Thanks to our newest participants

Just wanted to thank those who have just joined our project. Rodney had a great time meeting and photographing you. I think we are now at 85 images officially.

Just a note, the gallery shows February 26 to March 9th. We are having some difficulties changing our website. Sorry about the confusion in dates.

We are extremely busy, working on the book portion of this project.

This week, though, we have also enjoyed taking time for good food, fun with our kids, singing Christmas carols, and baking cookies. I've been thinking about how God could give up so much to come down to earth...starting out as a naked baby crying for his mama, just like every one of us did. Heard a great talk on this at church, actually. Some time soon it should be ready in podcast form here.

Anyways, we hope each one of you has a wonder-filled Christmas this year. I wish for me and for you: the time to enjoy good food surrounded with love, the time to be alone and reflect on your life and your dreams, and the time to think more deeply about the Divine Gift given so long ago.

Last Call for Participants

We have made time available in the next week for shooting. We still have room left on Saturday, December 12th between 11 and 2. And we have one more day after that: Thursday, December 17th between 2 and 7. (Sorry our website is not up-to-date).

We would welcome anyone who wants to come and be a part of our project, helping us to show there is incredible beauty in the wide variety of colours, shapes, and sizes that our bodies come in. Even more than that, there is a body of wisdom we have collected from participants through the stories that are emerging.

It involves ten minutes of time in the studio (you'll be amazed at how quickly it happens!) as well as a bit of time before and after. Please remember to bring a short description to be included with your portrait.

We really would like this project to involve the widest diversity of people that make up Winnipeg. We want to celebrate the beauty from all the nations of the world that we have in our city. We want to celebrate the beauty from all walks of life. All ages. Thank you to each one of you who has come out to be part of our project. We have enjoyed getting to know you. Thanks for your help in spreading the news of our project as well.

Looking forward to what the new year will bring!

Her Life Now

Thanks for the chance to share my experience since baring it all with your "Just As I Am" project. It has been a very profound experience for me, as I knew it would be. As soon as I heard about your project, I knew instantly, that I would be participating. It was that kind of knowing that comes from somewhere very mystical and magical. That part of me, that always knows what's best for me. And then, like usual, when my ego doesn't approve of my higher self's actions, a little debate started, that went kinda like this... "What are you thinking?" ..."I'm thinking that I'm gonna do this.".... "Are you nuts?" ..."Maybe..maybe not."... "You mean to say, you're gonna let someone take your naked picture, and post it on a website, and put it in an art show, and totally let go of the rights?" ..."Yup, that's what I'm gonna do."... "You can't do that..for one, it's crazy, and for another, you are too fat and too ugly..don't you know, only pretty, thin people are allowed to do that...nobody wants to see you." ..."Maybe...maybe not...but I need to see me, and so I'm gonna do it."

And there it was. I needed to see ME. I didn't totally understand that, at the time. And I didn't know how it would play out. I just knew, with absolute certainty, that this was gonna be a very profound experience.

I still remember the drive to the studio that day, and thinking to myself, "Why don't you just do a private photo shoot? Why do something so public?" But, I knew why. I knew that this was my opportunity to stop living in shame, and it needed to be big. It needed to be bigger than my shame. Bigger than this self-loathing, that I've carried around forever. And I needed to have no way to turn back. Because I always turn back. I always return to that shame. But, not this time. This time, I was gonna make sure that the only direction to go, was forward.

What a surprise the first time I saw my picture. It's not like I hadn't seen myself naked. I'm pretty much a nudist at home, so I often see myself naked. I knew what I looked like. But, something totally different happens, when you see yourself in a photo...naked, vulnerable...captured in a moment in time. You get to really see what others see. (or at least, what you think they see.) At first, all I could see was my big belly, and my fat legs, and I felt embarassed and angry at myself. How could I let myself get so big? I could have asked why, as well, but I knew why. I've always known why. Food has been my comfort...my protection...my way to keep all the bad memories stuffed neatly down. The memories that were too painful to acknowledge. The memories that have been screaming at me for a long, long time. On that day, I knew that I was finally ready to listen. Really listen...with my heart. I was finally strong enough, courageous enough, to hear the truth, that I had always known, deep inside me.

