09.07.04

I fled the house today at noon, while Mater warbled, "Be careful! Watch out! Be wise!"

I think she lives in a very frightening universe.

I got hired to model for a bodycast. Today was the day to do it. I decided to try for the gig after checking out the artist's web site here: keonicast. He does some lovely work.

Drove up to Vancouver, overshot a turn, and wandered into a gas station/mini-mart. The Vietnamese lady behind the counter had a broken thumb, poor woman, and we chatted about it for a bit. I stocked up on yet another healthy Xat-lunch (Swedish fish and some bizarro banana colada concoction). *ahem* Ay me, hormones from hell.

Then on to Keoni's studio. It was in a nice neighbourhood of single-family houses. His studio is in his garage, and everything was in disarray because of a show over the weekend.

I found out later that he'd e-mailed and asked if I could come an hour later. Oops. Oh well.

Met his rottweiler, Minnie. Sort of met her. She stayed out in the yard, and wagged her butt while I made happy to meet you noises.

Seeing his work with my own eyes after seeing the pictures was fascinating. While you can get a sense of art from photos, you can't experience it until you're looking at the actual work. I remember my excitement in the Cairo Museum, finally seeing everything in 3D that I'd only ever seen in 2D. It's as if they're more real.

La! Listen to me. *laugh* Such a culcha-vulcha, don't-cha know.

I read the contract, signed it, and got into ready mode. Thank goodness for the time spent shaving. Well, it makes sense. Of course, no bra or panties (makes lines) for the trip up.

Bumbled out to the garage, where we worked on a pose. He decided to do my back. We played with a slight torso twist. He wanted to get some of my neck, chin, and mouth in as well. We settled on something that I could hold for an hour or so. It was quite comfortable, with a couple of towels under my shins and an arm rest. He mixed up the alginate and started smearing it on my back.

First he concentrated on my rear and toes. The alginate was warm when he first put it on, then it cooled a bit. I could feel the dripping as he spread it over my shoulders. Plop. Plop. Plop. A generous bit oozed over the outer edge of my left breast. We got a great impression of the outer aureole. *laugh*

What a way to get spa treatment...and get paid for it. Golly.

It was odd, getting my mouth covered up. I was reduced to making agreeing noises, or tiny grunts of understanding.

Then he laid on a kind of cotton batting. It helps support the alginate. Oh dear, the steps are getting mixed up in my head. Well, there was a layer of plaster of Paris, then just plaster, then burlap, and more plaster.

Once that was done, he stood in front of me and said that he was going to start talking about Amway, but didn't want me to start laughing. Good; though my eyeballs nearly exploded out of my head as I maintained composure.

As he worked, I had time to listen to the sounds in the neighbourhood. There were unhappy, screaming children in the house across the street, an equally unhappy woman shouting directions on how to cross the street, dogs barking, the wind moving through the trees. I saw a squirrel walk across the driveway with a peanut in its mouth.

More quickly than I expected, it was time to take the cast off. He picked around the edges, I took a few very deep breaths, and he slowly worked it off of me. Unfortunately the toes were lost.** Darn. That would have been interesting. Oh well, what can you do?

I grabbed my robe and checked out the cast. It was strange to see a reverse impression of my back in the pale, mint green of the alginate. My vertebrae were sticking out. Damn, I should eat more.

I took a quick shower, got dressed, said goodbye to Keoni, and headed out.

All in all, it was a lovely adventure.

**E-mail from Keoni on 8. Sept. 2004: "The toes came out after all and the cast rocks." Ain't it grand? *grin*

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