How posing nude - at 60 - is a lot like meditation

Here are the naked facts about Ruth Weisberg. Sixty years old. Lives in Narberth. Divorced. Mother of two. Produces and hosts the local cable TV program Storytime and Show' n Tell with Miss Ruth. Made a name as a voice-over artist.

And this one bare-all bit: Weisberg regularly poses for art classes in the buff, stretch marks be damned.

In a conversation at the Wayne Art Center, where she poses on occasion, Weisberg discussed her nearly 15 years as a nude art model, including how Pope John Paul II deserves at least some of the credit.

How did you become a nude model and what does the late pope have to do with it?

In fall of 2002, the late, great Philadelphia artist Nelson Shanks opened Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia. He was also working on a commissioned portrait of Pope John Paul II. I have a friend who was taking classes with Shanks, and she said, "Before we go to lunch, do you want to stop in the studio and see the work that I'm doing? You can meet Nelson Shanks. He's working on this portrait." I met Nelson. Before I left, the secretary said: "We're looking for art models. Would you be interested in posing for us?" And without blinking an eye, I said, "Sure."

You really didn't hesitate?

No. After that, I thought, "What does that entail?" I stopped another art model and said, "How do I get ready for something like this? Should I look at Playboy or Victoria's Secret?" He said: "No. Those models are deliberately lit and posed to look provocative, to show off the so-called naughty bits. This is not that. . . . Study classic paintings and sculptures and try to replicate those poses. If you can hold still for 20 minutes, you can be an art model, too." And that's exactly what I did.

What was the first time au naturel like?

It was a Monday morning at 9:30, and [Shanks] clapped his hands. "Pose, please," and with that I dropped my robe. I replicated David, the famous statue, where he's standing with one knee crooked and the arm bent. He's not a bad act to follow.

It must take a lot of guts to model nude at 46, let alone 60. Or are you completely comfortable with your post-childbirth body?

It wasn't the nudity that scared me. You don't need to have a model type. When you look at classic figures of fine art, the so-called Rubenesque figure, by today's standards, they would be plus-size. . . . The hardest part of modeling is holding still. Think how fidgety you are. And when you're in that environment, they're not looking at naughty bits. Far from it. They're looking at anatomy, shape, form, light, shadow, celebrating and revering the human figure. It's not at all salacious or a turn-on.

Besides visits to museums, how else do you prepare?

I also would study people who were not in motion. If people were waiting for a bus, or a train, or standing in line at the coffee shop, I would observe. I like the way they turn their foot or that gesture. Is the pose one of might or one of retreat? I'd bring emotion to the pose.

How do you choose the perfect pose to strike?

Generally, the shorter the pose, the more dramatic it can be. I can stand on one leg for a minute. If it's a longer pose, you want to do something you can hold. The killer is that artists love twisted poses. It's visually interesting and inspiring. For the art model, you're torqued. By the end, your spine hurts, your hip hurts.

But you still hold it?

Yes. Meanwhile, you have to create the same expression. You can't look like you're in agony.

What's the secret?

It takes an incredible amount of mental fortitude to cultivate the art of holding still. I meditate, with my eyes open, of course. I will listen to charcoal on paper, brush on canvas, certain things to get me to a place of stillness. It's a gift. We're so busy multitasking. What a rare opportunity to hold and be still for great lengths of time.

What's your record?

Typically it's 20 minutes on, 5 minutes off. That's enough time to shake out where that part of your body might have gone numb. One time, I posed for 90 minutes straight without a break. It was a portrait. I wanted to see if I could rise to that challenge, and I did. The most I've ever posed in a day is 9 hours. It was a class from 9 to noon, 1 to 4, and 7 to 10.

Do you dare look at the results of the artwork?

I will walk around the room . . .. One time I did a beautiful reclining pose, and when class was done, it looked like the landscape of Wyoming, the great sky country.

Any horror tales from the front of the classroom?

Oh, do I ever. One time I was posing at Haverford College. The professor decided it would be figure painting meets still life. Earlier that day, she picked up a beautiful fish. It was a striped bass. The scales were glistening. It was sitting on this beautiful platter of ice. When you pose, you're under strong light and you also have space heaters going. . . . After about an hour and half, the ice had melted into this aqueous slush. The fish was now sloshing around. The stench was just unbearable. I said: "Something has to go. Either me or the fish."

And?

They got rid of the fish. Another time I did this really strenuous twisted pose. You get pins and needles and go to numbness. When I went to stand up, I fell. Sometimes, the lights blind you. You can get burned by space heaters.

Finally, I have to ask, what do you do when you get an itch?

Well, think about the life cycle of an itch. It starts with awareness. You feel something. You think, can I work through this? I try to mind-psych the itch. Then, if I really have to, I will slowly take care of it and go back into position - depending on where the itch is.

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@exinkygal

TALK WITH RUTH WEISBERG

"What Happens When You Get an Itch?: True Confessions of a Nude Art Model," 12:30 p.m., Friday, at the Wayne Art Center, 413 Maplewood Ave., in conjunction with two exhibits — "The Nude Figure" and "The Nude, Mirror of Desire," both free and open to the public, through Nov. 19. Look for Weisberg in the "Silver Nude, Lovers" painting by Anne Leith of Berwyn.