An Angelena in Paris
Barbara Kolo
As a painter one of my dreams has been to study in Paris. Three years ago, I had the
good fortune of subletting a studio there. I'd like to share with you one of my many
happy memories of working in France. My studio was everything one would expect
from a Parisian atelier, great light and lots of space. It was on the fourth floor of a
hip industrial building filled with artisans of all types and was in a great area by La
Bastille. My studio had a unique feature of being equipped with a live model stand.
At first I never used it, but a friend convinced me that it would be fun to get a group
of artists together, hire a model and draw the figure. Our group became a monthly
event that we all enjoyed.
One day during a break in our drawing "class" my friend Susan suggested we get a male
model. All the models we hired so far had been female. Even though some of
the male artists of our group seemed reluctant, we all agreed it was a good idea.
Much to my surprise I had a hard time finding a male model that wasn't booked.
Finally, I found one on a referral by another model. As a group, we preferred to hire
models we knew, but time was running out. Our group was meeting the next day, so
I took a chance and hired him over the phone.
At the appointed time, I heard a knock. Upon opening the door, relief came over me
that our model was an attractive, fit and intriguing Brazilian man named Geo. The
group was equally relieved. As we were getting acquainted, I had a little trouble
understanding Geo's French because he spoke with a Brazilian/Portuguese accent, so I asked my
husband, John (who is more experienced with the French language) to speak to him and
get him settled. We saw my husband speaking to Geo from across the room and the
conversation seemed very animated, but we couldn't hear what they were saying.
When John returned to the group he only mentioned that Geo would take a few
minutes to get into his pose. If Geo explained what was about to happen we never
heard it. As we all took our places, Geo disrobed. He got up on the model
stand, took a few seconds to get comfortable and then belted out an Afro-Brazilian chant
loud enough to be heard on the rez-de-chaussée. Our jaws dropped. I half
expected one of my neighbors to burst through the door hailing complaints about the
volume in French. It took a few seconds for our shock to disappear, and then our
faces broke into big smiles. The experience was wild and totally unexpected.
Geo explained that his chant was from Northeastern Brazil where the culture is a mixture
of Amazonian, Indian and African.
He believed chanting helped him "find the pose"
and he was so passionate in his description we knew that he wanted to find the best poses
for our drawings. We were all taken with him from that moment on.
He began each 20-minute pose, by explaining to us the meaning and purpose of the chant
he was about to sing. Then, out of his mouth came amazing sound and his body
would turn with the grace of a dancer until he found an equally amazing pose. He held
the pose and the group became energized with creativity. We turned out drawing
after drawing in partnership with him. Our colors fell into harmony. Our line
captured the essence of his emotion and figure.
Every pose was fresh and each song
enchanting. It was an incredible performance and by the end of our three-hour
session all my senses were exhausted. Geo announced he would sing one last chant.
This one was about saying good-bye and when he was done we felt the separation.
Before he left we tried to make sure he knew how much we enjoyed ourselves and
appreciated his talents, but somehow we all felt we didn't say enough.
Geo did come back one more time. He brought props, with drums made of
gourds, and an instrument that resembled a didgeridoo. The musical instruments
enhanced his performance. It was another great afternoon, but without the element
of surprise. Soon our group got busy with life's other demands and could never find
the time to draw together. I can't help but think we knew we just couldn't top this
experience. It was one of life's unforgettable afternoons.