Basic Art

Jane was early to the class, and clearly excited. "Can't wait to go to my meeting after class, I just got word that the hospital received an anonymous donation in our name for ten grand! It had to be from one of my contacts, because how else would they get my name except from that? It wasn't you, was it? If it was, well thank you! If it wasn't, care to match it?"

"Easy tiger. I got you to expand your asking network, and it worked. That was my contribution. And congratulations! That is a hefty donation. Good job."

At exactly 5pm Instructor Lowe entered the room. "Good evening, and welcome to our last class meeting. I sincerely hope you have gained something from this course and I also hope that our paths may cross again in the future. This is our final class meeting and will be the final exam. I have a special final prepared, tonight we will apply what has been learned to the human form. Choose your preferred medium and sketch, draw or paint a final artistic project. I will be back in a moment with our model."

The class buzzed as she left. "Wow. That sounds more like a treat than a final. I wish more classes were like this." That sentiment was shared by several.

Zook, of course, added his own twist. "I hope it's a hot model. And naked. Too bad I can't do a metal piece about her. Big headlights, for sure, and big fenders. If ya know, ya know. Right?"

Jane shut him down nicely. "Hope it's a guy and you get to see what a real one looks like. Got any big pipes for your sculpture? More than a little garden hose... Hey you might find your have a real attraction to him that you've suppressed all these years."

Ms. Lowe returned looking a bit disappointed. "I am sorry class, but the model I had arranged for had to cancel, leaving me, us, without a subject."

Zook raised his hand and waited to be acknowledged. We all cringed. The instructor waved him on.

"Maybe one of us could be the model. I mean if it is naked work, I'd pass because, well, you know how easily aroused us hot guys are. But there's plenty of good looking women here."

"Thank you for your suggestion, Mr. Zook. But that would hardly be ethical. Of course, there is one option that your suggestion triggered. I need to check a couple of logistical aspects. Can I have you exit for five minutes? Mr. Gaines may I ask that you cover the window in the classroom door with this?"

She handed me a piece of brown craft paper the size of the window and tape along each edge. "Of course." I took the paper.

"And Ms. Davis. Could you set a timer for 5 minutes to bring the group back?"

"Of course!"

We exited, I covered the window and Jane set her timer. I wondered what was the plan, and I was not alone. Only Zook verbalized it, in his unique way. "I wonder what 'ol' dragon lady' has in mind? This is freakin' odd."

That pressed a button for Jane. "Shut the fuck up, you moron. That is major insulting to her, and to women and to...well, everyone. I hope I look half as good at her age, and until we know what she is improvising, cut her some slack."

Looking at Jane's eyes, I decided I never wanted to get on her wrong side. It wouldn't end well. Zook appeared to have come to the same realization and quietly backed off, to stand alone to one side.

The timer went off and Jane went to the door. "The timer is done. Are you ready for us, Ms. Lowe?"

"A quiet "Yes, you may return." Was heard from the room.

As we entered, I noticed the lights had been dimmed slightly and at the front of the classroom there was an object, it looked like a human form draped with a blue cloth. As my eyes adjusted and I could see better, I saw it was a human form holding the cloth, facing away from the class. The dark hair gave the only clue, it appeared that our instructor was to be our model! Honestly, I had not seen that coming. I was fully in agreement that this final was more of a treat. But I would never say that, I needed to maintain some artistic objectivity.

The class moved to their seats and the silence was absolute. Not a sound as all eyes turned to the model on a small pedestal at the front of the room. Slowly the blue cloth began to drop, aided by gravity and restrained by delicate hands. First the shoulders appeared. Translucent skin seemingly unblemished with a slight muscular tone. Ms. Lowe obviously exercised, I was guessing yoga or Tai Chi to maintain such tone without being muscular.

The fabric moved lower, exposing more of the back. The spine evident as was a slight hint of the ribs. Not emaciated, but I would be amazed if the body fat was more than 10% if that high. A good diet and lifestyle. Impressive.

The cloth continued and paused at the end of the spine, right at the spot two cute dimples presented themselves. I was recalling my basic anatomy, and enjoying the tantalizing show. It wasn't that it was sexual, it was sensual. I began to look at the human form in front of me a little differently. Seeing beautiful, tender flesh coupled with muscular definition and bone structure. It really was quite an epiphany that I could look at this and appreciate the female form on several levels. Yes, it was arousing, but it was also fascinating to see it slowly revealed.

The cover finally descended completely. Past the buttocks, down the legs onto the floor. Our instructor turned model stood before us completely nude. The legs were also nicely formed and toned, not overly muscular but still showing shape. There was no 'thigh gap', but her upper thighs gracefully ouched as she stood, one foot slightly raised, almost as though the two body parts kissed gently together.

Her ass was curved and full, a gentle parting of each side, not unlike two risen loaves of excellent bread dough placed side by side. The urge to reach out and knead them was present, but rejected by a more rational part of my brain.

