A weekend together

I got into my car at noon on a Saturday. As usual, it was a spectacular mess, suitcase of props and clothes in the backseat, "Vagina Dentata" (my piercing supplies toolbox, the box of sharp things) in the trunk, make up case on the floor. One motorcycle boot, 3 books on varying subjects, and a couple of cds floating in the undefined areas with my purse and a backpack full of normal people clothes and shower supplies. Filled up my gas tank. And off I went to Kansas City for GingerCon.

This is an entirely made up and unofficial convention, by the way. A group of MM models and photographers made their way by plane, car, and megabus to Kansas City from Texas, Philadelphia, varying points in the Midwest, and even the West Coast to hang out for a weekend, starting Friday (which I missed), and ending sometime Sunday-ish, though the last to leave didn't go until Wednesday or something. We were there to celebrate the loverly Ginger coming out of retirment as an art model.

My 3 hour drive turned into 4 as I drove through the hellish construction that overtakes the entire Midwest from the first day there is no snow until about 3 weeks after snow starts again in October. I stopped for cigarettes (they're $10 cheaper a carton in Missouri than Iowa, though still fire safe), and finally made it to Mary Wano's apartment to meet up with everyone. The assorted lovely ladies and less lovely but still awesome guys all hugged me, despite my disgusting layer of sunscreen and sweat, and we mobilized to go shoot.

6 models and 1 photographer (the group I was in) took off towards the middle of fucking nowhere, and ended up on the farm of a very nice lady. Stephen Melvin (photographer) went up to the house, while the ladies- JayElle, iMonstrosity, Stephy C, LauraT, Poses, and I all stripped down and started covering ourselves with sunscreen and bug spray. Stephen and the property owner arrived while we were all naked and oiling ourselves up. Luckily, the woman had been warned and was perfectly cheerful about a bunch of naked chicks wandering her property and climbing around on her stuff.

We spent about 2 hours molesting antique farm equipment, scrambling around on hay bales, and splashing (or attempting to stay dry) in a koi pond, before heading back to our cars (I'll edit this with pictures when I get them), and taking the drive back to KC for dinner with the rest of the group.

Dinner at Buca di Beppo, reserved and ordered in advance, bread, salad, 2 vegetarian dishes, and 3 meatetarian ones... 30 minutes of rearranging tables to fit all of us around one table where we could all move around AND talk to each other... Various conversations, professional, casual, and/or wildly innapropriate, and then there was cake (Thanks Larry and Ginger!), before we aimed ourselves back to Mary's house. Jess, Stella, and I made the liquor run, and returned to realize...Stella had the keys the whole time! The entire party was sitting in the hallway of the apartment, holding their booze, cameras, or wearing bandleader hats...

We made it inside, Ginger and Larry shot (with cameras, not projectiles) some secret peektures in the bedroom while Tia read passages out loud from a book of homo-poetry iMonstrosity gave me, and we all compared gory stories of piercing, fetish modeling, and dominatrix stuff. People piled on top of or petted other people. I pierced Stella, Laura, and Stephy. We drank more. I called the toolbox of piercing "The Vagina Dentata". Corwin was totally creeped out by that. It's now and forever going to be known as The Vagina Dentata - the box of sharp things. All day in the sun shooting and driving, on top of eating enough to put us in food comas, and a healthy dose of booze put us all to bed by sometime between 2 and 4 a.m.

I know. It's not the orgy you expect to hear about from a group of nude art models and photographers. There was nudity, but that's because we're all comfortable with it. Mostly, it was a lot of people with high stress, fast moving, jobs...Just relaxing together. There are pictures, and you may be surprised if you see them, because mostly...We're just scattered around a room talking, until we all went to our various spots to hide out and sleep.

I got up the next day around 9, made myself pretty for Ginger, and had the ladies assist me into lacing me into a corset. We shot. It was good times. I did a few more piercings. Stephy C is painfully adorable! Didn't get to spend nearly enough time with anyone that was there. Drove my 4 hours home.

And that...is what traveling art modeling is to me. Not nearly enough time for everything. Hello to artists I adore. Lonely shoe lying forlorn under the seat of my car. Possibly for weeks at a time. Minutes of splendid artistic collaboration and seemingly seconds of quality time with awesome people...And then the car. The plane. The last hug from a good friend before you turn the key in the ignition or board your flight. The trek home to try to untangle the fishnets that have wrapped themselves around your corset, stuck inside one of your knee high boots, because you didn't have time to re-pack properly.


**This is posted in two places**

I feel like such a...Photographer: g.Hansel