I just showed mom the land behind the house, which is more or less in good condition. “I want to use this space for nude modeling, mom”, her face was initially inescrutable, so I kept on going:

“I’ve been working on this space for nearly a year and it’s very close to being beautiful, but I couldn’t find a use for it. But it occurred to me: this is a very convenient spot with a lot of privacy, and I want to learn to draw the human figure but now is not supposed to be a good time. I don’t even have the money to pay for lessons, even if they were available.”

—I can’t approve of that, son, you know I’m very conservative.

“But you’re an artist, mom! This is not about sex, it is about art. I want to learn how to draw and I wished there was someone who had a garden who would offer natural drawing in a natural setting.”

She grew in enthusiasm as I projected ideas: here will be the model and I can put chairs here, but her approval was always grudgingly, finally she said “I want no part of it”, to which I replied “I will invite you to the sessions”, to which she displayed some enthusiasm.

We parted ways, me to begin writing this, and she to do some reflection, I guess, and she came back to say “I just don’t want that Marina is your first model, she has a boyfriend and he will be jealous”. “Well mom, actually, I would prefer that he come if that would make her feel more comfortable”.

“And models who do not have a boyfriend, how can you guarantee that they can make it back home safe?”

—“Well, I can take them home”

—“That’s smart, but how?”

—“They could sit on the cargo platform of the bike”.

And we both laughed.

Intuitively I sense her enthusiasm will outgrow her conservatism.