And so, that has been my experience, my work, since being in the project. Coming to terms with what happened to me, long ago, and letting it go...finally. I used to think that remembering would kill me, but the opposite is actaully true. Remembering has set me free. Holding on was killing me. It's really such a relief to have those memories out of me...to let them have air...to let them float out, into the universe, and fly away. And it's an on-going process. Some days are really rough. And some days are blissful, beyond belief. The best part is that I'm starting to feel more whole, more alive, more authentic, and more worthy of love and goodness...and I hold on to that, on the hard days. And the anger is slowly fading. The anger that has been my steady companion, for a long time. In it's place, I'm starting to feel a sense of peace and calm, and sometimes, even forgiveness and gratitude. Gratitude for all the circumstances of my life, that have helped to shape me into the person, that I am today. I would not be this person, had it not all happened...and I'm starting to really like and appreciate ME.

I still see the big belly and the fat legs, when I look at my picture...but, today, I have compassion for this body...this beautiful body that has carried me through so much, with grace and dignity. And I see other things. I see courage, and kindness...trust, and faith. I see the innocence of a little girl, and the determination of a strong woman. And I see the willingness to share myself, with the world....Just As I Am.

Petrified

Well I just finished a meeting that I never would have thought I would have, I just finished a meeting with a guy from Friesens Printing regarding having a book made for the Just As I Am project. I really can’t figure out if I should be excited or petrified or both; I’m excited to have this as a possibility, at the same time terrified about the 10 thousand or so dollars that will be required to make it happen.

At this point I have a few options, I could rob a small bank or even a Credit Union, or I can pray for wisdom; since I don’t have a gun I guess I’ll stick with praying for wisdom as I think through whether we can sell in excess of 250 or so books.

As I’m praying if you happen to have a small bank or Credit Union and feel like making me a huge loan to help make the book project happen feel free to give me a call. If you don’t have a bank but have a personal relationship with Oprah or someone like her, again I would love to hear from you.

Speaking of a book, if you would like to write a bit about your experience we would like to have some of your stories as an option to publish or else there will just be a bunch of my ramblings in there.

Anyways, as always these are just a few things going through my head, have a great week.

Rodney

Your Life Now

I hate to publish something here so quickly after Rod wrote that thought-provoking post (honey, that was amazing...thanks for sharing that with us).

It's just been on my mind to find out how life has changed since participating in the project. I know one person has said she looks at people differently now--she wonders what their stories are.

What about you? Has being in the project changed you or your perspective or reinforced anything for you? We really want to get back in touch with the people of our project (we've been too focused on the production aspect lately).

So, please accept our invitation to share. Please use the level of anonymity you are comfortable with. Remember for the name/url option you can choose whatever name you wish and website/email addresses are not necessary.

Of Beauty and Wealth

As I was driving through the Rocky mountains last week I was struck by how much Beauty and wealth have in common and the more that I thought about it the more humbling it was.

Wealth, if you asked me if I am wealthy the first answer you would probably get after a hearty laugh is a resounding NO, you have to have money to be wealthy!!! In our society we measure wealth in terms of millions, billions or even thousands; but it always ends with dollars, not smiles, hugs, peaceful moments or even people whose lives you’ve touched.

This morning my 5 year old daughter come and cuddled with me for about 20 minutes, my almost 3 year old wanted to give me hugs and kisses and my 7 year old said “I love you daddy” before leaving for school, you can’t buy that so I am forced to ask myself am I wealthy??

I have recently been thinking a lot about the many people who have let me into their lives to capture their essence and memories and I think to myself am I wealthy??

I think of our family; this last year my mother in law has scared us a few times by going into the hospital with severe chest pain, yet as we prayed for her she came out of the hospital with the diagnosis that it was not a heart attack and again I ask myself as a family, are we wealthy??

Beauty; they say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, are they on drugs?? If you showed the same image, person, flower, or just about anything to 10 different people you would likely get 10 different answers as to it’s beauty. If this is the case is there really any absolute as to weather someone or something is beautiful? When I think of beauty I think of my wife Sonya, I think of my kids, I think of my clients, and I think of the creation everywhere around me, but am I right, is it all really beautiful?

