The Eromenos

I spent the day working on another painting of my brother, this time as the Eromenos. This title is a play on words; in the classical tradition, the Eromenos was a young boy who was in love with an older man. In my painting, my brother plays the Eromenos, but it is with a god that he is in love; Eros, god of physical passion and sex (hence, both figures are in a sense the Eromenos). This painting also mixes my cultural heritage; in Aztec traditions, young men pierced their penises with a bone awl, bled on a piece of paper, and burned the bloody paper in a brazier. Through this penitential ritual, they called upon and could speak with the gods. Marcel has here completed this ritual; the brazier smokes in the background and paper strips lie at his feet, and the vision of Eros appears before him.

He is in a Mexican setting (or Californian!) with prickly pear in what might otherwise be a classical background. He wears the turquoise leggings and the golden fan of Yacatecuhtli strapped to his back. Yacatecuhtli is The God Who Wanders. He is the spiritual patron of those on journeys. Here, Marcelito wears his symbols for he is on a spiritual journey; the signs are a call to Yacatecuhtli to guide him on his path

This painting, unlike the tarot cards, was drawn from life over a period of a couple of days. Above, Marcel is sitting in the pose; the pose is pretty hard, so we held it for 10 minute intervals, with plenty of breaks.

A close up of the pose. You can check it out on my ebay store!

At Work on the Tarot Deck

I finally started working on my tarot deck again - here are a couple of the newest. I usually draw from live models, but for the tarot deck I have been taking photographs of myself or my brother (when he is around) and basing the poses on the photos. I included both the finished painting and the photo, so you cold see something of my process.

The Two of Staffs.
This card features an Aztec emperor, crowned with the turquoise diadem and labret of power, stands on a temple parapet, overlooking his dominion. He holds a turquoise staff in his hand, crowned with the golden flower of art and poetry, and to the parapet is fastened another staff, painted with the crocodile skin pattern of the earth mother, lined with thorns, and crowned with a flint. The emperor holds a calendar in his hand, marked with the four directions and the four seasons, thus all of space and time. In the background is the sacred city of Tenochtitlan, rising above the lake, and in the distance the smoking volcano Popocatepetl. This card signifies the man who generates change, who sets things in motion, and awaits the result. He holds the turquoise staff, which suggests good fortune, but the thorned staff awaits nearby, for all is in balance, and has not yet been decided. This card councils patience, and offers guarded tidings of good things.

I am going to post this card to ebay on Friday - check it out!

The original photo. This is of my brother, and the lighting was bad, so its blurry! Good enough for my purposes, but not really to share with you. Sorry!

Knight of Staffs
This card is the Knight of Staffs, which corresponds to the knight of Wands in the standard tarot. Here the knight is a young traveling warrior, as indicated by his staff of turquoise and his back basket strapped to his forehead. He wears a deer helmet, for staffs are the sign of fire, and the deer is symbolic of the dry and dusty season. He carries a macuahuitl, the Aztec sword of wood and obsidian blades in his belt, but he does not use it, for though he is armed, he is not on a violent mission. In his basket is an open casket, for this card is symbolic of absence. He wanders through a desert landscape, but the cactus is in bloom, and in the distance stand ruined pyramids, the familiar abandoned and left behind. This card represents movement, emigration, departure, and flight. It tells of the entrance of a dark and friendly young man into the querants life. It signifies a change of residence.

This card is already available on ebay and in the "Tarot" section of my website.

Write a comment if you like seeing the original photos with the artwork, and I'll be sure and post more!

We're bendy!

I didn't take this photo, but while I wander across south east asia, my friends from Naked Yoga (I go 4 times a week when I am in the city) are doing their thing in Hawaii. I thought they looked to cute in this picture not to share!

Jumping for joy

A few of the photos of Extli dancing, sans underwear but in the interest of historical accuracy, he kept the loincloth on. Naturally, I had him jump a lot.

angels of reference

I met Extli and Monica at a nude beach in Zipolite. We were taken with each other immediately - we're all Aztec dancers and we're all extremely good-looking people.

There was an impromptu photo shoot at their home in Mexico City the night we met. I'd meant to take pictures of them in their dance costumes but it would have been such a shame to hide that loveliness underneath layers of fabric. Costumes were duly shed and I was able to get so many lovely and useful photos of the two of them. I'll reference these photos later in the studio, when I give them wings and make it look though they are flying.

Aztec Moves

I was going through my hard drive (I can never say that without supressing a giggle) and I stumbled onto these pictures I'd taken last year.
I'm not sure whether or not I've mentioned in this blog that I am an Aztec dancer - that is to say, I perform with a troupe of them. Did you know that most of the Aztec dancers are solid muscle? The abs on those men. The tightly bunched calves. The smooth, sweaty chests. The firm, muscular...
I digress.
I went to Mexico City to dance with my friend Carlos on December 12th, the birthday of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The cathedral was packed and the entire square was filled with dozens of troupes, each dancing and singing in their own drum circles. It was six hours of dancing for me, without break. Carlos danced for nine! After, I went into the shrine, held hands with a tiny Mayan woman, and prayed. I told the Mayan that my relationship with my boyfriend had been a little rocky lately and that was why I was praying, and she hugged me and assured me that Tonantzin listens to all prayers. If anyone knows what Tonantzin listens to, it's tiny Mayan women.
I felt a little better and, in an attempt to raise my spirits even higher, I took up my camera and spent a few hours photographing cute dancing boys.
It totally worked.

A Caboose Doesn't Always Have To Be At The End

Caboose is one of my very good friends from The Haven. He lives most of the year in Louisiana, where he works as a river boat captain -and really, is there anything sexier than that? Steering those big ships, working with the sailors, yelling at the sailors, disciplining the sailors, taking their pants away......
He's one of those friends I see only twice a year, at gatherings at the Haven. He dates my brother from time to time (I'll admit to being a little jealous but as I usually have my hands full, I'll let my brother take some of the pretty ones, once in a while. I'll post some photos of them in the tub and exchanging massages soon!)
Caboose, compact, dark, handsome, and suave. So much fun to have around and always a pleasure to watch.

Here he is at the Nude Wrestling Tournament, lying around naked before he started wrestling and later, wrestling with another friend.