Modeling in Kimono at Toscana Studio and Gallery

This afternoon I got to do something a bit unusual-- modeling for a life-drawing/painting class in kimono! I had done it a couple of times last year at the same art school. It's fun and I get paid. How cool is that? Plus artists usually like me as a model because I don't fidget. I stand still and remember the pose.



The group of artists this time were so nice and all were very good. One artist even gave me one of her pastel sketches! Modeling is a lot harder than it looks, you can't move for 20-minute stretches (This is the longest pose, with 5-10 minute breaks in between) and you have to hold the same pose over and over and over. So you had better be comfortable the pose you are in, because after 2-1/2 hours, it will come back to haunt you in the form of numb toes, cramped legs, and stiff fingers!

Since it was Friday, when the class was over at around 4:30, (And I had changed back into jeans), Linda had "happy hour" and brought out some wine and snacks and I stayed with the artists to chat. We had a great time.

Here is the outfit, with photos taken by Harry G. (The lighting was a bit uneven, great for the painters, not great for photos...I looked a bit shiny!)

Linda A.'s pastel drawing.

Pink was the theme of this ensemble: pink fan komon, turquoise, purple, and fuchsia ume juban, hawk nagoya obi, cream obiage and black-cream-pink obijime, pink and blue zori, and pink plumeria kanzashi. (My hair is so short, I only have two little flower hair clips, both are plumeria). This is the first time I have worn the fan komon and it's a fabulous kimono: buttery soft, easy to wear and move in, probably because it's 65.5" tall, so it's sized almost perfectly for me. So the sleeves are a bit short, but no one noticed.

I had sent Linda some images of outfits and she was very taken with the dramatic hawk obi, even though it's out of season. I have worn it before without an issue, but today, it wouldn't cooperate! I had to retie it about four times. It seemed extra stiff (crunchy!) yet slippery today. This obi is tricky anyway since the tare is short and the tesaki is a bit long. So by the time I got it, the obijime (a flat one) was also being contrary, so I did this weird loopy thing with it. The artists thought it looked excellent: very decorative!

The pose was interesting and highlighted the back of the obi;  I was turned 3/4 away from the artists and in front of a mirror, pretending to arrange flowers. The angle made for an interesting composition and some artists even attempted to do the mirror image as well.
It was a nice Friday!
Arigato,
Reb