless they wish to tell other people that they have participated, and which one is theirs.

I want to do them as a set of largish paintings of close-ups of fannies. I want them to appear to be abstract paintings, that could hang on a wall and anyone looking at them would think that it’s a nice contemporary painting but then they might think it looks just like a fanny before they get a jolt when they realize that actually it IS close-up of a fanny! I want the images to be brightly coloured, with bold shapes and lines, and they will probably be slightly abstract, and each one will have the surreal twist of the hint of a naked woman drawn amongst the folds. The hidden woman is the reference to everyone having secrets, deep within them, and a reminder of the essence of what I am actually depicting within the painting, even if it does looks abstract.

The finished paintings will be 20 inches by 16 inches, so I’ll need as much detail as possible from the photographs that I will be working from, so that I can fill the painting. And since I have more to paint than I first considered, I will also have to paint them in different colours, or else it'll look too uniform and boring when they are all exhibited together.

Oh, and I have been asked a question today - well , THE QUESTION, actually, the one that I have been expecting form someone at some point. The "Are you going to participate in this, too, Jackie?" question. And my answer? It has to be "Yes". I have to be part of this if its going to be a celebration of women - because how can I not be part of it? But, mine, like the others, will be a secret as to which it is.



So......... now I need to find someone to take some photos for me............... Now, who shall I ask.......???

Pussies Galore

I've got two pussies to paint today - and both so exquisitely .......... DIFFERENT!!! The first is of a fluffy feline moggy, the sort you'd be happy to have purring contentedly on your lap. The second is most definitely not like that at all, although a lot of people might get it purring after they'd been lapping contentedly at it! And of the two paintings, although I shall enjoy doing the first, I shall REALLY enjoy doing the second! I have been thinking for a couple of weeks how I'm going to do the fantasy fanny paintings (and what I'm eventually going to call them, as a collection, too) and I know I want to make them look like contemporary abstracts, with the hint of a naked woman hidden in there somewhere, and lots of bright colours and strong shapes to make the design work. For a design to look good in a painting, it has to work as well in simple black and white, as much as in colour, and doing a thumbnail sketch is the usual way that an artist works out whether a painting will work as a finished composition. So, to this end, I sat down last night with a pencil and a small sheet of paper and I just started drawing in the lines, and then the shading, and it became apparent very early on that the image is going to work well for this painting, there were lots of interesting darks and lights, shapes merging into each other, and textures to play with, before I even think about the colour aspect. So, I'm all raring to go.......... the minute I've done the watercolour of the fluffy mog!

Whilst we're on the subject of pussies, I've got some lovely new images on my website - most of which have appeared here first, but not in as much detail as my website, plus they all look so much better when seen together in a gallery, with the explanatory text. Lots of lovely erotic images to peruse........ I'll be hopefully updating the more vanilla stuff in the next week or so, but the erotic images always take priority! To view them click here: www.jackieadshead.co.uk/gallery/erotic

I saw my friend Lucy Felthouse this week too (are we still on the pussy theme?) and had our usual delightful time together. We talk for hours, laugh a lot, and compare notes on working in the land of Erotica, and although she's a writer and I'm an artist, we are very similar in our approaches to our work, and the people we work with. It was a very productive night, and with Lucy's help I feel I've leapt forward on my ever growing things to do list!

Just whilst I'm updating the week, I have been booked to appear later on in the year with the WI to go and talk to them about being an Erotic Artist (and boy, am I looking forward to THAT night!!!!!!). Whilst in the pub last week, two separate women I know, who are not in the WI, told me that they are coming to hear me talk that night! So, they're expecting to be entertained and have a good laugh, which is great, and I hope I manage to give them both!

Now...... back to pussy paintings....

Capturing stray pussies

Further to my posting "Dare to bare - pussy wanted" on 17th August I'm delighted at the response that (so far) six ladies have volunteered to keep their faces (and to an extent, their identities) hidden but their fannies on show - well, technically, its six but the last one has been volunteered by someone else and they have suggested I send her an email to ask for her details. Now that was an interesting email to send as she isn't a blogger I know as well as the others, only as someone on the peripheries of other people's blogs....... so the wording had to be........er...........tactful! Something along the lines of "Hello, you don't know me, but your mate has volunteered you to pose intimately for me, so if you're willing, can you send me some close-up photos of your fanny?" ...... and since I've sent the email I've not heard anything, so she's either cowering in a dark corner petrified at the thought, or laughing her head off and trying to work out HOW to take the photos. Cos it's not easy, at all. I've already had some photos sent to me, and had to direct the angle/lighting/focus and composition by email and words. It would be far easier to take the photos myself since I know exactly what I want, to be able to work from, to produce some detailed paintings, but of course that's not possible to do. The one thing that all the ladies concerned have expressed is the difficultly in getting the photos taken. And I'm sure all the guys out there would jump at the chance to take the photos for them.........!

But............ when I get my collection of photos together I will be able to start painting, and since this little.............er................exhibition.... was mooted, I've had chance to talk to the volunteers and think about what they want and what I want to express in my painting. I did a practice drawing the other week and wasn't at all happy with the outcome. I ended up with something that could be taken as a gynecological technical drawing, or in certain lights, maybe a botanical drawing of a rare and exotic orchid. And that isn't what this is about, not for me. Its a celebration of womanhood, an affirmation of the beauty and desirability of females. And because of that, the images should be bright, with strong shapes, and very colourful, probably slightly abstract or maybe a touch surreal, as I fancy introducing the hint of a naked woman amongst the folds, and think that that as an idea will work well. I want to use bright pinks, reds, oranges and golds, and maybe purples, blues and blacks for the hidden depths. I want the paintings to be hung on a wall for people to see, and think they're looking at some abstract design until they realise with gut-wrenching shock that they're actually looking at close-ups of womanhood - open, and on view, for all the world to see, and admire, like some erotic flower.

Dare to bare - Pussy wanted

Every so often I get an offer I can't resist.



The latest one has come through a half joking conversation with 'Having my cake' via some of the comments for my last blog post. She brought up the subject of the cunt painting episode from 'Sex and the City' where Charlotte poses for a famous artist and he holds a large exhibition at a gallery showing all the pussies in gloriously detailed multi-coloured close-up. I immediately remembered that particular episode because of the artistic slant and the eroticness of the situation. Well between us, it's been decided that it would be a good idea for me to do it too. For her to pose for it, she considers it another step in her personal journey of body image acceptance and is trying to imagine an array of images entitled "Blogging Cunts - the exhibition!", particularly as in the 'Sex and the City' episode they were all anonymous. She considers it would be a good parlour game to match the blogger to the picture! So.......here's the request - I'm wondering which bloggers would be interested in posing for this most intimate of portraits. And I'm not talking about your face!



Presuming I get enough acceptances, we could have an exhibition where your identity, like in 'Sex and the City', was not revealed (unless you wanted it to be). Only you would know which pussy was yours. And just think, what a wonderful idea it would make as a Christmas present for your lover!!!!



So, whatever you want to call them - "Pussy Portraits" "Cunt Cameos" "Vagina Vignettes" "Quim Quintessentials" "Fanny Fantasies"....... are you interested in posing for me? If you are, and it doesn't matter where in the world you are, I will need a detailed photo, so email me and we'll discuss details.....



Oh, and now I can't wait for the reaction of the next person in the pub to ask me what the subject matter of my next painting is.....