It’s been a whirlwind of a year – not quite a tornado (though I did experience a typhoon in Vietnam) but a bit more than a gentle breeze.

– I travelled to Wales, Belgium, Paris, Scotland, Switzerland, Iceland, Germany, Norway, Italy, Malaysia, Vietnam and Australia, bringing my current ‘countries I’ve frolicked nude in’ list up to a respectable 18, across 5 continents. I discovered that I am an absolute idiot for never even thinking of getting some kind of air miles scheme, which is something other normal people do who have any shred of intelligence when travelling as much as I do. I hate myself whenever I realise how long ago I should have started one. I WILL sign up for one soon.
– I fainted for no apparent reason and inflicted a wobbly head and split lip on Paris.
– I started having piano lessons again (having quit at 17 during A-levels). It makes me incredibly happy. I learnt to play Liszt’s Liebestraum no.3, though I’ll probably never be able to do it with the expressiveness of Lang Lang’s eyebrows.
– I was bored on a bus journey once and wrote a list of ‘Silly, Brilliant and Memorable Places I’ve been Nude’. Here it is in its current form: at the Eiffel Tower, on a horse, en pointe in Death Valley (although I did a reduced deal for a shoot there with a Brit called Tony Parsons, in exchange for images, and after 2 years have STILL not seen any results from him, despite an enjoyable shoot and many polite reminders, which is disappointing), Lucerne Valley (that gorgeous cracked earth!), on top of a clown, in the Canberran bush with wild kangaroos, in a lavender field in Gloucestershire (I want to shoot there again so I can re-make my lavender shortbread), in a pay-by-the-hour hotel in Brussels (but the images were beautiful!), at Iceland’s Geysir and the outer pools of the Blue Lagoon, high up in the snowy Swiss Alps, halfway up the stairs in Montmartre, in a German sunflower field, underwater in California, in Dubai, in the Black Forest, on a fish carved out of stone, on a Norwegian beach (the coldest I’ve ever experienced!), hanging off the tail of a (grounded) helicopter, in a Tuscan vineyard, in the London Hilton Metropole. Etc.
– I finished my second novel and am crossing my fingers that I’m getting somewhere with a new agent. I don’t like to talk about this much because it means too much to me.
– I almost-but-not-quite cried when I compared house prices in Oxfordshire (the most expensive part of the UK, and annoyingly where I decided to be born and would very much like to stay) with those in Manchester, just 3 hours north (and chosen as a random example), where I could buy a house for literally a quarter of the price. The saving continues…
– I was interviewed for this feature, answering questions about my thoughts and experiences on this unconventional career of mine.
– I wrote this article about vanity.
– I wrote this self-esteem manifesto, ‘For Women’.

…And I packed this blog full of new images once or twice each week.

Without further ado, my personal highlights and favourites, with huge thanks to the people who thought it a good idea to hire me and see what we could come up with. I hope to work with you all again!

From ‘Damsels in Distress‘ (image by Keith Cooper, Oxfordshire):

From ‘Life is but a Blur‘ (image by Keith Cooper, Oxfordshire):

From ‘Snow Deer and Winter’s Wonderland‘ (image by Karen Jones, Oxfordshire):

From ‘Pianos, Women and Houses‘ (image by OnePixArt, Beverley Hills):

From ‘Lilies and Vanity’ (image by Vernon Trent, Dusseldorf):

From ‘Cascading Light‘ (image by Ross McKelvey, Northamptonshire):

From ‘Cascading Light‘ (image by Maximus Operandi, Northamptonshire):

From ‘House of Flying Daggers‘ (image taken as a behind-the-scenes shot on my mobile phone, Belgium):

From ‘House of Flying Daggers‘ (image taken by Will White, London):

From ‘‘I only Feel’*‘ (by Dimitri, Belgium):

From ‘Vitality‘ (image by Chris Lloyd, Oxfordshire):

From ‘Blue Sky Desert‘ (image by Brian Connor, Joshua Tree National Park):

From ‘Charcoal Metallics & Garden Gates‘ (image by Steven Bruce, Palm Springs):

From ‘Pipe Cleaners and Autumn Leaves!‘ (image by Paul Viant, Wiltshire):

