“Of course I do. I think your art is great.”
“Good,” she smiled. “I’m glad you think so. I started painting when I was around your age. It changed my life in a wonderful way because it gave me direction. It gave me a way to express myself creatively, and I feel in love with it.”
“Why do I get the feeling that you’re about to ask me something unusual?”
“I couldn’t find another model on short notice,” she replied sincerely. “So I want youto pose for me instead.”
My mother gave me a heartfelt look, which was intended to make me feel bad if I refused. I was shocked, and I’m sure she expected that.
“You can’t be serious, are you? You want me to pose for you?”
She nodded. “That’s what I said.”
“Nude?”
She nodded again. “All of the portraits have to be nude. I also realize that you don’t want anyone seeing your nude portrait, so you can simply turn your head away while I paint. I’ll focus mainly on your body. No one will recognize you. I promise”
“No way,” I replied. “I’m sorry mom, but that’s never going to happen. Why don’t you just paint an imaginary person? Make it up. No one would ever know the difference.”
My mother flashed me a stern look. “That’s completely out of the question. I wouldn’t be a real artist if I did that, and I feel like I would be cheating whoever buys it. Besides, using a real person always looks better.”
“How about I pose with my clothes on? Maybe I’ll compromise and do it in my underwear. You can use your imagination and paint the rest.”
“That won’t work,” she replied staunchly. “I wouldn’t be true to myself as an artist. The painting must be pure, or it means nothing. I would feel like a con woman if I tried to display stuff like that.”
Looking in my mother’s eyes, I could tell there was no arguing with her. She made up her mind, and there were no other option. My mother is a very persistent woman, she always has been. That’s part of the reason why she became so successful in the first place.
“You’re really not giving me much of a choice here mom.”
She shook her head. “Apparently not.”
“You realize that this is extremely awkward for me right?”
She nodded. “I realize this is uncomfortable. I used to be shy in college, especially when it came to my body. But I overcame it. I posed nude for my art classes a few times.”
Strangely, I found myself becoming aroused hearing about my mother posing nude in front of her college classmates when she was my age.
“Really? That doesn’t sound like something you would do.”
“Well I did it. And I still do it privately. I let my friend paint me nude sometimes, and then I paint her nude afterwards.”
Hearing my mother talk about being naked with another female artist only increased my inappropriate arousal. At that moment, I prayed I wouldn’t have an erection which she would inevitably see.
“This is a lot different mom. I mean, you’re my mom!”
“I know I’m your mother,” she replied playfully. “You reminded me twice. But don’t forget that the awkwardness is mutual. I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t desperate.”
“You must be really desperate then.”