Category Archives: Personal
Ethical Sluts
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about how hard she’s finding her relationship. Part of the problem is that they’ve been together for quite a long time and are monogamous. He’s not interested in negotiating any other kind of relationship and, frankly, she’s starting to go a bit crazy! Having spent years having a lot of fun and enjoying polyamorous relationships before she met him, she decided she wanted something with more of an emotional connection and committed to an exclusive relationship. At first she enjoyed the sexual and emotional exclusiveness but now she feels she cannot be truly herself in this relationship any longer. Even though she loves him, she has some sexual needs that she cannot live out with her partner. He does not want her to live out her kinkier desires with other lovers and she finds it impossible to repress those desires any longer. Until recently she has been ‘paying’ for the emotional security that the relationship offers with her freedom, having had to neglect parts of her sexual self in order to keep him happy and the relationship going.
This got us talking and me thinking about how important it is to be able to make choices about the kind of unique relationships you want, rather than being coerced into the kind society thinks is ‘normal’ and acceptable. I’m a big fan of the book The Ethical Slut by Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy, which is a classic for anyone interested in open relationships and how we can achieve sexual and personal freedoms whilst treating all the people we relate to with the utmost respect and honesty that everyone deserves.
One of the important ideas at the heart of this book is that everyone is an individual responsible for their own happiness, and that while we can have deep, loving connections with people, no-one should be responsible for someone else’s happiness. This approach to relationships is one that values everyone as strong, independent individuals rather than suggesting people are incomplete and need someone else to make them whole. This is especially relevant for women, who have been, and sadly often still are, conditioned to sacrifice their own life goals and autonomy in favour of romantic relationships. Not only that, but conventional opinion often encourages these sacrifices, positing emotional dependence as the only ‘right’ and ‘natural’ way to love another human being.
Of course this just isn’t true! It’s completely possible to be a strong, satisfied individual and to choose to love someone just because they’re so wonderful – in fact this must be the best way to love – out of choice rather than need! A relationship as the icing on the cake of our happiness rather than our emotional ‘bread and butter’. As my friend is currently finding out, love and sex can be two very different things. They don’t necessarily come together and can’t always be satisfied by the same person. Often we live out completely different facets of our sexuality with different people. And many of our fantasies involve multiple lovers.
Loads of the fantasies shared with me by my female audience involve some form of group sex. I enjoy turning these female fantasies into reality for my performers in my films: in Female Fantasies a woman is licked to orgasm by two skilled male lovers at once and in The Female Voyeur there’s a sumptuous, exotic orgy with sex slaves all pleasuring the women. These are the sorts of things so many women dream about that just aren’t possible if people aren’t allowed to think outside the monogamy box once they are in a relationship! And when you start to explore other options, dreams really can come true.
This is why I think challenging the cultural dominance of monogamy is an important part of female liberation. It’s not to say that some women depending on their situation or needs won’t want to choose a monogamous relationship anyway – I’ve been very happy in my monogamous relationship for years – but that often they don’t really get to make an active choice about it. The films I make are all focused on allowing women to be honest about what they want and what turns them on – and sometimes that just isn’t monogamy. As my despairing friend said to me, sex is like eating ice cream: strawberry is her favourite flavour but she doesn’t want to eat it all the time. Sometimes she wants other flavours she knows she likes, or to try new ones, and every once in a while she wants a giant sundae with whipped cream and a cherry on top!
