Continuing from my last newsletter, I returned from my stay in Benidorm at the end of January. Whilst there, the weather during the day was warm enough to be pleasantly naked, but the evenings were particularly chilly (6 degrees C.) I was quite impressed by the popularity of life drawing among the expat communities to whom I was introduced, most being retired folk seeking the sun, and I enjoyed posing for a number of sessions for them - and it made a nice change to be nude in the open air! My efforts were highly appreciated, I am glad to say, and a lot of my efforts were posted online, including facebook group pages. Sessions were held in a variety of venues, such as mobile home sites outside the town and function rooms in hostelries. A couple of dedicated artists used me for a painting with a rather sombre theme entitled "Solemn Nude awaiting Execution", occupying two days of work, and one of them drove me into the rather mountainous countryside near Guadalest to take photographs of me nude in quite dramatic settings.
As foretold when I last wrote, I also met up with representatives of the "Ermanidad" who are looking forward to crucifying me this Easter . I was wrong about the actual location: I got my two Alhaurins mixed up. I am going to be crucified in Alhaurin de la Torre, not el Grande. There is in fact an annual crucifixion event in Alhaurin el Grande organised by a separate group, but the participants wear loin cloths and the event is very public. The bodies of the victims in el Torre are naked and the event is confined to privately invited attendees. The people who came to see me were highly interested in my previous crucifixions as described in my earlier homepage essays, especially my volunteering for the medical study into the effects of crucifixion on the human body. They were also impressed by my powerful spiritual motivation and identification with St.Dismas, the good thief who died alongside Christ. They photographed me and took measurements for the crucifix to which I am to be tied; I also had to sign affidavits saying that I was aware of the risks involved, including death, and that I was willing to go ahead nonetheless.
On my return home, I learnt that one of the artists for whom I do private modelling work, Jim Furnivall, had broken his right wrist and right kneecap after a fall. He has no family,and finding it difficult, so I have stepped in to do what I can to help in doing chores, getting shopping, etc.This means I am having to intersperse my modelling commitments with caring for him. Fortunately, he is left handed, so he can still do nude studies of me.
Did you see the programme on BBC2 earlier this month featuring a life drawing session? Fascinating, particularly as I was involved in modelling for a similar programme on Channel 4 some years ago. That comprised a series of five half hour programmes - called "Life Class - Today's Nude"- spread over a week with a different model for each one, and with noteworthy tutors - one being Maggie Hambling, a famous sculptress. I did two poses in my programme, both fully nude unlike the BBC programme which involve strategically placed cloths! The idea was that viewers could draw the models from their screen and upload their images to the C4 website, which many did - and the same with the BBC programme. This was not my only appearance on TV: I also appeared nude in "My Secret Body" on Channel 5, "Diet Doctors" , and a programme in which I posed naked to test the artistic talents of participants in "Britain's Got Talent." And by an amazing coincidence, there was the "Great British Pottery Throw Down" the following week, a light hearted programme in which the contestants had to do sculptures of two naked models, of either sex, posing as Aphrodite and Adonis. They did well to create quite interesting pieces of work in a very constricted timeframe. And then there was Mary Beard on BBC4 on the theme of nude art: good to see more programmes flying the flag for artistic nudityt!
Kenneth 20th Feb 2020:
My email is
GYMNOS.550@hotmail.co.uk.
And I can be reached on 07890 661717.
I can also provide plenty of images of my work.
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