From ‘Poolside‘ (image by Jim Baab, California):

From ‘Bulbs & Benches‘ (image by Paul Bartholomew, Oxfordshire):

From ‘Sumptuous in Brussels‘ (image by Pieter Vandeur, Brussels):

 

From ‘SWPP Annual Convention – London Hilton Metropole‘ (image by Manes Pangalos, London):

From ‘In Vivid Paint‘ (painting by Nurhilal Harsa, Turkey):

From ‘Twigs, Sticks & Weaves‘ (image by Karen Jones, Milton Keynes):

From ‘Sharps, Flats, Shapes and Curves‘ (image by Prashant Meswani, Oxfordshire):

From ‘24 hours in Pareeee!’ (image by J H, Paris):

From ‘Queen’s Well, Glen Esk‘ (image by Jim Furness, Scotland):

From ‘Welsh Rain, Reflections‘ (image by Richard Spurdens, Wales):

From ‘Welsh Rain, Reflections‘ (image by Richard Spurdens, Wales):

From ‘Firebird‘ (image by Vanessa Mills, Cambridge):

From ‘Moss, Kicks & Lochs‘ (image by Alex Ingram, Scottish Highlands):

From ‘Greens and Lilacs‘ (image by Richard Maxim, Cambridge):

 

From ‘Fires and Falls‘ (image by Graeme Delargy, Falls of Orchy, Scotland):

From ‘Fires and Falls‘ (image by Graeme Delargy, Falls of Orchy, Scotland):

From ‘La Source, River Adur‘ (image by J H, Sussex):

From ‘A Horse, Cosmic Skirt, Mints and Buttercups‘ (image by Karen Jones, Buckinghamshire):

From ‘Swiss Alps: Soaring through Landscapes‘ (image by Jim Furness, Switzerland):

From ‘Locks and Leaves‘ (image by Steven Bruce, California):

From ‘Heavenly Stairways‘ (image by Maximus Operandi, Northamptonshire):

From ‘5‘ (image by Sjur Roald, Sussex):

From ‘The Milky Sun‘ (image by Steven Billups, Germany):

From ‘Romance‘ (image by Kev, London):

From ‘Tuition with Stefano Brunesci‘ (image by Stefano Brunesci, Wiltshire):

From ‘Elephants‘ (image by Rayment Kirby, Sussex):

From ‘Gaia, Jetty‘ (image by J H, Sussex):

From ‘Edwardian Ladies, Bridges and Stables‘ (image by Karen Jones, Buckinghamshire):

From ‘Edwardian Ladies, Bridges and Stables‘ (image by Tony Nutley, Buckinghamshire):

From ‘Edwardian Ladies, Bridges and Stables‘ (image by Karen Jones, Buckinghamshire):

From ‘Fee Tree‘ (image by Klaus Rieger, Germany):

From ‘Fee Tree‘ (image by Peter Gruener, Germany):

From ‘Monbachtal‘ (image by Steven Billups, Black Forest, Germany):

From ‘Morgan & Ellis Creative Experience Day: “How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being.” Oscar Wilde*‘ (image by Scott Morgan, Bristol):

From ‘Morgan & Ellis Creative Experience Day: “How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being.” Oscar Wilde*‘ (image by Scott Morgan, Bristol):

From ‘Morgan & Ellis Creative Experience Day: “How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being.” Oscar Wilde*‘ (image by Denny Wong, Bristol):

From ‘Morgan & Ellis Creative Experience Day: “How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being.” Oscar Wilde*‘ (image by Emma-Jane Lewis, Bristol):

From ‘Morgan & Ellis Creative Experience Day: “How can a woman be expected to be happy with a man who insists on treating her as if she were a perfectly normal human being.” Oscar Wilde*‘ (image by Zoltan Sandor Nagi, Bristol):

From ‘Norwegian Black – On an Island‘ (image by Sjur Roald, Aalesund):

From ‘Sheer Bellydance‘ (image by Evie Smith, Oxfordshire):

From ‘Earth Blood‘ (image by Katie Eleanor, Hampstead Heath, London):

From ‘Waiting in Hanoi‘ (image by Keith Cooper, Oxfordshire):

