Last night was my first experience with Dr. Sketchy's Anti-art figure drawing evening at the Slipper Room. It was different from any life drawing workshop I've ever attended because the models are all burlesque performers! Last night we had a contortionist in the spirit of the Olympics. She was amazing. I've never been so challenged by body positions in my life. Following are a few 1 minute sketches just to give you an idea of this woman's abilities. The long poses naturally were much more classical. It was great to be drawing from life again, it has been awhile and I was rusty but I look forward to improving. The place was packed and it wasn't very easy to see but next time I plan to get there early, have a glass of wine and secure a spot near the stage!

It is hard to believe that I haven't written since Halloween. I've been so busy with work not to mention the usual holiday madness but I wanted to take a moment and write on a subject that is close to my heart. I went to my Sister's for Thanksgiving weekend and found that my Brother-in-law had unearthed a box containing my old Nancy Drew books. Lifting the flaps of this old cardboard box felt like opening a cask of golden treasure. I immediately pulled them out and spread them on the bed to admire them. Such memories came flooding back to me. All the mystery and excitement that would fill me each time my Mother came home with a new story. My cousin Cindy and I were so obsessed that we spent many summers completely role playing and seeking out mysteries in our stubbornly uneventful town. I put my books in numerical order to find that many were missing, either lost or never even read so I began a quest on ebay to fill in the missing gaps. Naturally I had to have the ones with the covers from my era: not the original ones from the 1930's nor the mod ones from the 1970's but the ones in between from the late 1950's. Those are the covers that filled me with anticipation and even inspired me artistically. I've also gone on to research the history of Nancy Drew and Carolyn Keene the nom de plume of several authors. I am also eager to read the book Girl Sleuth: Nancy Drew and the women who created her, Melanie Rehak which I just purchased. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by all the criticism out there about the character being so perfect in every way etc. Having re-read a few of them recently though I feel obliged to defend her reputation. Yes, she was always mature, considerate, calm, compassionate. She was always striving to help others who were less fortunate than herself and never accepted money for her efforts. In other words she was perfect. But aren't they qualities we would want to take on ourselves? Isn't the character of Jessica Fletcher from Murder She Wrote (another of my idols) a mature version of the same person? How many times have I faced a problem and asked myself "What would Jessica Fletcher do in this situation?" the same way as a young person I would put myself in Nancy Drew's mind. Of course I recognize that the stories are dated and often reflect some of the racist, sexist and classist beliefs of the day. Over all I admit that I still admire her and recognize what a positive influence she was on me and how she made me believe that as a woman I could be educated and independent; thoughts that were just taking hold in my generation growing up in the 1960's.