Before they start to draw, I concentrate on relaxing each and every joint in my body, one by one, starting at my neck and working down to my toes. If I don’t do this, I’ll start to stiffen and become very uncomfortable even though I get a break every fifteen minutes. Over time, I’ve learned how to sit or stand so that I can find the exact same position after my break, as well as, remain fairly comfortable during the pose.
That’s why Donahue keeps asking me to model. I’m no Baywatch beauty and it’s not rocket science, but I’m good at my job. During the semester, I’ll be back eight or nine times. Donahue likes to bring in a male model, Eddie who is super skinny occasionally. There’s another female model from Trinidad and one from Sweden, he uses too.
Some of these students walk into art school possessing amazing technical skills; others are admitted with a lot of desire. When I’ve been away from the class a couple of weeks, it’s interesting how some will develop proficiency and others very little. Who will become famous painters or sculptors and who will find desire is not enough? I can’t tell. But now, on the first day, no one is disillusioned, no one has found his limits, no one has reached her potential and found it wanting. Desire and optimism reign supreme today.
Also, I usually try to avoid eye contact with the students. I discovered, early on, it rattles them. This kid, Kevin accidently locks eyes with me, and looks away quickly. I feel like I’ve been accused of something.
I close my eyes and consider what Heinlein wrote about his hero, Valentine Smith as a super-intelligent creature come to earth and walking among us, while I listen to the scrape, scrape of the charcoal pencils on newsprint all around me. It sounds like the andante, the slowest part of a symphony, restful and comforting.
Layered over the sounds of drawing, I detect another noise. I raise my eyelids and scan the group of students in front of me without moving my head.
Suzanne C Martinez 