Chicks with Balls by Judy Takács: Boxing with Sandy

Monday, October 5, 2015

Boxing with Sandy

Sandy the quilt-maker pulls no punches
by Judy Takács

I offered Sandy some ball choices.

I also warned her that she needed to hold her gloves closer to her body if she wanted the coverage the balls she refused might have afforded.

Sandy felt it was more important to demonstrate correct boxing posture…even if it meant a possible nipple sighting. It was purely coincidental that the large central pose I liked best showed no breasts.…Sandy would have been okay with it either way.

I’m not surprised though, Sandy isn’t one to be squeamish about her body when it comes to creative endeavors. Literally throwing herself into her art as a quilt-maker, Sandy has painted her body with fabric dye and rolled on cotton muslin to create the fine art quilt that hangs behind her in her Chicks painting.

Shy, but eager to laugh with an infectious nervous energy, in talking to Sandy, I quickly discovered her fierce side. And to dispel any doubt, her necklace confirmed it.

Detail of Sandy’s “Fierce” necklace.

She has been boxing with a trainer now for the past few years and volunteered to pose with her pink boxing gloves. I was eager and thrilled to take her up on her offer; I’d been expanding the ball requirement for my recent Chicks poses.…pushing the envelope of women holding symbolic balls. The guidelines of a successful series should be a ladder for you to climb on, not bars to cage you.

The pink boxing gloves were perfect, and coincidentally well within my comfort zone too! On my easel for the past few months were paintings from a triptych with another model (actually, Kim Mettee, who has posed for Chicks, along other paintings) wearing red, vintage boxing gloves.

Lady in Waiting
by Judy Takács

The greatest reward, however, was painting Sandy’s fascinating face. Until I painted her, I really didn’t realize how structural, beautiful and just plain fun her features were. To maximize my fun, I started with a smaller portrait, worked up the central one and have a third in progress, so I could really explore her fabulously fun to paint features.

Fierce the quilt-maker
by Judy Takács

The large central image in this triptych is called, Sandy the quilt-maker pulls no punches and, the smaller one, which will appear on the left is Fierce the quilt-maker. As for the painting on the right side of the triptych…you’ll just have to come to the show opening on October 29, 2015 at Tri-C Gallery East to see it for yourself in person!