by Jamie Cotton

In my interview with Dan McCormack for this issue, he emphasizes that art is an expression of the personal, that it not only provides an opportunity to be intimate with the world, but also demands such intimacy. As a model who insists that figure art be a co-creative process with the photographer, from the very first time I stepped naked in front of the lens, I relished this call to reveal my most intimate self for the sake of art.  In fact, I found a profound awakening in the process. As a writer, I've just begun to break through to the truly personal. It's been a process of fear, determination, enlightenment and, finally, self discovery. I feel that my writing is more powerful than ever. More importantly, as a person I've grown into a special place of revelation.

In the last few months while I've been away from the Sensuous Line, I've gone through some profound life changes. Possessions have been obtained and destroyed; significant relationships have crumbled; emotions have taken flight, plummeted, and struggled to their feet again. I am a fine crystal glass that has slipped through the hands a of a child and now lies shattered on the kitchen floor. But rather than be swept up, I prefer to lie here and watch the way the sun glints off of my beautiful and threatening shards. I will call my life a new art-- a different art--and look for what is revealed when things fall apart.