Dear Linda and Patricia,
Thanks for being the first brave souls to comment! I can certainly relate with the feeling that this and a few more nude self-potraits may generate a mass exodus.
But I hope not. Linda, It would be nice to see some of your original nudes posted. Please do!
The circular shapes are of an old piece of architectural salvage my wife found once: an ionic order capitol, I believe. It was intended as a device to represent a weighty burden on my back. Since you've expressed curiosity about what it is, I just took a snapshot of it sitting abandoned in the corner of my studio. Since this photo is not of a nude I hope it is okay to include for conversational purposes. The shape above that was a nicely painted Blue Hubbard squash, until I smeared brown paint all over it at the last moment! I see there is even a tiny dried gourd remaining atop the capitol in the photo below.
Some days I am still in this mood (Today perhaps? So much that needs to get done in so little time). Thanks again!
Garth