Tuesday August 24th, The Keyhole Sessions is presenting its second Girls On Film special event. 5 models, one rigger, one Madame, two hours of shooting in a very decadent space. Our location this time is The Foundation Room, right at the foot of Church Street here in Toronto.
Our last Girls On Film event was heaps of fun and produced some fantastic work. This time around, we’ve got the chance to step it up a notch and hope the photographers who decide to join us are ready for it.
Tickets have to be purchased in advance, to guarantee we have enough interest to make the night worthwhile. Click here for our Eventbrite page to purchase tickets.
The above is from PRINT magazine’s 2004 sex issue, a detail of this image here. Words and illustration by Danny Gregory, about his visit to Berlin’s international fair for the sex trade.
I just want to say for the record that I DID NOT POSE FOR THIS IMAGE. That’s just another bald rigger in a black t-shirt with a black cuff on his wrist.
My new rope case!
I’d had this idea in my head for a while before I finally got it together to make it a reality. I think of this as being a test version, a first draft. If I like it enough, I can see myself investing in a new case and spending a bit more time on the design & aesthetic. For now, this works.
I bought an old electric guitar hardcase from craigslist, screwed some hooks into the frame of the case on top and the lower edge of an internal shelf on the bottom half. The hooks give me enough storage for at least 4 15′-30′ bundles in the top half and at least 4 30′-50′ bundles in the bottom half. When it’s open it’s free-standing, which means I don’t have to dig through a bag to find the length I need. I can grab & unhook it quickly.
I still need to figure out how & where to be able to attach my suspension ring, and probably a couple of carabiners and safety shears as well.
Obviously this isn’t something I’d carry around on a day-to-day basis, or even if I was just carrying a bit of rope somewhere for casual play. It was more made with performances or workshops in mind, something where I’d like the gear I’m using to give whatever it is I’m doing a little extra kick. There’s also the fun part of when people see me carrying the case and ask, “What you got in there, a guitar?” I can just look at them and say, “No.” And leave them thinking…
August will be a month of firsts, for me. To start off, I’ve been invited by Lady Viktoria of Kinky4Play.ca to give a workshop this Friday called “Tying Up Girl Parts”. I guess a year of Tuesday nights has given me somewhat of an insight into that. I’ll be co-presenting – and I’m happy and excited about this – with Dart, a fantastic rigger and all around excellent human I met at the first ToroGRUE. He’ll be talking about tying up Boy parts, something I’d like to know more about. Another time, I suppose.
You can find more information about this Friday, and all of their other workshops here. I’ve also got two workshops coming up later in the month at Lucky You!. More information about those on Lucky You’s website and also in the Work section of this site.
The ToroGRUE 2 happened. After a lively meet & greet Friday night, Saturday was a day full of amazing discussions from a mix of brilliant minds. Sunday, lots of pancakes happened, made by Men in Kilts, followed by a little bit more GRUEing. I don’t think any of us were expecting the Sunday session to continue quite as it did, but I for one loved it. Graydancer has a post up about his impressions of this GRUE – the second in Toronto, and certainly not the last – as well as what I think might be the best picture of him and I I’ve seen to date:
Men In Kilts With Kitchen Implements
Our first ever Girls on Film Keyhole Session happened. Lots of fantastic shots came out of that night. A sure success, and one we’ll for sure be repeating. I had a LOT of fun, tying for Keyhole in a way I don’t often get a chance to. Fast, and for restraint as opposed to purely aesthetics. A pretty complete collection of shots from that night can be found here One of my favourite shots of the evening, below, was taken by VoulaVous and I think is simply lovely.
The following week The Keyhole Sessions and Art Battle Toronto teamed up for Art Battle 6. The final Battle of that night was two artists painting two of our models. I tied in front of the Art Battle crowd… not sure what they were expecting but they were certainly paying attention. Sonya shot a video of me tying, which is good as it shows the crowd around us but I still find it very strange watching myself tie on video.
As a result of my work with The Keyhole Sessions I’ve been invited to give a workshop on Tying the Female Form as part of Kinky4Play. That’s happening mid-August. I’ll post more details as they come up.
I discovered a new online artist (thanks to a blog post by Violet Blue) whose work I admire and am following with great interest. Ben Newman keeps a blog at bennewmanart.blogspot.com and is very much worth a look. Here’s a sample piece of his. (I am such a fan of the red rope in this.)
"Handle with Care" by Ben Newman
Part of the Sunday session at the GRUE was a discussion I led (after making many pancakes and watching Graydancer wrassle with my partner A.) on Philosophies of Service. I’m expanding that with more notes and thoughts, with the idea of eventually turning it into a class. Yes, I’d like to get on that touring circuit. But I don’t feel any great need to get on that circuit as a rope educator. At least, not at this moment. Who knows, that may change with time.
A lifedrawing class for those who like their subjects a little on the racy side. Click the image above for more information. Next Session: Tuesday January 11th 8:00 PM Follow us on Twitter @KeyholeSessions
