Painting dildos with a bunch of ladies you don't know is totally weird, right? Wrong!
The night before Thanksgiving kicked off in a beautifully non-traditional way. A few weeks ago, I set a date for a sexual health workshop at The Perlene, not realizing it was the night before Thanksgiving. When it dawned on me, I was nervous about the turnout...even up until I got there. But women started to trickle in: Perlene members, Instagram followers I hadn't met before, and one of my new-ish friends in Portland. I was so excited to share some knowledge on sex toys and communication in relationships, and also paint a peen (!!) during the Arts & Shafts portion of the evening.
The first part of the workshop evolved into a group discussion about exploring bondage, sex club adventures, sexual expression, and women supporting women. I found myself humbled, sitting in the middle of this group, in awe of everyone's openness to connecting with each other.
Topco (I swear by their Climax kegel balls) provided the dildos and let us borrow their unique #PaintYourOwnPeen idea, which was originally featured at Think Tank Gallery in LA last month as part of 'A Lifetime of Dick Pics' show. Topco is one of the largest sex toy makers in the world; maintains one of the only FDA-registered facilities in the adult industry, and is run by a badass team of #bossbabes that I have had the pleasure of working with over many years during this journey.
We gathered around the table for #paintyourownpeen, taking note of the different designs, and how they each represented the painter's soul. For example, mine was pink and glittery because I am the most predictable person on earth, and Tanya's was a very well-done Waldo (who we did find, even though he was disguised as a dildo)!
Many thanks to both Topco and The Perlene for giving us the resources and the space to celebrate creativity and community. I don't know what the big picture for the Pleasure Parlor is (yet), but it feels something like this.