Master Paul's Words about the origins of the artwork created by himself and Softdsire
Softdsire was new to the lifestyle and found friends in the AHS chapter in K.C. who were willing to spend time with her online answering questions and supplying information. Her and I were at that time also speaking to each other online about the lifestyle. At that time I was not interested in becoming a member of the lifestyle and felt it was simply new language designed to define primal instincts and as such was aimed at group structures as opposed to pesonal relationships. I wanted only a personal relationship that was mutually rewarding and could not see how outside organizations could help us find this happiness.
Time proved me wrong as meeting the members of AHS and St. Louis Leather and Lace evaporated the misconceptions I had about the type of people I would find in the lifestyle. There was something else we found besides finding warm, creative, and supportive people.
A proud owner of a large collection of floggers showed his collection to Soft. She was immediately enthralled. She said she was attracted to the flogger in a powerful way that she couldn't understand. As she had done much leatherwork in the hippie years of the late 60's, she also looked at them with another part of her brain. The part that said "I can make these." I watched with interest and pleasure as she pursued the flogger makers' craft with a vengeance. She created new designs and concepts. She made mistakes and obsessed over them until she figured them out. She asked flogger makers she respected about their products. Some jealously guarded their secrets. Others were friendly and informative. She quickly became a craftsman in her own right. She created some new weaves and knots. She was beginning to blossom.
The next step on her journey she took more reluctantly. We were purchasing leather one day when I noticed a display of polymer clay. I was aware of her abilities as a sculptress. Something connected in my mind. I suggested she make a sculptured handle. She didn't quite embrace the idea. I purchased some of the clay along with the leather. I have done some work in polymer in the past. I did it mostly for my own enjoyment and as a fun project with my young children. I did a polymer representation of an old time thanksgiving dinner at the request of a co-worker for a children's display for her church group. Now I had to do a flogger handle that would inspire what I knew lay within my talented but reluctant submissive.
It became an allegory for our journey into the lifestyle. She responded with a beautiful angel. She followed through with more works that have brought joy to many others and myself. As in my reluctant journey into the lifestyle blossomed into understanding and warm acceptance, her reluctant journey into the marriage of her skills blossomed into a true calling. We have supported encouraged each other in our journeys to the point that we have blossomed as artists and lifestylers who continue to blossom.
Her entry into the world of lifestyle art in a non-functional medium started with a sculpture she set on a rock we found during a float trip. She has expanded into breathtaking representations of lifestly art on crystal and natural stones and minerals that touch me in the same primal way I felt touched by her when we first met.
This is the only business project I have ever been involved with that brings more joy than money. Whether it is waiting for the next handle to be born or facing the challenge of a special commission or project that materializes a customers fantasy, every day is worth waiting for. Every flogger and sculpture feels worthwhile. We have found our calling. We have also found many talented and wonderful artists who we sometimes collaborate with. Santee Rockslab has done some beautiful cabochet work for our handles and is preparing a cabochet collar setting for us. Luvswish7 is a marvelous artist in many mediums including sculpture, sketching, and web making. There is no shortage of imagination and talent in this group of people who make up the lifestyle we share. We hope that through our work we can repay some of what we have received
You can contact Soft and her Master here.