In fact, her sweet tooth is so strong that eventually she did start to sample some other sexual flavours again, and her taste buds are tingling. But where normally she would be happy and blossoming if she had such an abundance of love and sex, the experience is tainted with an enormous sense of guilt – not because she’s enjoying sex with several people, but because she’s lying to her partner about it. It’s a tricky situation; she knows no matter what she says to reassure him he won’t give her the freedom she needs to be happy. She loves him very much and fears that her honesty would mean losing him. And this is the downside of a society that refuses to discuss or accept other relationship options: if you feel you cannot live with monogamy you are left with the choice to either end your exclusive relationship, or to live out your fantasies behind your partner’s back and lie. So in this case, he is still experiencing the very thing he can’t stand the thought of, he just is not aware what is going on. She can neither fully enjoy her sexuality (with other lovers) or her intimate, loving relationship with her partner without feeling guilty. It’s a lose-lose situation, and one that would really benefit from some openness and honesty. All involved deserve to know what is going on so they can make an informed choice about what kind of relationship they want to live. Maybe the needs of my friend her partner are just not compatible any longer – even if they still love each other…
To love polyamorously does not mean doing whatever you want without any care for others – that’s where the ‘ethical’ part of Dossie and Janet’s book comes in. They spend most of the book discussing communicating, compromising and caring for your partners and yourself, and recognise that all open relationships are going to take hard work and can and will be subject to bouts of jealousy and insecurity. The irony is that by refusing people their desires – as my friend’s boyfriend has – you often might end up more hurt than if you had been willing to give your partner the freedom they desire. She has now betrayed his trust in a way that might eventually destroy their relationship for good…
Monogamous, polyamorous, single or partnered – love and relationships are always difficult seas to navigate, but we should all have the freedom to live and love in whatever way we wish, whether that means having sex five times a day or never, with one person or with dozens. And with that in mind, I hope my friend finds a way to resolve her dilemma soon and live as the ice-cream-loving ethical slut I know she truly is!
Thank you and Merry Christmas!
I want to take this opportunity to thank all the lovely women I co-operated with this year on a variety of projects. It has been wonderful to work this year on Her Porn 4, the brand-new compilation which will be out in February 2013. Existing friendships with filmmakers whose work I value like Candida Royalle, Annie Sprinkle, Tristan Taormino and Shine Louise Houston were strengthened and new connections with newly emerging filmmakers were forged.
It makes me happy to use my experience and connections to successfully distribute other filmmakers such as the gifted Maria Beatty in the Germany and the UK as of this year. We started with Strap on Motel and will continue in 2013 with further titles.
Thank you to all the talented new filmmakers who submitted their films to the Petra Joy Awards this year and congratulations to the winners! Hats off to Morgana who won the first prize with her first ever film, Duty Bound. I have chosen the picture she sent me of her celebrating her prize with the people who helped her to create her autobiographic erotic film as this years Christmas picture. Her joy over winning the award was a nice early Christmas gift to me and I would like to pass that joie de vivre spirit on to you. Celebrate your life and love with like-minded people!
I want to thank the sex shop owners who stock female-made porn in their shops and the people who bought our and my films. Last but not least I would like to thank all the wonderful women and men that send me messages of support this year, appreciating my films and autobiographic book and encouraging me to continue my creative ventures. A lot of mails arrived after I had done a variety of stressful talk show appearances. To receive this kind of support and feedback means a lot to me. I just had a mail from someone that told me of a posse of women who meet once a month to dress up and play based on scenarios from my films. How wonderful that my films give pleasure to women and inspire some to live out their fantasies. I could not ask for more.
In this sense I wish you a wonderful Christmas and a happy, prosperous, exciting and erotic 2013!
Bring on the Amazons!
Day four without the Olympics and I have to say I am on a bit of a comedown, suffering from massive withdrawal symptoms. I have never been someone who enjoys watching sporting events. But this year everything changed. I was glued to the TV watching live events as they unfolded and was mesmerised but the many super skilled, strong and confident women. I feel inspired. To watch women like Jessica Ennis win the heptathlon or Nicola Adams become the first-ever female Olympic boxing champion gave me a real high.
Most women we see in the media are defined by their looks and not their skills. Women that are on a constant diet, have undergone multiple surgeries and are being airbrushed to conform to a stereotype of what is considered beautiful or sexy.
