I love engaging with my followers on social media. What I do as a nude model intrigues people. People are also curious about my personal life. I get all that and most the time I’ve come to realise that the general public are either misinformed, not educated regarding the industry; curious or ignorant.
This is meant with the most respect as I understand it is
not the “norm” to do what I do.
I have asked my followers on two platforms to send me questions that they have, as sometimes I am ask the same questions by different folks. This seems like a great way of answering these repetitive questions as well as for some to get to know a little more about the naked body on Social Media.
Have you ever
been sexually harassed by a photographer?
This is such a relevant question. Recently two models from our industry have come forth about two photographers who sexually abused them.
I have never been in such a predicament with my clients
or photographers, and I guess that is most likely due to experience as well as
the time I spend in researching who I work with. I am very passionate about
this topic and such a big ambassador and advocate for – against – this (research #metoo)
and busy organising an event that will be addressing sexual abuse, sexual harassment
and other traumatic experiences women today face; how to avoid certain scenarios
and situations and how to deal with any such happenings.
What is your
favourite aspect of modelling?
I am an artistic individual and see beauty in most
things. When I express shapes, emotions or just visual beauty; it gives me a
feeling of pride and accomplishment.
Knowing that what I do as a model, inspires others – even
a small minority – or allows others to see what I do as art or something
beautiful (rather than assuming it is sexual), is more fulfilling than the
attention received from the general public.
Should body
awareness and the taboo that goes with it be addressed in schools?
This question is something that I could write or talk
about for days!!
In short; it starts at home.
Parents are responsible for shaping the morals and
beliefs of their children (as well as guiding them and teaching discipline) up
to when those kids are old enough to make their own decisions.
Parents are all the products of their own upbringing as well as the expectations and rigid guidelines of “society”. Unfortunately years and years of mass control has led for all religion to instill a fear of God, of hell, and of governments. This has caused individuals to believe that nudity is shameful. It is wrong. It is sin!
The product of these fears and beliefs cause many problems with today’s world population.
Not being allowed something has proved for a lot of
people to go out and seek it. What I mean by that is that studies have proved
that drug use is higher in countries with stricter laws and control over it.
I firmly believe that if children are taught from an
early age to accept and embrace their own bodies and being brought up
indifferent of nudity; we would have a lower sexual abuse and crime rate
GLOBALLY. Furthermore; we would also have a generation of people who are more
body confident. This would lead to a healthier and higher self-confidence rate.
You would most likely have a lower bullying rate, and less self-harm, and
eating disorders.
Combine this with schools incorporating and backing this
upbringing – you would most likely find a healthier and stronger and ultimately
more successful population.
How does your
partner feel that you do these photoshoots?
My partner is my biggest fan. What I do as a profession
is exactly that. Yes I have no problem being nude in public; however I do not
pose naked for sexual satisfaction, nor to attract others for relationships or
sexual attention.
The way I like to explain it is when you look at a gynaecologist.
Or a vintner. Or a pharmacist
When a gynae has patients; they do not have affairs or intercourse or sexual experiences with their patients. It is a profession. Similarly vintners are not necessarily alcoholics nor do they sit and drink bottles of wine all day every day. As well as a pharmacist. They do not sit and inject or pop pills because they dispense it.
I take my passion – that is my job – very seriously. Yes
due to the nature I attract a lot of curious individuals and a lot of weirdo’s
This does not affect my relationships at home nor do my loved ones worry about
what I do. They support and love me and
most of all are all very proud of me, and the success I have achieved.
You have a
double barrel surname. Is the first or second one your maiden name?
My maiden name is Montgomery
What is your
favourite way of dealing with explicit messages?
This question came up in conversation a few times with
friends. It depends on the message (the approach) as well as my mood.
Inappropriate images I often just delete and block the
person. I do however sometimes reply with “Is that it?” ; “Why are you sending
me child porn?” ; “Thank goodness you showed me that, I am leaving my husband and coming to live with you. I do
have 7 kids so you will have to make room for them”
I’ve recently received a message where a guy told me that
he “wanks” to my images and how does that make me feel. My response was “excited
to share this news with your wife” – He blocked me after that.