 

From ‘Weather Forms & Sea Fans‘ (image by Rebecca Parker, Warwickshire):

From ‘Fish and Coconuts‘ (image by Steven Billups, Black Forest, Germany):

From ‘Hills, Marsupials and Zoolander‘ (image by OnePixArt, Beverley Hills):

From ‘Black Sheer Nude‘ (image by Warren Jopson, Brisbane):

From ‘Greensleeves‘ (image by Ken Pegg, Dorset):

 

From ‘Earl Grey + Jacarandas‘ (image by Jeff Wack, LA):

From ‘Anomaly‘ (image by Bjorn Hansen, Sydney):

From ‘Anomaly‘ (image by Bjorn Hansen, Sydney):

Did I ever publish these, by Frits Kraefft in Holland? Memory like a sieve.

Hope you all had the most wonderful of Christmasses.

How to irritate models:
– Keep them waiting outside the front door while you stand right inside shouting and swearing loudly on the phone, then later mention that the session didn’t start on time so you don’t feel you’re getting the full period shooting.
– begin the shoot (after barely a hello) by staring rudely at each model, listing aloud any perceived flaws or challenges.
– insult one model’s hair colour and rant excessively about a previous victim’s freckles.
– offer wine/beer 4 times in the space of a two hour shoot. And a whip.
– Spend a large part of the shoot photographing either up-nostril or downwards onto the models, paying little heed to any ideas of perspective or where the light is falling at any given moment and making sure to get at least 15 high-speed, near identical fires of each pose.
– spontaneously give free (misguided) critique and career advice to one of the best and popular international nude models around.
– admit, towards the end of the shoot, that the models are ‘not bad, actually’.
– suggest implied non-consensual sex as shoot concept.
– ask, after all of the above, if either model would be interested in a second shoot sometime.

… Seriously, it’s so extremely rare (as you can tell) that I don’t love my shoots it became a comedy. We couldn’t stop laughing by the end.

And to balance things out with a wonderful experience, here’s something from two days ago, by Bjorn Hansen, who was creative, positive and pleasant, and whose request for a second shoot I very much hope to be able to take up!!

= happy model journeys.

As was fairly predictable, I’m loving Ozland so much that I’ve slightly extended my trip to include Melbourne and Canberra as well as Sydney twice. Just (im)patiently waiting for the inexplicably inefficient travel agency to confirm my flight home but 99% sure to be back at the very beginning of December. Will be floundering in jet lag for a couple of days thereafter, no doubt, but then will be raring to go for UK shoots! Please do email me to book something in for Dec or Jan! Would love to hear from you! 🙂

And here’s an image from Jeff Wack, made from something we did when I was in LA. Jeff’s digital illustration is so well done, I think, and his commercial portfolio is truly impressive. I was telling a photographer recently about my embarrassingly narcissistic superhero dreams (I have saved the world many, many times) and that very day, this incredible image arrived in my inbox. Such a pleasure to be made into art work like this!

I can’t believe it took so long for Ken Pegg and I to work together – I have admired his beautiful, distinct photographic style for such a long time and eventually the time came to go to his house and play dress up. I actually thought I’d blogged these already… Oops! Luckily I have them saved on the tablet I’m travelling with and can publish them here now! Hope you like them!

Some fresh new images from a couple of days ago (though my computer back home hosts a wonderful backlog of images made earlier). These are by Warren Jopson, who booked me for his first experience of shooting nudes. In fact this was the third shoot in two days which involved this same ‘first’ – and each photographer did fantastically well, making some great images!

These were shot using natural light only (and no skin retouching), in a warehouse then outdoors by water. (I have learnt on this trip that Australia has sharks even in its rivers, by the way. I can’t even explain how crazy that seems to a Brit.) In each of the two locations we did some simple nudes then some with the black sheer dress. I’d posed earlier in the day for the excellent Jessalee Make Up’s demonstration at a burlesque event, so this shoot had the sneaky benefit of her maquillage.

I’m in the hippie haven that is Byron Bay now. Last time I was here I painted and learnt how to play a didgeridoo, amongst other things. Such a beautiful part of the world, and heaven for vegetarians.