We do not see a lot of strong and confident women who go for what they want and get it. This is why I am usually just bored by most action films: they always show male heroes and women are just there as a bit of eye candy and to seduce and corrupt the heroes. But it is the guys who get to drive the fast cars, fight their enemies and blow up buildings. In sport coverage women are nearly invisible. Outside the Olympics only 5% of media coverage is dedicated to female sports. I just get bored watching only men competing all the time.
This is why these Olympics were so great: female athletes were shown competing on prime time TV in front of packed stadiums, supported by an enthusiastic crowd. They cheered for Jessica Ennis as much as for Mo Farah. And for those special moments the world was a better place for me because true equality did not just seem a possibility but a reality. I was like a sponge soaking up as many images of women running, jumping, swimming, boxing, kicking and riding their way to success, women who do not give a shit if they are too big, too muscular or might look “manly”. For once women were being recognized for their skills, strength, courage and determination, and not evaluated for their looks. In the UK this is what all the media focused on: Giving the women, the female athletes what they deserve: respect and admiration for what they were achieving, for making history. So many firsts happened at the Olympics: For the first time women were allowed to compete in all disciplines. (It’s about time!) For the first time every country was represented by female and male athletes. For the first time a female Olympic boxing champion was crowned. The women’s 100m relay set a new world-record. The list goes on.
I was in a bubble for the last few weeks. In the Olympic fever where “Team GB” meant “Team GB” – women and men who enjoyed the games, the highs (many) and lows (few) – TOGETHER. The nation was mesmerised.
But at the periphery of my vision, I started to notice some blips appearing: discussions on Twitter about XX “untidy hair” to which the first ever female African American gymnastics gold medallist Gabrielle Douglas replied: “I am making history, so why are people worried about my hair?” Then there was the closing ceremony which featured stick thin models on a catwalk that looked oddly anaemic and utterly pointless compared to the charismatic female athletes we had previously seen in the stadium. There were also the women in lookalike red cat suits with ponytails that walked next to the pole-bearers. They had no purpose except to look pretty and just seemed odd. Where was the guy candy? Then Brazil took over and had a skinny samba queen prancing round in high heels, suggestively sucking her index finger…how pointless and dated.
Yesterday I then came across the German August Playboy cover featuring five topless female German Olympians. I have no problem with nudity but wonder why these women could not have been photographed in Helmut Newton Style images, celebrating their strength and dominance, rather than making them look like naïve glamour models? It is as if Playboy wants to say that women might be athletes but they are always and foremost women who want to be taken by any men who fancy them. Interestingly on lots of German tabloid sites dedicated to “sexy athletes” only images of petite women in sexy positions (such contorted gymnasts) were posted. Images of muscular, strong women competing in athletics, martial arts or boxing and many of them gold medal winners were missing. As if strength and confidence in women are not attractive and only skinny girls, slim-limbed girls that might take their tops off for the lads count.
And because there are these blips on the radar, is why we need to keep on fighting for fair and equal media representation of women. The UK coverage of the Olympics has shown it is possible. So now we need to pick up the baton and run with it. There is so much we can gain if we acknowledge the fact that more than 50% of humankind is female. Females who can do anything men can do and deserve to be seen and heard.
I will spend my next few evenings watching all the events I missed of women’s sporting events on I-player and already look forward to the Paralympics in two weeks time. Bring on the amazons!
Fifty Shades of Tame
When I first read about the release of “Fifty Shades of Grey” I was really excited. I feel that the more women express their fantasies and create porn from a female perspective (in words or images), the better. Female fantasies are still greatly hidden and there is a lack of erotica by and for women. So I applaud all women who publish erotica soft or hard. I was looking forward to a good and exciting read.