I looked around and while we were all silent, there were differing reactions. None were negative, but some had begun sketching. Some were looking closely to gain perspective, still others looked through their materials to choose a good medium.

The 'star' of the whole show though was the complete 'work'. From the feet up the legs to the torso and on to the neck and head. The subject was truly a work of artistry and deserved to be shown completely rather than as a single part. I began my sketch as such.

I became lost in my sketching. I had opted for charcoal, making the sketch black and white. I looked at Jane's progress and saw she had opted for pastels and it was a delicate shade of pink contrasted with the blue cloth and black hair. She too had opted for the entire subject. Quite nice. She also drew better than I did. I didn't risk a peek at Zook's offering, but I could tell we were all absorbed in our own works, as it should be.

A timer beeped from somewhere and our model broke the fragile plane that separated us. "That was a ten-minute warning. Begin to wrap things up and when finished set them on my desk." Ms. Lowe presented the information as a fact, coolly. You would never imagine that she stood before us completely naked and had done so for nearly 90 minutes. I put a few finishing touches on my piece, but waited. I couldn't look away. My offering had some artistic elements, but was crude in form. Heavy lines where a softer touch would have been better. Jane's on the other hand flowed with a delicate line across the paper. I decided to include a note on my sketch.

"The coarse lines do not reflect the delicate image that was presented to my eyes. That mental image will always remain, while this physical version which shows how poorly the hand and eye coordinate will be relegated to the back of some file folder. Thank you for an amazing class and fresh look at the world." I just signed with my initial "G".

I moved to the front and put my work on the pile. Jane was still seated and got up as I moved away. I heard her ask Ms. Lowe a question. Quietly, sweetly. "Ms. Lowe, I am the last one here, may I hand you the cloth so you don't need to get off or bend to get it? And thank you for an incredible class. I learned more about art and about myself."

"Yes, that is very thoughtful of you Ms. Davis - Jane. The course is finished. I am Linda. Thank you for your consideration. I do hope we meet again.

"You are most welcome. All the papers are on the desk, I will walk to the door and remove the paper from the window on the way out." Jane turned toward me. I saw Linda pull the cover over herself and move to the back exit of the room.

I grabbed the paper for Jane and held the door for her. Once outside, I commented to Jane "So who is the 'Teacher's pet' now? That was a very nice act of kindness. I could not imagine doing that, even with her form. Nothing would stop her from achieving an objective she had set. Impressive."

"Yeah, me either. I'm no prude, but having 16 relative strangers staring at my bare butt? Yikes. Still, I found it moving on several levels. You are right. Nothing was about to stop her from presenting the final she had decided upon. I hope to be that strong someday."

"I'm sure you will be. You might be there now. Impressive how you told Zook off. Maybe he will learn a little."

"Don't hold your breath. Wow! I better hustle - my meeting and my great news!" And off she went.

I called after her "Make an entrance. Great news ALWAYS deserves a big entrance!"

-0-

Afterword

I saw Jane off toward the student union and I got in my car to head home. The nice thing was I had found several spots that had open parking after 5pm, so I didn't have to buy a parking pass for the course. Great information for the future.

Once home, I got comfortable and grabbed something to eat. The shower was running, so I took my sandwich up to the bathroom to see how things were. The steam from the shower partially obscured the female form behind the glass doors. "Fabulous! Dinner and a show, all in the comfort of my own home. Although this will be the second show of the evening." I let that announcement just float through the air for a moment.

"Whaaat? Do you mean from your class? Did one of those coeds share their 'daddy issues' with you?"

"No, nothing like that. We had a nude model as our final exam in class. Actually, the first one cancelled, and our instructor 'filled in". Quite nicely, too." I ploughed through my sandwich realizing other appetites needed to be dealt with as well.

"That slut. Exposing herself to that whole class. All under the guise of 'art'. Well, that takes the cake." My wife finished her rinsing and stepped out from the shower, a trail of steam following. "How's this for a view? You want to paint this?"

Linda, my wife could now drop the professional name she had adopted, 'Lowe'. She moved toward where I sat, crumbs on my plate and around my mouth. She wrapped her hair in a towel and put a leg on either side of mine as she sat on my knees. "You have crumbs around your mouth." She leaned in and kissed me, removing all the traces of the sandwich. One of my hands reached out and encircled her tender breast, hot from the shower, while my other moved and found one of the fine loaves of bread that had called out for kneading.

"I think I will pass on painting this, but it will remain an excellent image. I think we should continue this discussion elsewhere. Oh, by the way. Nice job on the anonymous donation."

"I agree with the elsewhere. I still have the keys to my classroom, want to go back for some 'extra credit'? Yes, Jane made a great pitch. I said I would pass it on, so I have 'plausible denial'. And before you nominate me for the philanthropy award, half of it was from your account."

"I'll pass on the classroom. Now let's go work out the details of that generous donation." I reached under her and lifted her with legs still wrapped around my middle. Both hands enjoying what a short time ago they had struggled to sketch.

Clearly, they were more "hands on" in their artistic development.