I sat for Joe seven times. Recently Karen sent me copies from those sittings, of each image. I have no memory of some of them, like the first or second one which was in 1987. My mother practiced sketching in oil pastels often when I was between four and six, asking me to sit still for her. It is like old times when I sit for a painter. Those sketches by my Mum are long lost but I like the memory I still have of one hanging on the wall for years where I was on a little chair and had big poofy hair. I even modelled in Toronto after I met a guy practicing South Indian dance in the Mirror room in the basement of the Jewish Community Centre, who overheard me next door playing the grand piano. After he introduced himself he asked if I knew Keith Jarrett’s record of Gurdjieff music by Thomas de Hartmann. I did. He thought this was no coincidence. That was the only record Jarrett made that had nothing to do with improvisation. This dancer guy was an art class model and told me it was easy money and he could get me in. That was awesome in 1980something to earn $17 an hour. Modeling for art classes was fun and a bit freaky as the only one naked in a room of people intensely staring back. They sometimes wanted fast changing gestures. I practiced yoga and you could tell the crowd especially enjoyed drawing a young upside downer. Sometime after I got to know Joe, I told him I had previously worked as a model and if he wanted me to model I could anytime, would be my pleasure. He paid people when they modelled with art credit. An I.O.U. reflecting a $100\/hr in art. You could cash it in anytime for one of his paintings or partial payment towards one. I thought it was a novel and generous solution but I never cashed one in. I like it as an artifact on my wall in my studio. I did buy one painting. It was of the former premier of Ontario, Mike Harris. He was destroying everything around him and his hands were chainsaws and his tie a $5 bill and his smile wide and proud of himself. There were notes he scribbled on the backside of every painting he created. Notes about the sitting or the person. Notes about his feelings for what just happened. Karen sent me all the backsides too. They were super flattering about my songs and piano work. He loved me and admired me, I felt the same for him. It is such a big deal in life, to have someone more experienced in your corner affirming what you aspire towards. Not something teachable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"