My kids love to do art, and some of the paintings that my 3 year old comes up with simply bewilder me and yet to him he is proud to show me his latest masterpiece. Is his art beautiful?

I used to think that beauty was in the eye of the beholder but I have come to realize that too many of us as beholders are simply too screwed up to see, recognize and appreciate the beauty around us. My new philosophy is this, Beauty is in the eye of the creator and our creator has blessed us all with an abundance of it. Beauty is all around us and we simply need to open our eyes to appreciate it, so too we are all blessed with an abundance of wealth and our wealth looks different to all of us, but it’s ours to appreciate all we have to do is to open up our eyes and recognise what we have been blessed with.

Beauty and wealth, they look different to all of us and yet all we need to do is look around us to recognize how much of it we are blessed with so the next time you look into a mirror open your eyes and look hard to see how beautiful you are and how much you bless the lives around you and you will realize just how beautiful and wealthy you really are.

Blessings,

Rodney

Thanksgiving…. a little late

I love thanksgiving, it’s one time of the year where we are really encouraged to be very thankful and to intentionally stop, look at life and be grateful. This year I have many things to be very grateful for; I have my wife Sonya without whom I don’t know what I would do, I have my three wonderful children who make me smile so often, we have my family and my in-laws all of whom are wonderful people that I am thankful for and God has blessed us with health and strength.

When I think of thanksgiving I’m also overcome with a sense of extreme gratitude for our clients without whom we wouldn’t have our business and without whom we would not be the people we are today. I feel so thankful for each one of you, you make me smile whenever I think of you, it’s an honour to know you as people and to have you as clients and I think the ultimate honour for us is when you refer us to your friends because then we know that we have been able to impact your lives in some way.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

This week I have a special thank you to send out, in the past few weeks I have had the honour of sharing in and capturing forever in print the nuptials of my cousins daughter, capturing the maternity and newborn images of both clients and close friends, creating family heirlooms in some family portrait sessions and of course our specialty capturing the beauty and mystery that is “woman”. This week I also had the opportunity to spend the best part of the day with a group of women that work together, the 4 of them decided to come in to do an Eve Session as a Christmas gift to the men in their lives who had everything, well almost everything. These men will soon find out they didn’t have what they wanted most, some amazing images of the women they love. Girls, thank you for an amazing time, I had so much fun with you as we laughed, texed back and forth to co-workers, talked about them, ate great food, drank good drinks (Pepsi for we, wine coolers for the girls) and created amazing images in one of the most fun sessions I’ve ever had here at the studio.

I’m trying to teach my kids to have an “Attitude of Gratitude” and instead of grumping about things to simply be thankful and as I try to live that out I find myself a happier and more fulfilled person; so thank you all for everything you do to make my life better, I really appreciate you more than you will ever know.

Rodney

Dr. Oz's H1N1 Tips

Thanks to one of our "Just As I Am" participants for passing this along.

The following advice, given by Dr. Oz, makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know: The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions.

Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is. While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat or bathe.)

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine or Hydrogen Peroxide if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water, or hydrogen peroxide. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose softly once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*

5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

Glee

I’ve been hooked on a TV. show lately called Glee. Glee is a show about a musical group in a high school made up of some “cool kids” and some “looser kids”, it’s a place where in that group status really doesn’t matter until you walk out the door. This week it was revealed to the school that Quinn the head cheerleader was pregnant and she and her quarterback boyfriend Finn immediately went from cool to uncool.

Finn & Quinn tried everything they could think of to try to get cool again but all to no avail. I sat there thinking about how we all really just want to be cool or at least acceptable to those around us; I know that in high school I didn’t usually feel like I was in the “in” crowd.

Life is so much bigger than what people think of us, let’s all go out there and live life to the fullest; hug your kids, smell the fresh air and enjoy the many blessings that we have.

Rodney

The beauty of Nature

A few weeks ago we were in Saskatchewan to spend some time with family; I like to take these opportunities to capture beauty of another sort, so I try to never be without my camera. Here is some of what we saw. Have a great long weekend.

