IT'S A MANZ WORLD

BILLY - Note: Most of my Manz World stories are fictionalized accounts of how the painting shown here came to be. However, some of the stories are rooted in truth.

Over the years I’ve visited a number of nude beaches, camp or resorts. Sometimes I attended by myself, at other times it was with a friend or two. Sometimes I would go to special events, like a volleyball tournament, and meet a group of my friends there. One of those good friends was Billy.

Billy was a couple of years older than me when we first met. I was in my early 20s—I think either 22- or 23-years old—which made Billy in his mid-20s. We initially met at a birthday party for one of my nudist friends. However, I had actually seen Billy once before. That happened on a hot summer day when I was visiting the local nudist camp where I was a member. I was standing in the shallow end of the outdoor pool talking with a friend when a young man I had never seen before opened the gate to the pool area and walked toward the deep end of the pool where there were a number of lounge chairs. What I saw was a rather handsome guy sporting a very athletic body. That body was not overly muscled but very toned. He had what some people call a ‘swimmers physique.’ He was tall—maybe six-foot—and lanky. I could not help but notice that his chest and abs were well sculpted and his back was broad at the shoulders. And, although his legs were long, they were well defined and were attached to a very well developed butt.

While continuing my conversation with my friend, I watched the newly arrived young man as he spread a large towel onto one of the lounge chairs. My thought was that he was going to sit and sun himself for a while. But he didn’t. Instead he walked to the edge of the pool and dove in. Immediately, he started swimming laps. He was a natural in both form and speed. As I watched him swim from one end of the pool and back, my thought was that he must have been a member of a swim team in school. While trying not to gawk, I was fascinated by this guy’s ability in the pool.

A number of minutes went by as this young man swam his laps. Finally, having finished those laps, he pulled himself out of the pool. With his naked body dripping wet from his swim, he walked to the lounge chair, picked up a towel and dried himself off. It was at that time that he lay down and began to relax under the warm sun.

The next time I saw this young man was at the birthday party for one of my nudist friends. Being new to the group, the host introduced him to the attendees. We were told his name—Billy—and were informed that he had recently moved into the area. We were then encouraged to personally welcome him which is what I eventually did. The conversation at first was a bit superficial. My questions were rather typical. Where did you move from? What do you do for work? And, having seen him at the camp, I asked him if he was new to nudism. He told me he was from Vermont, that he was a computer engineer and had moved here when hired by a local company. He then replied, “No, I’m not a newbie nudist but, in Vermont, I didn’t have much opportunity to get naked. At least, not outside.” He then laughed as he said, “You know, it’s cold up there. Summer lasts for about two weeks! Otherwise, you freeze your butt off.”

Over the summer Billy became a regular visitor to the camp and, as such, became a member of my circle of friends. He had a very easy manner and a joyful spirit so he was a natural fit for our group. Although he was not very experienced in the game of volleyball he eventually became a member of our team. Within a short time Billy and I bonded, becoming very good friends that would see us meeting up after work for dinner or even going to a movie or a concert.

Having gotten to know me well, Billy became aware that I was an artist and that I had a special interest in developing my skills in drawing or painting people, especially nudes. Given the trust he had in me I eventually asked if he had ever posed for a painting. He laughed and said he had not. That conversation took place one summer afternoon at the camp as both of us were lounging naked on our towels on the grassy edge of the pool area. I was rather taken aback when he added, “So, would you want me to pose for you?” He then made a sweeping move with his hand over his naked body and said, “Like this?” I smiled and nodded in the affirmative.

The painting above is one that reminded me of that very moment when he agreed to pose. I used a rather new technique, making the painting seem like it had been spotted by water. That was in reference to the pool where I initially saw Billy and his water spotted body.

Because he seemed to enjoy being the subject of my paintings Billy posed for me several times over the next couple of years. It was at the end of the next summer that Billy was promoted within the company because of his exceptional abilities with computers. Unfortunately, for my friends and I, by the next spring Billy was on the move once again. His company reassigned him to another of their facilities in California. By that time there were many of us who recognized that our relationship with Billy was a strong one and that he would be terribly missed. As a parting gift, I gave Billy one of the nude paintings I had done. He was genuinely surprised and gave me a big hug in return. He then said, “I guess I won’t be hanging this on my living room wall. I think my mother would be a bit shocked.”