Chinese Lasagna

The most curious thing happened today.... We went to a neighbor's house for a Chinese New Year celebration. That's not the whole story.

Walking in, Wayne (our neighbor) put the dot on our forehead, you know, the third eye. Groovy.

Then we visited with a Chinese guy named Reno something....a Chinese Italian, that is. His son Nikko had two different colored eyes, one brown, and one green. I think Reno must have been the one who brought the Chinese lasagna. Have you ever had Chinese lasagna? I think not.

Then I met Jack, Wayne's older-by-18-years brother. Jack is an old salt who has lived on a boat for the last 20 years in the Florida Keys. He is here on an extended stay with his brother while undergoing treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Even after his latest, almost final chemotherapy treatment, he still has a full head of long grey hair and a full grizzly beard.

Making my way back indoors after eating my Chinese lasagna, I ran into a woman I instantly recognized. I said,

"I know you! You're Martha!"

Martha was our model in Friday's life drawing lab. Martha was our model in Friday's life drawing lab!!!! (just in case you didn't catch that the first time)

I was delighted, stunned, flabbergasted, thrilled...all of the above. I went back outside and told Reese that MarthawasatthesamepartyandIdrewheronFridayandshewasanudemodelinourlastclass. This drew an immediate, albeit small crowd as I started explaining the beauty of Martha; her regal poses, how much I enjoyed drawing her, the fun of drawing that line from where a woman's arm connects to her body and the curve as it flows around her breast, then gliding along the curve of her waist and hips....the small crowd was spellbound, perhaps as stunned as I had been, that I was talking in flowing language (with hand gestures) about the nude curves of another woman's body.

The first question Jack asked when people stopped blinking at me and my nude model illustration was,

"Well, do you think she'll give us a demonstration right here in the back yard?"

When Martha posed for us, she was awesome. Her voice is husky, and she has an easy smoker's laugh. She was quick to put us at ease by making small random comments. But when it came time, she was all business. She struck a pose and that was it. All of the sudden there were this beauty....absolutely beautiful pose. She looked like a Roman statue, only she was flesh and blood. My sketches don't do justice to her form. Maybe by the next time she poses I'll do a better job of capturing the essence of all things Martha.