Tabitha was equal parts excited and nervous. She checked her reflection in the tall window outside The Snowe gallery/mansion. It was a hot day and and the walk up from the parking area had produced a light sheen of sweat over her. Thankfully someone had set up a small table with iced cucumber water under the awning just outside the entrance. Everyone was having a glass as they waited to be admitted inside.
She looked at others. As an artist she spent a lot of time people-watching. She'd study them and try to guess their inner life and speculated how to translate that into her art. Such an unusual mix. She recognized almost everyone from previous visits to the gallery, but she'd never seen them all gathered at the same time. From a pure physical and demographic point of view, no two looked like they would have anything in common. She was probably the youngest, or perhaps second youngest. There was another girl, Willow, about her age, but she was very slight, like a fashion model only not as tall. Tabitha was far from model material herself. She barely topped five foot and her body was more, "generous" as her mother would say. Certainly more polite than being told she had big boobs and giant ass.
Tabitha wasn't the thickest among this crowd though. Samual was pretty hefty. With his white beard he probably could play Santa in a few years, thought Tabitha. Currently there was his filthy fishing tackle box on his lap which Tabitha knew contained his very particular charcoals. Of all the people she'd become with acquainted with from Snowe House, he was the closest. Occasionally they'd get together outside of Snowe events, frequenting museums or other galleries. He was quite an accomplished sketcher and his house was filled with the nudes he'd done over the years. Tabitha thought he had a bit of a crush on her. She'd let him sketch her face, but she was quite embarrassed when he expressed his desire to sketch her nude. She was still shy around her infrequent lovers. Even during sex she'd keep her bra on and even then she tried to hide things under the covers. She couldn't imagine having this old man sketch her in the light of day. It was still sweet that he'd asked though.
Marcus was here. He was a very handsome young man she'd seen at some of Emma's other gallery events. He could be a model too. Very muscular with a handsome face and with deep dark skin. She blushed slightly. What would it be like viewing and participating in this special exhibit next to him? She'd spoken to him briefly, but she was really too shy to engage in anything more than small talk.
The invitation she received was beyond cryptic. "The Art of Ecstasy: An Interactive Exploration Into the Aesthetic of Pleasure." Usually an invitation from the Snowe gallery was just a single page affair with the usual disclaimers restricting photography, on-line sharing, or the occasional update to the NDA. This invitation though. Pages and pages of TOC, signatures, legal disclaimers, etc. etc. Tabitha just scrolled though and agreed to whatever because of the wondrous lure in this invitation. She was being invited to participate, create and display, not just appreciate.
At first she thought the invitation was some sort of mistake. As an artist she had near nothing worthy to her name. Her best showing was at a beach cafe, but only then they hung her acrylic nudes because her friend owned the place. All of her money had been coming from omissions over the internet. As an artist, Tabitha discovered, you can make pretty good bank from creating some pretty lewd stuff. Recently she'd been creating paintings for some dude who wanted pictures of sleeping naked women. He'd send her detailed descriptions about what he wanted. What they should look like, where they fell asleep, what angle they were viewed at. Tabitha had done a whole series of these, and while pornographic in nature, they were actually quite good in her humble opinion. Tabitha had a strong eye for anatomy and understood the nature of light. A few of these paintings almost resembled Rembrandt in their dramatic dark/light compositions. Except they were pictures of a naked woman asleep; specifically her.
Tabitha's anatomy skills were strong because she used her own anatomy as her model. In addition to being painfully shy about her nakedness around other people, she was equally awkward about other people's nudity. In life drawing classes she continually found herself looking away from the model; not only out of embarrassment, but also because she would continually find herself getting aroused and distracted.
When she first started receiving these commissions on her website Tabitha would hunt down nude pictures on the internet to serve as models, even though she felt this was slightly unethical. The thought of using a live model was too distressing so eventually she got the idea in her head to set up her digital camera and use herself as a model. The body type that her patron described matched her own body pretty closely, so she would arrange herself into the poses he requested and would paint from that image.