Rodney

So long, so sorry.

So long no blog. I’m sorry about the wait, life has been crazy and I need a vacation that will not come for a long time, I did however take the time to gather evidence that summer did drive by us here in the peg as I went to the beach yesterday with my family and enjoyed an amazing sunburn (I’m very, very thankful that we didn’t go to a nude beach, that would have really hurt!!!)

One of the things I want to learn this year is how to be a more thankful person, it seams that I all too seldom take the time to be grateful for what I am blessed with, and as I have been thinking about this I have been overcome by a sense of wonder at how we have been blessed with such good clients. If you are one of our clients, I want you to know that you are really really appreciated; and in case we haven’t expressed it to you lately, thank you for allowing us to be a part of your lived, it’s an honour we don’t take lightly.

Since we have another few weeks of summer left, here’s a look at a recent session with a long time friend and client, if you are interested in an outdoor session just let me know and we can arrange something that you will love.

Rodney

Celebration time

It’s been a crazy week and I know about half of you are waiting for me to respond to emails…..it’s coming. First things first, I want to wish a happy 13th anniversary to my beautiful bride Sonya. Wew wew!! Thant’s right folks, Sonya and I spent Monday celebrating 13 years of wedded bliss and I still can’t figure out why she loves me.

It’s hot outside and summer is here so why are you reading my writing; grab someone you love and go outside and enjoy the young mosquito population-I’ll write again soon.

Rodney

In the News (Again!)

One of our participants has just had an excellent article about our project written in the U of W's newspaper, "the Uniter". Thanks so much, Marina! You did an amazing job.

Go to http://www.uniter.ca/

Click on the "current issue" graphic on the left-hand side.

We're on page 11 of the PDF that comes up.

Enjoy...

Faith, Fun and the Circus!!

I’m tired and it seems there aren’t enough hours in the day. On the bright side the sun has come out a few times in the last two days and it has been a real mood booster to say the least to see that beautiful piece of fiery goodness.

This weekend we had a family outing on Saturday, we went to the circus together and then worked on some landscaping as a family. The circus, what a feeling of electricity I felt from our kids as we walked into the big tent in the Grant Park mall parking lot. We bought “Circus” Cotton Candy, and “Circus” Popcorn , a “Circus” Balloon and a “Circus” hotdog and mini doughnuts. What was so special about the “Circus” Food, to us it was simply really really expensive but to our children it was magical. It seems I have something on my forehead that says “Pick me” because in the whole tent full of people the clown picked me to come up on stage, be an idiot and ultimately get shot backstage (My kids were more than a little concerned about that) before ultimately emerging from behind the curtain to new life and a new lease on life.

Speaking of that I have had a number of people ask me about my faith, views on faith and all the rest of that mumbo jumbo so I will take a moment to let you into the deepest part of my being and share with you where I am at.

Firstly, I’m not a terribly religious person in that I define religion as a list of rules to follow to appease the Gods or God. I do however have a deep faith and here it is:

I believe that God loves me (and you) and has a plan for my (and your) life.
I believe that I (and you) have missed the mark that God has set out for us, and are therefore sinful and separated from God.
I believe that God sent his very own son Jesus die on the cross 2000 years ago to bridge the separation between us and God.
I believe that God gives us the opportunity to either accept or reject the gift of his son and thereby accept or reject the opportunity of having a relationship with him (although God is not a boy or a girl, history has generally given God the Masculine words like he, him, his) should we choose.
To put it another way, Dad just wrote us a check for a million but the money isn’t actually ours until we decide to deposit the check or cash it.

As a Christian I don’t somehow feel as though I’m any better than anyone else because I’m not, I have simply chosen to ask for forgiveness for my many imperfections. I have also been asked how as a Christian I can do the type of work I do at Eve Studios or the types of projects I do such as Just As I Am. The answer is a simple one, when I look at the universe around us and the world in which we dwell I see such incredible beauty everywhere I look and I feel as though God is the ultimate artist. I also look at the body that God created and marvel at the beauty and complexity of it and quite frankly feel as though it is the ultimate slap in the face to God to not appreciate and capture the beauty of the human body and spirit.

