I work with naked people all day long.

I work with naked people all day long.

Several people have asked me if I have a “real” job in addition to making art. I sort of thought that everyone knew, but of course, that’s not true. By day, I am a licensed massage therapist. I became a therapist about 20 years ago after spending 25 years in the advertising business as an artist and writer.

As a licensed massage therapist I work with the human body hands-on. My role as a health care provider obligates me to use my skills of observation and analysis, with detachment. This is a private and confidential experience shared only between me and my client. When I paint or draw the figure, I’m exploring and relating to the figure in a different way. I use my skills of observation but this time with involvement…emotional, visceral and visual. And this time my experience is not private nor confidential; it’s not to be kept secret but instead I can present it to the world.

Some of my models become my massage clients and some of my massage clients become my models. The model pictured above is actually posing in my massage studio…see the medical charts on the wall on the right?

It was definite a case of deja vu when I was in massage school, studying about the muscles and bones in the body, having had been in art school many years before, learning the same material, but for a very different reason!