Tabitha didn't hate her body. She just felt uncomfortable in it around other people. But there was something very liberating about taking her own nudes and creating art from them. Tabitha's ritual was to set up the camera and then start recording video of her pretending to sleep. She'd never admit it, but it started to really turn her on. She would get into the sleeping position her patron requested and then relax her body as if she was asleep. There was something about having the camera record her that she found thrilling; she felt like an exhibitionist. She would often imagine that her patron was watching her through the camera and she pictured him masturbating to her sleeping form. She found herself getting so aroused that she would masturbate as well. Very often after her orgasm she would find herself falling into a deep, actual sleep. Sometimes she'd wake up hours later, her digital camera still rolling. As she reviewed the footage of her laying down, masturbating and falling asleep, she'd often get aroused all over again and have to pleasure herself again. She also discovered in reviewing the footage that she would often masturbate in her sleep! Sometimes she'd use those stills; her hand between her legs as the model for her work, even when not requested by her patron. He was always thrilled by those portraits and paid well for them on top of the work he requested.
Tabitha was actually kind of shocked at how horny she'd become since taking on this work. The work was extremely erotic and also very authentic. After she'd come and fall asleep she could often see her wetness running down from between her legs. And having footage of her actually asleep, completely drained, made for some fantastic art pieces. She'd transfer all the footage to her computer and then find the right still to paint. Very often her painting would be interrupted by very vigorous masturbation sessions as she would fantasize about a lover being driving mad with lust by her naked sleeping form and then inserting himself (or sometimes herself) into her while she slept. When she masturbated during painting sessions she'd often break out the toys for that feeling of being penetrated and stuffed. Most of the poses requested did not involve showing her face so she wasn't particularly worried about being recognized, and in the few poses that did, she would alter herself enough to be unrecognizable. Unless someone had intimate knowledge of her body (and few did) they would never know it was her.
Tabitha looked around the gathering in front of the gallery and wondered if all these people had been chosen for their artistic endeavors. She spied someone else she recognized, though not from the gallery. Augusta Brair, a painter from New Mexico. She was pretty famous (or infamous) for her explicit nudes that she'd been painting for the past 50 years. Tabitha would never be in the same league with someone like her.
The other two people waiting outside were Tomo and Holly. They were chatting so perhaps they knew each other, though they looked like complete opposites. Tomo was very small. Perhaps shorter than herself. He was known for creating exquisite scroll pieces aka kakejiku, some of which had been shown at the Snowe Gallery. Holly who was not an artist, at least not that one that Tabitha was aware of, towered over him. Probably close to six foot. She looked like a porn-star. She had boobs like a porn-star, thought Tabitha. Tabitha had never really spoken with Holly, but she looked vaguely familiar. Maybe she had done a porno. Tabitha didn't watch a lot of porn, but occasionally she'd indulge with a boyfriend or that one girlfriend.
Tabitha sipped from her glass and was silently thankful for it again. She was thankful for every Emma Snowe had done for the arts community. This gallery was such a hidden treasure. It wasn't really a gallery, it was actually Emma's home which she generously turned into the most exclusive gallery in existence.
When Tabitha first heard the rumor about it, she thought it must be bullshit. This woman, who must be worth a billion, if not billions, just opens her house and allows strangers to view her art? It couldn't possibly be true. Emma thought about that first call she made, almost on a dare.
"Hello, Snowe House." The woman's voice was warm, but still had a no non-sense tone.
"Uh, yeah, Hi. My name's Tabitha. This might sound strange and if I've been mislead I completely apologize for wasting your time...but I heard Ms. Snowe has some impressionist art she's letting people view and I was wondering if I could arrange a time to see the collection. Again, I'm very sorry if I have incorrect information..."
"May I inquire as to how you received this information and this phone number?"
Tabitha's heart sunk. Uh oh.
"Oh, God, I'm so sorry, I was at a party with some art school friends and..."
"No need to go on," the voice said. "These things happen, but we like to keep access to our collection to a very limited number of people. This number will no longer be available after today."
Tabitha felt awful.
"I hope I didn't get anyone in trouble, I-"
The voice cut her off. "We require a high degree of discretion from our patrons. Tell me Tabitha. Are you a discreet person?"