I know this is sort of the readers digest version that I’ve just given you but when it comes right down to it faith is not nearly as complex as many make it, God’s biggest command is “to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength; and to love your neighbour as yourself." I feel as though if we all lived even a little bit like this the world would be a much better place.

I hope this answers some questions, if not, call me up and set up a time to bring me a beloved Pepsi and we can sit down and discuss anything that’s on your mind.

Love you all,

Rodney

Want to be a fan?

I still haven't quite figured out how to connect facebook in to everything, with their logo and stuff, but if you want to become a fan of our project, click here.

Not dead yet!!

No I’m not dead or if I am heaven is a lot different then I imagined it to be. I’m so sorry about the time between blogs; I’ve been in Saskatchewan for a week and then trying to dig out of the aftermath of a week away from home and studio.

Firstly I must say to Jan and Sarah, congratulations on your newfound fame, I hear you were simply superb in your interview on CBC Radio. CBC wanted to do a story on the whole Just As I Am project but apparently I wasn’t handsome enough to be part of it; odd isn’t it since it was a radio interview. No offence taken though and Jan and Sarah were interviewed from the perspective of someone wanting to be a part of this project as a model. Unfortunately I missed it but we are hoping to get an MP3 that you can all link to.

I also want to send out a huge congratulations to Leila Marston, She was the feature actress this last weekend in a play that Sonya and I had the pleasure of taking in at the Ellice café and theatre. Leila was playing the role of a mermaid who was searching for an eternal soul, you were amazing Leila!!

Well as I mentioned I spent a week in Regina for a convention and have come back very inspired, I have so many things that I have learned that I want to try. Anyway, landscaping at the house is calling me and when it uses Sonya to call it’s best to listen and obey, I’ll talk to you all soon.

Blessings.

Rodney

Party Time

It’s 10 pm and I should be cleaning up the studio after an amazing evening with you all (We had the official opening night of the first set of project images tonight ) but instead I sit here with a plate, no a very big plate of two bite brownies, creampuffs, shrimp and of course my trademark Pepsi. I wish to thank you all for coming out on this beautiful evening and celebrating the beauty that is you with us all. I also want to say a huge thank you to Sheena Grobb http://www.sheenagrobb.com/ for not only gracing us with your presence and musical talents but also opening up your heart to us.

Working on the Just As I Am project has been one of the most rewarding and significant projects that I have ever done, my life has changed as much as many of yours has through this process. This week has been an interesting week for me, it’s been a week of remembering many people in history that have had a significant impact on history the most well known of which was Mother Theresa; to thinking about Feron Hall a Winnipeg homeless man who risked his life to jump into the icy Red River to save a life. Neither of these people fit the mould that we as a society look at as successful; neither of them is particularly good looking and neither of them is wealthy. Money and looks are the measuring sticks that we as a society use to determine worth, if you don’t have one you had better have the other to be seen as valuable, yet both of these people are honoured by us even though it seems that they have snubbed us and our way of doing life.

I’ve heard it told (although I have not verified the story as fact) that some years ago Pope John Paul 2 felt that Mother Theresa should have a decent vehicle to drive around in so he donated one of the Vatican limos to her. Mother Theresa being the gentle spirit that she was thanked him and quietly sold it and donated the money to the poor (although she herself was living a life of poverty).

Feron Hall in the aftermath of saving the young man in the river has had a long list of people step up to “Save him” from his life and get him on track so that he can be just like us but Feron in his gentle and kind way has gratefully declined saying that he is happy with his life the way it is and doesn’t see the need to change right now.

All of you who have so far been a part of this project have been a lot like these two individuals, you have stepped up and said I’m more or less at peace with who I am and where I’m at, that is more than most of us in our society ever get to. I want you to know that I’m proud of you and grateful for the way you have impacted me.

Blessings.

Rodney

PS We’d be interested in hearing what your experiences were tonight so please take the time to share them.

