OMC: What do you do to improve?

PT: I make a lot of sketches of people and portraits I see. I saw somebody like this (sitting with legs splayed out, knees touching and toes pointed in) and I thought "Wow. That's fun. What can I do with this?"

OMC: What skills do you need to be an art model?

PT: You have to be able to hold a pose for a long period of time, and the more flexible you are the better.

OMC: Do you see any similarities between fashion and art modeling?

PT: Absolutely not. I could never be a fashion model. It's a totally different frame of reference. Some artists would say that drawing "attractive" models is boring. What's there to look at? One of the beautiful aspects of art modeling in that whatever goes wrong with me -- whether I lost a breast or get a lot of wrinkles -- the more my value as an art model goes up. It's a lifetime profession.

Once, a woman asked me if I eat before I model, because it might make my stomach bigger. I had never thought about this, and it is totally irrelevant to what I do.

OMC: Tell me about the special outfits you wear to and from art modeling gigs.

PT: I started wearing the outfits in 1999. I met another art model who believed art models were performance artists. Initially I poo-pooed the idea, but then I began to feel that I was a performance artist. So I went to a costumer at the Skylight Opera Theatre. I had seen a picture of a 19th Century French infantry soldier overcoat with a straight skirt underneath and I wanted to wear that before and after modeling. Having an outfit helps me to perceive myself as a performance artist, and to prepare holistically for what I want to do when I model.

OMC: Do you ever get bored while modeling?

PT: Yeah. Doing performance art has helped me. Now, during long poses I go over the text in my head. Sometimes it's frustrating, because I think of something and wonder if I'll be able to remember it until the break. As a writer, description has always been hard for me, and when modeling I can look at people and think about what I would write if I was going to describe them.

OMC: Have you ever fallen asleep?

PT: No, I've never slept during a pose, but I've seen others fall asleep. I've had moments when I've started to nod off.

OMC: Sorry, but I have to ask this: Have you ever passed gas while modeling?

PT: Absolutely. (Laughing) I try to be careful what I eat on modeling days.

OMC: What's it like seeing so many nude drawings of yourself?

PT: People who haven't done a lot of drawing usually project their own physicality onto me. But I try not to watch people draw. I don't make eye contact, either. I usually look out the window. I feel the artists are much more vulnerable than I am. But sometimes, people want to show me their work after class, and that's fine, and I do have a couple of student drawings.

OMC: Tell me about your upcoming show, and what lead up to it.

PT: The past 22 years as an art model have given me a particular point of view that allows me to speak from a vantage point most people don't have. A lot of people are very disassociated from their bodies. They don't look in the mirror other than to see if their make up's on right, but I have this experience at least once a week that allows me to be really attached and has given me a certain perspective.

Anyway, the show is called "Full View," and it's a 50-minute performance piece. It's about my experiences as an art model.

It's pretty remarkable that I am doing this show at the Haggerty Museum. The museum has been known in the past for being fairly straight-laced, but Lynne Shumow, curator of education and community outreach at the Haggerty, arranged for me to appear. She works in progressive ways to make the visual arts come alive for people.

"Full View" overlaps and intertwines the voices of models and artists to explore identity, gender, art and religion. The show will take place Tues., Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Haggerty Museum of Art. Call (414) 288-5915 for more information. This performance is free and contains nudity.