Another message that read: “Bby I want 2 fck u” (yes
exactly like that); was met with “I am so sorry; however I do not understand
your dialect of stupid”. The individual replied with “I said I want to fuck u”
to which I replied “I am sorry I do not understand your dialect of stupid”.
This continued a few lines, and I gather he eventually gave up.
I have learnt not to take these messages seriously. That
there will always be someone who will try their luck or be a jerk.
I’ve been modelling for many years and only recently realised
that I am incredibly passionate about nude modelling. Not only nude modelling but
also being a “spokesperson”, industry representative and activist for nudity,
women empowerment, equality (feminism) as well as Body Positivity and #MeToo.
The actual deed or act of nude modelling has brought to
me not only liberation and freedom, but also a sense of empowerment. What many
people may not know about me; is that I have experienced sexual abuse several
times growing up. This in itself may cause a lot of people to deal with it in
ways that they would want to hide themselves, not show off their bodies or
whatever else.
For me? I turned
this around and I use my nudity as a weapon. As a stand against abuse. As a
method of control. I am able to express myself. Express my emotions and
passions. Create art with the human body
– all within my control.
Though on surface level you see a naked person; what I actually am is someone who is standing against society; against sexual offenders, and abusers. I am representing every girl and woman and standing for all to believe in themselves enough to know that you’re allowed to embrace and love yourself.
Please feel free to send me more questions, as I am always happy to answer them and to give people an insight in my world. I’m a very private person so you will not learn much about my partner, children or family and friends; however I will try and educate people about my profession.
Please also keep your eyes peeled on my FB, Twitter and IG sites for more information about my other business’, events and workshops.
We are all guilty of hypocrisy. It certainly isn’t intended, yet we all do this.
I have yet again had a rant on social media regarding some
of my posts being deleted from my pages. Taking it rather personally sometimes;
I can’t understand why people would report my images. It’s art after all! If
people do not like it; then they should scroll past or unfollow me!
This morning I read a post that made me stop and rethink
this thought process. If you know me; you’d know I’m all about love and
kindness. About tolerance and acceptance. Yet here I am throwing a wobbly like
a three year old, because I am not having my way. Because people are unfair!
I was brought up by my mamma to accept that everyone will
never think the same way, believe in the same things, and feel the same.
Example being that different religions; one believes modesty as part of their religious
culture and that it would be a sin to bare any skin or hair. The other believes
it would be wrong to eat certain kind of foods. Does it make either religion
wrong or right? No. There is no wrong or right. Similarly when you have someone
who believes a high protein or Keto diet is the way to go, and someone else
believes that you should really only have a plant based diet. Neither is wrong;
you do what is best for you and what is good for your reality.
So this post I read that was posted by a close friend;
states that nudity will always offend someone. Will always be “too this or too
that”. There’s no point in fighting this as we are all human and all very
different. And it dawned on me that I am an advocate for equality. For
supporting one another no matter what your thought processes are – yet here I am
getting angry for people not seeing or believing what I am, believe or stand
for.
Consider this
Surely it’s disrespectful to dismiss other people’s point of
views, opinions and beliefs? Yes it certainly is unjust for those to then
preach what is wrong with what you do and condemn you for it; however we live
in a society – all be it unfair mostly – where we have freedom of speech and
beliefs. Therefore surely we should be more considerate of one another’s lives
and how they choose to live it; or how we choose to express ourselves. Though I’d
implore each person to look past the superficial and perhaps to dig a little deeper as to what others do and how
they live prior to condemning them; I’d certainly also suggest to move along
should it not be your kind of “thing”. You know? Like when you get an invitation
to the movies, but you much rather sit at home? Or you’re vegan and invited to
a Buckhurst festival? You would politely decline and get on with life!
Based on the above I’ve decided to acknowledge that though I
am on a mission to not only empower other women – to feel proud of being
themselves and in their own skin, but also not to care what other’s think; I
will respect the fact that not everyone agrees on nudity. I may not understand
why. I may not necessarily agree on their thought processes; I will however
respect their opinions and move on. Rather than having a tantrum as to why
people don’t see life through my eyes.
I will continue with my work. Doing what I do; I hope to perhaps have some see something beautiful in what I do. Some to change their perception on the nude human form. And if I don’t; that is also okay.