Quick update

Thanks again to everyone who has been a part of this project, we originally had planned on simply running for one week but due to increased requests we have expanded and are opening up time slots in the next two weeks as well. Another reason for the addition of times is that more of the Winnipeg media have decided to run with this story and have asked if we could extend our timeframe for a while.

Yes I said the media is coming around, thanks to Tracy Koga from Shaw TV who will be running a story on Monday the 11th on Shaw TV; if you don’t have Shaw you can access it online at www.shawtv.com/winnipeg click on Arts & Entertainment – “Backstage” Tracy and cameraman John Mcclure were amazing, I however felt a little out of place as I am used to being on the other side of the camera and was probably not as prepared for the interview as I should have been.
Avi Saper from Canstar News was also here this week and they will be running a piece to appear in the Thursday edition of the Herald, Lance, Metro, Times, Headliner and possibly Uptown. Avi was great and it’s much easier for him to make me sound good and smooth than it is for the folks at Shaw.
Many of you also saw the Brief that Carolin Vesely a very gifted free press writer did on our project on the 28th of April, thanks Carolin.

I’m working hard to prepare images for our official unveiling on Tuesday night, and will be photographing for that opening on Monday from 4-7 for anyone who still wants to get in for the official opening. See you all soon, happy Mothers Day to all of you who are mothers.

Rodney

A humble thank you

Happy Tuesday to you all. After spending about 80 hours in the last week to get the Just As I Am project off the ground I had a great weekend (Sunday-Monday) with my family.

I have been so humbled and honoured to be a part of the lives of our participants this last week; over 50 beautiful people have so far been a part of this project with more to come and this has been a truly touching experience for me. Something that I’ve noticed this past year was that as people get physically naked it is so much easier to get emotionally naked.

When we started thinking about this project I realized that for me this would be a time of being very vulnerable which I’m really not used to. I have been so humbled and blessed to hear so many of your stories, stories of new beginnings in life, people trying to find wholeness in life and many people who just want to face their fears. Here are some interesting stats;
-We have had about 26% male participation
-so far ages range from 20-64
-we have had people of all shapes and sizes
-Most common Quote “I didn’t think I could get that good a photo in 10 mins”
-Quote that made me laugh a lot – when asked about how she felt about people seeing her image in a gallery “If I have anything that somebody hasn’t seen before one of us needs to go and see a doctor.”

Due to increasing interest and upcoming media attention we are adding more spaces in the next two weeks, they will be appearing in the next two days.
Thank you again to those of you who have been willing to participate in this project, we are more grateful than we could possibly express but we do have a special event coming up for you next week which will be the grand unveiling of the images created so far with web galleries to go up the next day.

Rodney

Sorry About That

We had someone bring up a concern about the coupons we included in our "thank you" package, that I think has validity...I wish we could have changed things sooner, but alas...this is not possible.

Here's the background to them. We have a good relationship with a new spa owner in the city. When she let us put up a poster in her business, Rodney decided to try one of their services where you can lose inches through this muscle-stimulating machine, and then he blogged about it. As usual, she gave us a bunch of offers from her spa (she's always doing things like that). We thought we could include them in case anyone was interested in that kind of thing. And, I have to admit, we were lower on prize ideas than we had hoped, because we had been too reluctant to ask businesses. So, we were thinking more about our end of things rather than the possible feelings of you, our valued participants, particularly after a vulnerable moment in front of the camera.

So, if any of you felt shame, doubt, or (disgust?!) after opening up our "thanks", I am very sorry about that. It was completely unintended. We really hope to be thoughtful about the things we do, and in this case we weren't. And we sincerely hope we didn't sabotage your experience through our oversight.

On another note, we have just confirmed details for a very special unveiling event next Tuesday, so watch your inboxes for details. You all showed amazing courage, trust, and vulnerability in being part of our project...and we are so grateful. We hope you will be able to attend the event, as we look forward to showing back to you how beautiful you are, as well as honouring you with an enjoyable evening out. Thanks again!

More Appointments Available

Due to demand, please note we have made three more appointments available on Saturday (we're open until 5:00) and we've opened up Tuesday evening, 6:30-9:00.

Doubled Again!