I should have known better. “Fifty Shades of Grey” started out as a fan fiction novel based on the Twilight saga. It became a huge online success and was then snapped up by a major publisher and re-released in a whitewashed version. What remains is a romantic, anti-feminist fairytale with very little sexually explicit and exciting content. I had to get past page 200 for the first sex to happen and found it hard to keep reading, in the hope for some spice. Even though the book allegedly is about sm sex most of the (little) sex that actually happens is pretty vanilla. But what disappoints me most is not the lack of explicit and well-written sex scenes but the fact that the “heroine” Ana is still supposed to be a virgin in her twenties and only agrees to have sex and try out (light) SM-play with the multi-billionaire Christian Grey because she loves him. This is so true to the dated gender-clichés in classic romantic novels that I was surprised a book like this would be published in 2012. As if it was true that women cannot separate sex from love and choose to remain “innocent” (including never having masturbated themselves to orgasm) until they eventually give up their virginity in the name of love as a gift for the prince that sweeps them off their feet. So much for sexual liberation, women enjoying sex with no strings attached or giving themselves pleasure…
The book’s conservative streak continues by describing the dominant SM prince, Christian Grey, as deeply scarred and emotionally damaged (presumably because he was abused as a child). His fuckedupness seems to be the only reason for having fetishes and being into SM sex. As if in real life perfectly healthy, happy and balanced people do not enjoy role-play and experimenting with a power exchange in the bedroom (with or without cuffs and whips). In reality women and men both have fantasies about being dominant and/or submissive. Some choose to live those fantasies out, others choose for their fantasies remain a sexy movie in the head to be enjoyed during sex or masturbation. Reading an SM book or watching SM porn does not necessarily mean that you want to be a dom or sub in real life. This is why it is so annoying that the media now claims that the massive sales of the book are proof for the fact that most women are submissive and want to be dominated.
To me, the massive sales figures of the book are the perfect example of the power of marketing. The book promises something it does not give – It is sold as “porn for women” when it is not really pornographic (as in “explicit” and “aimed for arousal”) at all. Women snap this book up because they have so little pornographic material aimed at them to choose from but many end up being bitterly disappointed. No woman I have spoken to about “Fifty Shades” got turned on by reading it. Most stopped reading it after 50 or 100 pages because they were bored. By then, they have gone down in the statistics as a buyer and are allegedly a woman who wants to be dominated and got turned on by the book. The media perpetuates the endless marketing the book receives over and over again – usually without questioning the blurb created by the publishers. Not a day goes by without “Fifty Shades” being described as “porn for women” in most mainstream media.
Sadly, the truth is that if “Fifty Shades” really was explicit porn for women and featured a strong heroine who is sexually experienced and enjoys experimenting with SM sex (god forbid maybe even in the dominant role) and a hot, healthy and liberated man who gets off on being a dom just because he enjoys it, this book would not be available at your local supermarket. This book would have been published by a small indie publisher, available only at women’s sex shops or selected sites online because it would have been branded as “obscene pornographic material” that no major brand wants to be associated with and it.
This kind of book exists: “Carrie’s Story” came out over a decade ago, published by Cleiss press. I read it twice with gusto and it turned me on – a lot. I had quite a few great orgasms initiated by the scenarios in this book. Of course, this book never became a bestseller because it is genuinely explicit (SM) porn from a female perspective and simply not mainstream enough.
I don’t doubt that “Fifty Shades” will pave the way for more female erotica writers to be published – but hopefully one day without censoring by the publishers and plenty of explicit erotic content.
I do hope that “Fifty Shades” turns at least some women on. If it does then it will live up at least partially to the hype surrounding it.
Onwards and upwards
Wishing you all a happy, exciting, erotic and exotic new year. I am much better now and after a two week break in the winter sun (starting this weekend) I will commence with the post-production of “The Female Voyeur” at last.
I would like to to thank you for all your support during what was a challenging time.
Down and Out
I was really looking forward to autumn. This is normally a really busy time of the year for me, a time to network, be creative and expand. I was particularly keen to start editing my new feature “The Female Voyeur” and to run my “Female Fantasies” confessional booth at Erotica in London.