I am often asked about my tattoos and it’s certainly a great conversation starter.
You may notice that I have a few and, they are all rather random. What I love about it; is that each of them has some meaning behind it, and whilst not everyone gets it; I feel that I’m a walking piece of art with a pinch of my biography.
My very first tattoo was a home job; done by a high school friend. In fact, he bought a tattoo gun but wasn’t quite sure how to use it. I actually repel to think what we did. We used the needle from the gun and manually poked my ankle whist dripping ink into the wound. Mine was a cross.
A badly done cross.
This sat on my ankle for 2 years. My mum wanted to kill me!! Thank goodness my mum was only thinking that, as my friend’s mum took sandpaper and bleach to hers. She didn’t come to school for a few days after that, as her ankle was badly infected.
The second which is still the first
I then became close friends with Pieter who had his first
tattoo shop across the way from my house.
Pieter “fixed” my mishap of a cross and covered it with a blonde angel. This was for my 17th birthday – and he designed/created it.
An angel with a snake wrapped around her and my star sign (Aquarius) above her head. I still have this piece on my ankle. This represented me (I was blonde at the time), and life experiences having a hold on me (the snake).
Tramp Stamp Generation
A year later I fell in love with the idea of a ….dum dum duuuuuum TRAMP STAMP! Not any tramp stamp…. A TRIBAL stamp – which I designed myself. It was pretty and fluffy and feminine. And Pieter did it for me too.
I then decided I had enough tattoos… That was short lived though as whilst living in the UK, I wanted more I realised. This took a backseat since I had to “adult” first and raise two babies.
Phoenix Rising
By the time I moved back to South Africa, I had decided I wanted a side or back piece (Only about 10cm big) of a phoenix. I have faced many adversities and managed to get over many stubbling blocks in my life time.
Associated with the Sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. According to some sources, the phoenix dies in a show of flames and combustion, although there are other sources that claim that the legendary bird dies and simply decomposes before being born again
I went off to a recommended tattoo artist who
told me that the bird I wanted was never going to look the way I wanted it to
look, at the small size I wanted. So they set out drawing what they said would
be the right size…. My entire back.
This was beautiful, and powerful and gorgeous. And I wanted it so badly, I told them to go ahead.
5 hours later; my body went into shock. The outline was done, but because I was so very skinny at the time as well as 5 hours is a long sitting – we called it a day. After that day I had another 4 sittings with this tattoo artist. A couple years later I went to a female artist who coloured my bird; added beautiful tail feathers and extended the wings.
Shortly after that I had my first thigh piece done. A crystal heart that represent my household, surrounded by my husband and children’s birth flowers.
But the bug has bitten. A couple years ago I
went AWHE Tattoo’s and had my thigh piece added to. I am obsessed with geometry
and ancient geometrical shapes – and the meaning of it.
I’ve added two triangles that are meant to be
prisms with a rose inside of each.
One is facing up and the other downwards. Triangles represent the past, present and future as well as body mind and soul. Pointing up triangle means strong foundation or stability; pointing downwards would signify ascend from above/heaven. Upwards triangle also indicates male as downwards indicates female. This all tied together with a plant motive (although the triangles aren’t together they grow together)
Medusa
My next piece is my Medusa.
In Greek mythology, Medusa was a monster, a Gorgon, generally
described as a winged human female with living venomous snakes in place of
hair. Those who gazed upon her face would turn to stone.
Though Tony and I stumbled across the idea, it has deeper meaning to me. And without divulging too much into that; it does represent a stage in my life where I have questioned male intentions.
Skull
Along came the skull. This piece is probably the only piece that doesn’t have a personal attachment for me. It’s F*#king amazing right?? At the end when we all pass away we return to bones then to dust. My pretty skull lady has my favourite flower (Orchids) on top her head and a mandala behind her and you can see glimpse of it through her eyes.
Flower of Life etc.
My next piece was my butterfly with the Flower of life and Metatron Cube. I am very spiritual and upon my journey to figure out what my purpose is; I have learnt that I am a 22 (in numerology this is a powerful number) and that I’ m a powerful healer. Metatron’s Cube starts with the Fruit of Life shape, and connects all 13 circles with straight lines. It’s named after Archangel Metatron, who watches over the flow of energy in creation and provides a connection to the divine.