Just wanted to announce that we've doubled our participants again! Thanks to everyone for their involvement so far.

We've been toying with adding on a couple more days to this project. Stay tuned.

A Good Question

Someone shared this question with me, and I hope she won't mind if I post it here: "I want to do it, but I don't know. Do you have to be skinny and good-looking like the girl on the web-site?"

The answer is a resounding no.

We need people of all shapes, sizes, ages, backgrounds in order to make this project a success. We want to show that you don't need to look a certain way to be considered a work of art. We have had about a dozen people come through so far, all unique. Some confident, others not. And believe it or not, skinny doesn't automatically mean comfortable with body.

I sincerely hope that any who are reading this that feel they don't measure up in some way, will have the freedom to come and be part of this project. You are needed. You can be part of the solution, part of changing what we perceive to be "acceptable" or normal or okay.

I apologize that our key images for the project have been a deterrent for some. There was a bit of a time factor, and we used the best images we had on file that either depicted an emotion of "Just As I Am" or a very basic nude pose on the background we planned on using.

Our project could still benefit from more variety. We've had some diversity in body shapes, but we'd love even more. We would love to have some 60 and 70 and 80 year-olds! We would love to have more skin tones! We would love to have people with scars that tell a story. Or stretch marks. Or whatever...

Thanks again, to all who have come out so far. It's been fun! I feel like this project has been worth it already.

Our Group Prize is Confirmed!

Not sure whether we'll keep it to the largest group or if it will be all groups (depends on how many come out), but we have now confirmed that our group prize will be a house concert by local singer/songwriter, Sheena Grobb, held at our studio at a date to be determined. Wine tasting courtesy of Barefoot Wines will round out the evening.

So round up your office, your salon staff, your yoga class (your whatever), and you could be part of an amazing night of music and mingling.

Thank You

We just doubled our participant numbers in the last 24 hours!

Beam me slim Scottie!

It’s been a crazy week, we have been working like dogs trying to get the word out about this project and in the middle of it all I have caught a nasty cold that has just about knocked me out the last few days.

Well today I did something I didn’t think I would ever do, I went to Zealous MediSpa and had what’s called a Eurowave treatment. What are you talking about Rodney, I know that’s what you are thinking so I will explain; the Eurowave is a machine that basically shoots electrodes through your body and stimulates your muscles similar to a work out (They say that an 18 min treatment is similar to 200 perfect sit-ups.) Again, I hear your question in advance and will of course respond, who does a perfect sit-up, not me thank you very much so the thought that I could sit there and have a conversation with Darcy (She is such a sweetie) and have this intense workout at the same time was very intriguing to me.

As you may or may not know, I have some body issues sometimes; and sometimes I don’t. I’m 6’4” and weigh in at about 200 pounds without clothing on, and there are days where I just am not impressed with what I see in that state; on the other hand there are other day’s when I feel as though it’s really irresponsible of me to be walking around when those around me are not wearing sunglasses as they may be overwhelmed by my masculine brilliance, am I the only one out there who goes back and forth like this?? Anyway back to my story, I saw the promotion that they have as a come and test the Eurowave and get the first treatment at $10 (It’s a $50 value.) it also say’s that you will loose 1-3 inches in that timeframe. Yes, 1-3 inches in 18 mins for only $10 you are in fact not dreaming!!! I went in this morning all ready to go and get slim, armed with my duffel bag containing a Pepsi, chips and chocolate (I thought they would have to work to get the inches off of me) and immerged 20 mins later having lost a stunning 1 and 1/6 inches off of my gut! Wowsers, is that worth the $10??

Yesterday I while out dropping off posters I was at the new Sustainable fitness headquarters located in the Fitness Experience building on king Edward and spent some time talking to Allan and Shaun the father son team that run Sustainable fitness boot camps. Shaun and Allan have there own ways of helping to melt the inches off although I think it’s much harder to carry on a conversation while doing things their way, but they have the added advantage of heart health in the process; and who says sweating isn’t sexy?

