Being immortalized in art has always been fashionable, but posing in your underwear requires a degree of courage. Fiona Adams reveals (almost) all in a boudoir session with artist Skye Holland
Back in the time of Vermeer, it was considered the height of fashion – not to mention indulgence – to have one’s portrait painted. In those days, if you yearned for anything more than a miniature, you had to be both rich and blessed with enough free time to sit for hours bedecked in jewellery and heavy brocade. The result – whether it looked like you or not – was more a statement of wealth and social status than a piece of art to be savoured and enjoyed.
Nowadays, the advent of the selfie has rather muffled the call for classical portraiture. Or so I thought, until I came across Skye Holland, a highly trained and vastly experienced artist who works out of a studio in Hawks Road, at the Norbiton end of Kingston.
Not that Skye’s subjects pose stiffly in their Sunday best. Indeed, most of her clients are hardly wearing anything at all. For Skye specializes in the art of boudoir portraiture, in which women – frequently brides – and the occasional couple pose in next to nothing for sexy or sensual mementoes. Not photographs, but beautiful charcoal drawings with flashes of colour: a slash of lip stain, a stocking top, or even a hat or mask.
And somehow, on a rainy Monday in February, I find myself outside her studio, waiting to be admitted for a portrait of my own. I say ‘somehow’ because having my picture painted or drawn, in nothing but my frillies, is not an enterprise that I have seriously contemplated hitherto. Photos of me fully clothed are bad enough, without adding a state of déshabillé into the breathless mix.
And yet here I am, encouraged by my fellow editors – who later gleefully admit that they would never put themselves through such an experience – and as I wait for Skye to let me in, I realize that there is no going back.
I haven’t told my husband about this, as I hope to present the finished piece as an unusual, surprise birthday gift. And I certainly haven’t told my children. Blessed with an abundance of teenage tact, they would no doubt simply brand me as ‘weird’.
In fact, I’ve been a little in denial about the whole thing. In the half an hour before leaving home I fling a few ‘props’ for the session into a bag: a bottle of red wine and a glass (my hubby is an oenophile), a red lipstick (for courage) and a heart-shaped jewellery box, a gift from my husband to remind me of why I am here. I have spent some time rummaging through my underwear drawer to find my nicest bra and pants, before trying out a few poses in front of my bedroom mirror, desperately trying to hold in my stomach and look sexy. This makes me feel worse than ever.
Nevertheless, here I am. Skye, thank goodness, is warm and welcoming and my pulse rate slowly recedes as we wind our way through the rabbit warren of corridors to her bright and homely studio space. Opening a bottle of champagne and handing me a glass, she is clearly eager to hear my thoughts on my portrait, but I am keener to learn more about her typical customer and how she got going in the first place.
“It was all down to my daughter,” explains Skye, who also has a grown-up son. “She asked me to draw her naked so she could give the picture to her then-boyfriend for his birthday. That gave me the idea, as I saw how empowering it was to create something so personal. For a year I did case studies and it all evolved from there. The pictures became a medium for women to express themselves in a private way.
“Most of my clients are in their 40s, but there have been one or two in their 50s and 60s who have wanted to do it for fun or, in one case, because her husband thought it would be a wonderful present. Often the pictures are meant as gifts for birthdays or anniversaries, though occasionally a woman will commission me to create a portrait just for her own enjoyment. It seems to help women fall in love with themselves; they bare their flesh and they bare their souls too. Here you can bring anything you want. One lady brought a Philip Treacy hat plus Myla underwear. Another was into burlesque, so she brought feathers and theatrical props. Less is often more, but if you’re happy with it and feel confident, who cares?!”
But why, in the era of Photoshop, do Skye’s clients prefer drawings to a photographic shoot?
“I think women feel better about boudoir drawing than photography because it seems timeless, yet contemporary at the same time. Not at all seedy either. There is a lot of pressure on people to look perfect, in magazines and on social media, but this is not about that. It’s about a woman’s journey through life – and mine to an extent, as a wife, mother, partner. It’s been equally empowering for me.”
Skye, who grew up in Reigate, was born to profoundly deaf parents and was, in fact, the only hearing member of her family.
“I was the first hearing child in two generations. As a mainly deaf family, our communication was very much based on visual signals, which has proved vital to me as an artist. In portraiture of any kind, the art is to ‘read’ your subject, capturing the essence of that person.”
Skye’s father was a social worker for the deaf, while her mother was involved in “the rag trade”.
“She worked at a dress manufacturing company, creating clothes for Joseph, Mary Quant, Ossie Clark and Susan Small,” explains Skye, showing me a sketchbook of her mother’s from the 1950s. The gorgeous and elegant sketches leave no doubt as to the source of Skye’s creative talent.
Having studied at Wimbledon School of Art and Central Saint Martins, from which she graduated with a First, Skye married an architect, had two children (Emmanuelle and Lucien) and moved with her family to Johannesburg, where she taught art.
These days she is no longer with her husband and her son works in Australia, while she herself lives in Hampton, working with interior designers, exhibiting at art fairs and creating her own art works. And then there is the boudoir portraiture, which in October is taking her to a residency in New York.
But back to her studio and the chaise longue, upon which I am now draped with one hand holding my second glass of champagne, the other resting along the back. I use the term ‘resting’ in its broadest sense – ‘clutching for dear life’ would actually be nearer the mark. Skye and I have spent the morning discussing the sort of picture I am looking for, before a session during which I posed in various standing positions and Skye drew and took photos from which to work. Now, a delicious lunch behind us, the real work is about to begin.
After a while I have just about got over the fact that I am prancing about in my underwear before a complete stranger, but I remain determined to hold my tummy in – a task rendered rather more difficult by our recent repast. And I still feel self-conscious. Skye is professional and friendly, but it’s hard to relax while staying still for up to 15 minutes at a time, and she has to remind me gently not to grip the chaise longue (it alters the muscle tone in my arms, apparently). I am, after all, supposed to be looking languid and come-hither.
When I leave, Skye gives me a hug and tells me that my portrait will be ready in a week or two. Her clients are usually thrilled with the results, she assures me, and I am eager to see for myself. When the image pings into my inbox, I see that my face looks a little serious and I remember that my nerves never really left me. But Skye has been kind with my tummy, and my legs and hair do look rather lovely.
Later, holding the real thing, I feel rather proud of what I’ve done; and my husband, who doesn’t care whether I hold in my stomach or not, and has long nagged me to become immortalized in art, is genuinely thrilled with his present. If nothing else, the experience has taught me that we should make peace with our bodies; that we should learn, as Skye says, to fall in love with ourselves.
“Every day we put on our armour, but when we undress, we disarm. It makes us vulnerable, but it’s also empowering and fun.”
To view further portraits from the nude collection go to theboudoirportraits.com; or skyeholland.com to find more examples of her work
For more great local interviews click here, like our recent piece about former loose women presenter Jane McDonald
Finally why not follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest local news?