My piece on my arm (which will likely grow into a sleeve) is
from my very favourite artist Chiara Bautista. Her art is a mixture of love
stories. To me I see the universe in all of them.
My latest tattoo is a vine-like plant on the right side of my body. This has so much potential to add to should I wish. I love plants and I’m rather surprised that I don’t have more on my body. Plants remind me of growth, Mother Nature, natural healing and most of all renewed love and beauty. Like second chances.
NEXT!
My next tattoo will be done on April Fool’s day. Though Tony
and I have a couple things we are adding to my art work; I still keep thinking
of new ideas.
I want people to want to take a closer look. Not think that it’s just another body covered in tattoos. Tony’s talent is beyond amazing!! I am blessed that he is my artist and has become such a dear friend. All of the AWHE team are incredible.
WILD WOMAN (n) A woman who has reclaimed her birth rite as an emotional and powerful being. A woman who does not confirm to societies expectations of her gender: but dances to the beat of her own drum.
She is sensitive and soft, fierce and honest. A truth seeker, wisdom carrier, and messenger of her ancestors 🖤
A wild woman is so many things, but this archetype is often misunderstood.
To every archetype there is both a shadow and integrated side
☾
Wild women are mothers who have reclaimed themselves. Committed lovers who prioritize self-love and understand that freedom is an inside job.
☾
Wild women are single women who choose to laugh, make love and play with whoever lights their spark, free of societal pressure or self judgment.
☾
A Wild Woman with integrated qualities has a thirst for knowing herself and a desire to go deep beyond the surface of what we see as normal. She is fierce, loving and honest. She is a seeker, a wisdom carrier.
☾
She is willing to walk alone to have what she deserves and she is willing to let love in when it arrives.
☾
She isn’t wild because she lives a certain way, she is Wild because she lives by the guidance of Spirit and her Heart.
I am feeling so incredibly blessed and humbled. When someone
asked me middle last year (2018) “when will the calendars come”, I responded
that it wasn’t a bad idea.
I put it to the test on my story line on Instagram and had such
a huge response that it was a done deal. We will have a calendar for 2019. We
fast approached December and with all the touring and workshops, I had little
time to decide which images would be best suited for this calendar. It had to
be special and exclusive. Not all that was posted and plastered on social media
and also not on my site – as the members would have seen it already (what would
make it so special then?)
Come January I still only had a handful of images. Some of
the images that I withheld from the public eye started to bore me – and if that
was the case; it would certainly bore he audience. Another issue I had was when
Tony my tattoo artist asked about his copy; I realised that the calendar will
be for all his clients to see too. It simply had to be above average.
Quality over quantity
After being in touch with various print companies, I shared my ideas (and some frustrations) with my photography sponsor Peter Driessel (Boudoir Fusion Photography http://bfphoto.co.za/ ). In case you didn’t know; he specialises in boudoir, nude, conceptual, weddings and pet photography.
Peter and I have become good friends so I trust Peter’s judgments
and listen to his suggestions. We have decided to shoot new images for the calendar.
Not only are these new images, they have not been seen before and after the
calendar is done; we wont release any of the images until February 2020.
Captured by Peter Driessel – Boudoir Fusion Photography
The race
And so, the race to get the calendar out (before 2020)
has begun! As we speak, Peter is busy with the final touches. We have created
and selected various images that would hopefully cater for all my followers’
tastes. Some studio work, some artistic, some funny, some sexy and sultry, and
some just soft and sensual. And what makes me so proud is that I not only get
to work alongside an award-winning photographer; our audience get exclusive
ownership to these images.
It will not get seen – unless you own a copy of this
calendar, or unless you see it from the owner of the calendar.
BLESSED
I have the best photographer that has assisted me in sharing
some beautiful work. I have had an amazing response with regards to buyers.
Some who have even bought a few as gifts for their mates. My international
followers requesting their digital copies (we will be releasing those at the
same time); and most of all: the support from everyone.
I love what I do. I love my art. I love expressing myself
through my work. Most of all; I’ve noticed that people have started warming up
to the idea of what I do. That there’s something magical and beautiful. No
hidden agendas. No hidden motives.
Just what you see (well – on social media it’s cencored!)
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