Confessions of a Live Painting

A picture is worth a thousand words. That's for the one who is looking at it , of course. What about the picture itself? I mean, has anybody ever tried to feel like a picture being looked at by hundreds of strange eyes... plus the fact that you can't call out to them , you can't respond to them, you can't move and , if you're not looking straight ahead, you can't even stare back! Quite a situation , isnt it? I had a certain experience of this variety last week, when I was invited by a class of Art students to be a model for a painting.

The proposition thrilled me a lot at first, and seemed a tad funny when I sat in the model's seat, with about 25 pairs of eyes looking at me with absorbing interest. To be honest, it was quite a royal feeling,those first few moments, to be so worthy of the keenest attention of so many people at once! But as the minutes ticked on, the saying" uneasy lies the head that wears the crown" began gnawing at my feeling of royalty. No, I won't talk about the physical torture of sitting and staring in the distance as if you're deep in thought when all you're thinking is, "God, my back hurts!"

What really got me 'musing' (pun intended) was the growing feeling of my personal space getting more and more cramped by the minute. I mean, there are probing eyes that are silently outlining your eyebrows; someone's trying to perfect the shape of your eyes, a pencil is going over the curve of your lips and someone else is messing up your hairline. Its one of the topmost uncomfortable positions to be in....

Thats when I realised what its like to be a painting - complete strangers keep glancing into your eyes, barging thoughtlessly into your intimate space......sometimes admiring, sometimes inquisitive. And much as you may want to, you can't tell them to buzz off , or stick out your tongue at them!!Actually, the saying got a new meaning for me -- THE PICTURE IS DYING TO SPEAK A THOUSAND WORDS!!