My Life As A Bowl Of Fruit

Where in the World is D today?

Today I was a bowl of fruit. Or maybe nice place setting. Or even cooler yet, geometric shapes!

Tomorrow will be the third time this week that I have been a model in the Art Dept. at MU. In these hard economic times I can use a few extra duckets as much as the next guy. It is neither glamorous or exotic. It is sometimes a little boring, but it is always fascinating.

The thing is while I'm sitting there being as still can be, I look at these young artists as intensely as they are looking at me. Here's the thing though. The don't really see ME. I think they see forms, colors, shapes, light, angles and textures. Thus, I might as well be a bowl of fruit.

But what I see from my perspective is passion, fun, insecurity, fear, and kindness. Their non verbals give it all away. There are five males and two females in the room. The women are Asian and mostly keep to themselves. They guys are looser and occasionally chat with one another. I love watching Matt, the instructor, work with them. It is a reminder to me that this is a learning process. Both for them and me. And it makes me want to do my very best for them. If you think it's easy staying in one pose for 3 hours with a break every half hour, I dare you to try it! It ain't as easy as it looks.

Creating Art is a beautiful and sometimes tedious process. Matt told the class today, "You need Darryl." That caught me a little off guard. He continued, "Art is not about the artifact, the picture, but the journey." Very Cool! As a musician, I totally got that.

They need me to learn and discover, to create. But I need them too. To be a part of a teaching/learning process. I am forever a learner myself.

At the end of the class Matt usually says thank you, and sometimes one or two of the guys will. But it's not necessary and I do not expect it. There is virtually zero verbal communication between me and them. (Today was the most with maybe three very brief exchanges.) That's just the way it is, and that's cool. But today one of those nice Asian ladies said in the softest and sweetest voice, "thank you".

Then I knew, just for an instant, she saw ME. I smiled real big and told her it was my pleasure. Because, it genuinely was.