Well we are three days away from the start of our project “Just As I Am” and time slots are starting to fill up although only about a quarter of the people who have said they would be involved have actually taken the time to fill in time slots so I’m really hoping to see them fill up this weekend. This project has so much potential and I’m really looking forward to seeing what’s in store for us all although I’m surprised at how few men or couples have signed up. Thank you to everyone who has been so encouraging through this whole process, you all mean the world to us. Anyways, if you are thinking about being involved sign up today, and we will see you next week.

Until next time, have a great day,

Rodney

Just As I Am Project

Well it seems to me that the job of artists in society tends to be to shed light on issues that we face on a daily basis; and given the description that I just gave I would propose to you that Jerry and the cast of Seinfeld were in fact the artists of the century for the 20th century. I draw a lot of inspiration from the light-hearted jokesters in that they seemed to fearlessly bring into the open things that we all thought and were afraid to say while making us laugh about it. As I develop as an artist I have found that it is in fact very difficult to do what Jerry did, it is hard when you feel the judgment of those around you to stand up and do what it is that you think is right or to say what needs to be said.

Just over two years ago I received a phone call from a friend, one of the best and most influential friends I will ever have. Tim is an art teacher in a Christian school in BC and on this particular week he had taken his grade 10-12 art students on a trip to the local art gallery as he was prone to do a couple of times a year. Tim described the experience as they went through the upper floor of the gallery and saw some wonderfully inspiring “Christian” art, that is beautiful water colors and landscapes but then to his horror as they went down into the lower gallery they were hit straight on by a cartoon character in full frontal nudity doing something very derogatory. Tim decided it was too late to turn back and proceeded through the gallery with his students electing to spend some time with them afterwards discussing what they had seen and their thoughts on it.

“Why was there nobody who looked like me in there” was one girl’s response, “They were all perfect bodies.”
“Why are there no Christians doing nudes in art” asked another girl.
“I didn’t feel uplifted in any way from what I saw” stated another.

Art has the power to change our lives, as long as we as artists come at it not as “how can I shock the viewer” but rather “how can I open up my soul or the soul of my subject in such a way as to touch the soul of the viewer.” I have never had the pleasure of going to Europe, but those that I have talked to who have seen the David or the paintings within The Sistine Chapel both of which were created by Michelangelo say that seeing these works literally takes your breathe away. What is it about beauty and the body that is so inspiring??

David the Israelite king whose appearance Michelangelo was trying to capture said in Psalm 139 “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,” I don’t know about most people, but growing up I didn’t feel wonderfully made; I was a skinny awkward kid who never felt comfortable in my own skin. The terms “Bone rack” and “beanpole” will probably haunt me all of my life, and now as an adult I feel as though most of the time I am a beanpole with a big lump in the middle where my thundering abs should be, my chest too small an undefined, shoulders too droopy and arms too spindly; again I feel more fearfully than wonderfully made.

For the past two years I have been thinking about the project of photographing art nudes of anyone who would come in to stand in front of my camera and be photographed “Just as they are” but as is often the case I have spent the last two years in fear of how a project like this would be viewed and so put off doing it. This past year has been a great and hard year for me as Sonya and I have been working on Eve Studios a studio which focuses on building self esteem in women through photography. I have been deeply hurt by the stories I have heard from some clients as they struggle through the question of “Am I beautiful”, and hearing the stories of hurt and pain that many of our clients have held on to for years and decades for some. On the flip side I have had a number of clients who have come in fully confident that they are beautiful and very comfortable with their appearance, and in these cases I have felt immense joy. I have seen incredible beauty in clients of all ages and shapes and can honestly say that they are Fearfully, Wonderfully and Beautifully made.

Just As I Am is a project where anyone from 18 – 118 can come and have 10 mins of photography time to bare their souls as well as their bodies and come to the place of saying this is me, Just As I Am. I ask only a few things of those who wish to be involved, Please bring ID that proves your age, please either write a sentence or two or come with a phrase or two that you feel describes who you are. I welcome men or women to come alone, but also encourage them co come as a couple if they want, or to come as a group; but if you want to be a part of touching the lives of others and in fact be touched with the beauty of who you are please sign up for a timeslot and be part of the healing process.

Rodney