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• Figure drawing moves from Boneyard Pottery to McGown Photography

Initially known as WELD (Wednesday Evening Life Drawing Group), MELD (Monday Evening Life Drawing Group) was founded six years ago by Boneyard Pottery owner Michael Schwegmann and his friend the late Bill Baker. “It’s still an informal setting and non-instructional,” Schwegmann said. “We get everyone from professional artists to students to hobbyists.”

MELD has relocated to Champaign’s McGown Photography, and RJ Karlstrom has taken over as mediator. Some may be familiar with RJ Karlstrom’s acrylic paintings of tango dancers that hang in Cowboy Monkey. “I guess you would call it abstract impressionist,” he said. “I do a lot of splattering and sanding. I take off as much paint as I put on.” Native to CU, Karlstrom moved to Chicago for 20 years before returning to continue his art career. “I had been doing life drawing up in Chicago,” he said, “so it was nice to continue it down here.”

Local artist Mary VanCleave, whose art has graced the walls of The Great Impasta, frequents the group. “The human form body has always been intimidating since it’s such a challenge,” VanCleave wrote in an e-mail. “The drawing group is great because it’s not a class, it’s just a bunch of artists all there for the same reason — to improve their art.”

Chairs, stools, table space, tray tables and the model are provided. “We’ve had about four or five girls model and two guys,” Karlstrom said. “We like to vary it as much as we can.”

MELD’s most consistent model, Christy Elamma, modeled for Parkland’s life drawing class in the late ’80s and ’90s before she began modeling for MELD in 2001. “After you’ve done it a couple of times, you get used to it,” Elamma wrote in am e-mail. “You also have to be reasonably comfortable with your body. If you have a negative body image of yourself, I think it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to stand naked in front of a group of people.”

Obviously, the more limber you are, Karlstrom said, and the longer you can hold still, the better; Elamma agreed.

“I think a lot of people have the thought that it’s ‘easy.’ Trust me, it’s hard work,” Elamma said. “In order to make a pose that’s good for the artists, there’s a lot of twisting that need to be in the poses, and it’s very difficult to hold a pose like that for a long period of time without moving. If anyone doubts me, they should try it themselves at home. Set up a timer for 10 to 15 minutes and stand perfectly still with your torso twisted to one side holding one hand on top of your head with the other on your hip. See if you can do it and see how you feel afterwards.”

Before she started modeling, Elamma was a fine arts student at Parkland. “I’ve been on both sides of the easel, as artist and model,” she said. “That also helped me because while I was doing the drawing, you don’t see a person standing up there so much as an object made of lines and shadows. It’s a very impersonal, objective mindset.”

Elamma creates art when she has time. “It’s not how I make my living, but ask any artist and you will get the same answer: They HAVE to make art!”

MELD meets from 7 to 9 p.m. every Monday at McGown Photography in Champaign. It costs $7 to attend.