Reprise from ten years ago – Welcome to my world of Art and life.

There was new beginning in my creative life in 2010 when I went to Nanaimo to take pictures of Bodysage 2010 and the Canadian Bodypainting Championships.  I went as a photographer but ended up on stage for the finals at the Victoria Fringe Festival and Championships.  Even more amazing, I won a prize for the best performance by a model.

Who knew I had it in me?  Not me, that’s for sure, although I admit to having been on a stage a few times before in my 57 years of living. (I’m almost 67 now)

When I was just a young lad, in my early teen years, I modelled bathing suits for Jantzen Swimwear one summer.  My aunt Physlis was a clothing designer with the company and she took me with her and introduced me to the stage.

It was first my modeling job, and, I must admit, my last until the Bodypainting championships.

I was happy just to be a photographer at the festival and show.  There were a good number of beautiful models and skilled painters working together to create amazing designs.  It was great to earn the respect and affection of the crew and a delight to shoot under the circumstances.

I got a lot of great shots, which I shared with the artists and models after it was over.  Still, the biggest surprise was being asked to be painted on the Friday night before the big show.

Of course it was initially just a great joke.  After all, everybody else was either a painter or a model, and I’d been taking thousands of shots of people nearly naked in all sorts of compromising positions.

Of course I said yes.  I can take a joke as well as… as well I can, and I thought that it would be hillarious to be painted as a penguin for the party on Friday night.  Who knew that it would be so popular with the models and artists that they insisted that I go into the show on Saturday Night at the Fringe Festival.

Well, the rest is history.  And the dance of the Penquins has never been danced quite so awkwardly, or by such a comical character.

That performance and the photos I took that week launched me anew in the world of fashion photography, model portfolios, and just plain fun with new friends and a new generation.

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Life is interesting when you start down a road you didn’t even dream existed.