But things went horribly wrong. Three weeks ago I started to be very sick with high fever, nausea and pain. I thought it was just a tummy bug or harmless infection. So rest and antibiotics were ordered. But nothing helped and after an X-ray I found myself last week rushed to hospital for an emergency operation to do with my kidneys. I had to put everything on hold and cancel the edit and my stint at Erotica – with a very heavy heart as I always like to finish what I have started. I usually enjoy being a busy bee and hate to be forced to be a couch potato right now.
I was meant to buzz not snooze but have no choice right now as unfortunately I face another big surgery soon. I have not been ill in years and this is a touch lesson in patience and stillness.
When you love your work and identify closely with it, it creates a void simply not being able to do what you do best and to do nothing day in and out but resting at home.
All the things that I normally enjoy I cannot do right now: shoot and edit, write and teach, exercise and socialise. I have to be patient right now and am counting the days until I will rise again like the phoenix from the ashes.
So please bear with me if right now I cannot express as many thoughts on erotica as I would like to.
The footage of “The Female Voyeur” sits on my hard-drive and I hope that with time it will mature and then come to life again when I am ready to tell the stories I have been meaning to tell for years…I will return bigger, better, brighter – soon.
Bring On The Gladiators!
I LOVE “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” – the new TV series. It is hothothot! I love the huge variety of hunky guys on it. Not only do they have fit bodies but gorgeous faces too and I drool over them without shame. Whilst my partner enjoys the CGI fight scenes, I love the sex scenes, especially when they are guy-on-guy or orgies. It is a beautifully shot and post-produced programme. I wish I could afford a tenth of their budget and technology for my new film. In the meantime I enjoy watching the guys – it is not often that we get to see some guy candy making out on prime-time TV.
I hope they will never make a porn spoof of this series as it will burst my bubble: The guys will be wearing socks and watches, have hairy beer bellies and there will be endless tunnel vision penetration shots. No more hunky male chest, back and bum shots but Barbie doll faces winking into camera trying to convince us that they are going to COME! I rather watch well-made soft porn any time as I have no problems filling in the gaps in my naughty mind…
“The Joy Of Porn” is ready!
It has been a while since I have been on here sharing my experiences. I was just so busy I could just not think even think straight. Since I was mentioned in the German ‘Marie Claire’ the media interest has been incredible. And many days were spent consulting TV producers and giving print interviews… But I had a mini-break last weekend staying at a holistic spa and now I am back – ready to share some thoughts with you.
After 4 months of work my documentary, “The Joy Of Porn” is finally ready. I managed to condense 150 hours of footage shot during the last three years into one hour of my personal journey as a feminist pornographer.
It was a strange experience to edit a film about me, my allies and my mission. Normally I am strictly behind the camera and that goes for my work in television as much as for my work as an erotic filmmaker. But somehow I felt that this story of female empowerment and friendships that have managed to change the adult industry and public perception of porn is worth telling.
Most of the footage is fly-on-the-wall filmed by my partner and friends – whoever had two free hands was handed the camera to shoot what was happening and on some adventures Violetta (who is starring in my films) and I filmed each other as we could not afford yet to have someone travel with us for the purpose of filming.
But this way we got very intimate footage that a TV crew could have not achieved in the same way.
On Thursday evening I will throw a party for all the lovely people that have worked with me over the years. It is the fifth birthday of “Strawberry Seductress” my production company and we will celebrate with champagne, canapés and the private preview of “The Joy Of Porn”.
I am incredibly nervous about this – much more so than if I had shot another erotic film as this film is very personal and so close to my heart.
But it will be a pleasure to get everyone together for a big bash as it’s been a while since we all partied together. The official world premiere will be on the 14.10.2009 at the Berlin Pornfilmfest at 23:00 at the Movimento Cinema in Berlin. More info here: www.pornfilmfestivalberlin.de
I am not yet sure where this film will be available but there will be a trailer up on the news page shortly.
A wedding to remember
Feeling good
“Birds flying
high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Reeds drifting on by you know how I feel
Its a new dawn
Its a new day
Its a new life
For me
And I’m feeling good
Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom in the tree you know how I feel
Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don’t you know
Butterflies all having fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done
That’s what I mean
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me
Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine
And I know how I feel
I am feeling good….”
If any lyrics can describe how high and happy I feel after the wonderful blue wedding weekend then it is “Feeling good” by Nina Simone.
I have just returned from two days filled with sunshine, smiles and inspiration. The weekend kicked off with the BLEU body paint workshop and it felt great to get naked and ‘paint’ on huge sheets of paper using our bodies. We all had memories of being carefree children and being naked and creative all the time. Somewhere along the lines when we “grow up” we start to feel ashamed of both – our naked bodies and our creativity out of fear of not being good enough. No fear here as nine adults and a baby imprinted their bodies onto the walls of the Rotunda at Grove House – a fantastic Bohemian performance space and home of our lovely hostess Polly. The workshop was lead by Professor Luke Dixon and supported by Annie Sprinkle herself whose famous ‘tit prints’ take body art to another dimension….After we left our permanent prints on the walls we had to get the remaining paint off our bodies. We had just as much fun painting hosing each other down with ice cold water glistening in the afternoon sun as when we were doing the body prints.
All around us a heave of activity had erupted with many creative, helping hands creating decorations for Annie’s and Beth’s wedding. Tiny paper flowers and booklets imprinted with the message “Love always already is” were hand-made for button holes. A giant sun and moon mask and heart bunters were attached to walls and fences and a beautiful swing, adorned with blue ribbons was hung up in a tree.
Violetta and I enjoyed some Pimms and lovely home-made Pub food before we had an early night with a big day ahead for both of us: me filming the event and Violetta performing and helping me with the second camera.
As it had rained Saturday night we went to bed expecting a grey, cloudy English sky and rain for Sunday but we woke up to a bright blue sky – an English summer’s day at its best !
When we arrived at Grove House everybody was already dressed up in their blue and sky themed outfits as clouds, stars, sun, moon and more. I received my headband made of ivy and daisies that all the girls of the bridal party got and wore it with pride along with my heart-shaped sun glasses and turquoise Monroe dress.
Annie and Beth took their time to get into their opulent and sky-themed outfits and I had the chance to shoot some fun footage behind the scenes inside the bride and brides bedroom. They also shared the secret of their lasting relationship with me: Supporting each other and giving each other space when needed.
The wedding procession was spectacular with beautiful people in some of the best fantasy outfits I have ever seen. They sauntered on stage to the notes of “Here comes the sun”. It was a real Wow moment, as if we all had gotten onto the magical mystery tour.
The MC Veronica Hart introduced the brides and delivered to them the heart-felt wished of their friends from the States: Candida Royalle, Veronica Vera, Nina Heartly and many more. And I thought what a wonderful circle of strong, sexy women who have supported each other for decades now. ‘Sex in the city’ – eat your heart out!
The ceremony was a joy – fun and free-flowing with an abundance of creative performances from spoken word to song and dance – the complete opposite of the confinements of conventional weddings. Love as a giant art happening – what a fab concept!
Violetta premiered a stunning performance piece where she unlaced her slinky dress and very slowly stripped off whilst reciting with a quivering voice an erotic poem she had written for her lover – she had me and everyone mesmerized. What a joy to see such a good friend grow and spread her wings and fly higher and higher, the more adventures we share. This girl will go far and further!
Then it was time for Annie’s and Beth’s vows and as this year their fifth wedding was themed with the throat chakra/colour blue and the sky they vowed to each other to work on their communication and meet even more of their partners needs by not just talking more but becoming better listeners. Both brides did not just marry each other but the sky as well – taking this opportunity to focus on environmental issues such as the mountain top removal and both pledging to save more energy and becoming vegetarians (after eating just one more rib eye steak Beth conceded to the laughing crowd).
The ceremony was followed by a fun filled kaleidoscope of events. The instant showgirl workshop was fun on the lawn when fifty guys and girls were shown how to hold their head up high and kick their legs high. There was also ballroom dancing. The music was unashamedly sensual and romantic. OK, I admit when I filmed thirty couples of so with Annie and Beth in the middle twirl to “What the world needs now is love, sweet love” I had a happy tear or two in my eyes….
The tossing of the blue garter was a great surprise as a much chuffed Violetta caught it from Annie, meaning that she will have a lovely fling. Veronica Hart caught the bridal bouquet from Beth – so she is the one who will get married next…
The celebrations were rounded off with an ‘oracle session’. A beautiful girl with long black hair in a white dress was floating in an eco hot tub surrounded by pages torn from a book. You could whisper a question to her and she would reveal the future. The queue was long and the predictions were many. Yes, it is a make believe world but how wonderful it is to believe in magic and come out and play with so many kindred spirits and share the love, even just for one day.
As for the brides – there is no need for an oracle to tell them that they will live happily ever after…
It’s a nice day for a blue wedding!
I love weddings – especially if they are of the unconventional, magical kind. And this one sure is: On Sunday, the 14th of June the wonderful ex-porn performer, director-cum-art activist and tantric teacher Annie Sprinkle will marry her big love – artist and professor Elizabeth Stephens on the “Blue wedding”. This is their fifth wedding to date. They are completely in love and marry each year based on a different chakra colour and spiritual theme. Annie says: “Love is the new sex!” and enjoys delving deeper and deeper into this intimate, committed romance. This year the theme of the wedding is the throat chakra, standing for communication, symbolised by the colour blue. The wedding will take place at the wonderful Grove House in Oxford. Over 50 artists are coming from around the world to co-create and present the dream performance-art wedding. The invitation sounds enticing:
“Eco-sexual brides, artists Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stevens, will make sacred wedding vows to their lover the sky. Yes, the sky with the stars, planets, sun, and sexy clouds.
Some of many highlights of the wedding ritual will be Luke Dixon officiating the vows and sky kiss, actor/director Veronica Hart as the High Priestess, merman Johnathan McCloskey’s boylesque, throat examinations by Nurse Luby, family friendly striptease by Zoe Snelgrove, a flying ring barer, a heart opening chant, love poems, music, carbon capture kissing, glamorous blue bridal parties. Then enjoy the wedding reception with Del La Grace Volcano, Sheep Woman Philippa Jeffery, bubble sculpture, the I Love Myself Confessional, waltzing lessons with Dorothy Max Prior, cake eating, supping bubbly, garter toss, petal throwing, swing on a cloud swing, get party favors, and enjoy BLUE entertainment.
Dress: Wear as much blue as possible and dress in the themes of the wedding; communication, throat, and all things sky related. Dress as costumey and creatively as you like and don’t be worried about showing up the brides.”
Annie and Beth have very generous hearts and make their wedding ceremonies open events as they love sharing and connecting people. Annie says:
“Everyone is welcome to attend, even if you are the kind of person that hates weddings. No material gifts please, your presence is the gift!”
I am honoured and excited to be the official wedding videographer for Annie and Beth. Together with my dear friend Violetta we will have a fabulous time in Oxford, sipping Pimms on the lawn, enjoying a beautiful, blessed wedding and meeting lots of colourful and creative people from all over the world! Hope to see you there.
More Info on the wedding and tickets for Annie’s and Beth’s LOVE ART LAB performance (Friday, 12th June 7-9 at Grove House) and a body print workshop (running on Saturday, 13th June at 11 am or 3 pm) based on the work of Ives Klein (facilitated by Luke Dixon, Annie Sprinkle and Elizabeth Stephens) is available here: www.grovehouse.info and www.anniesprinkle.org
We hope to share pictures and impressions with you when we get back from our very special weekend away.