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Dale West "More than procreation, erotica embodies the human art of expression through our contact with others." -Dale West
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Dear Readers,
Before I am a writer, I am an advocate of this great medium known as the Internet for its ability to allow people to communicate and share ideas at a magnitude never before known to man. Even language itself is not a barrier as we share images and use software which allows, albeit poor, translations into many tongues. I do not see the Internet so much as a new technology but a new art form, which distributes ideas among peoples who seek to be influenced by them.
Erotica, while publicly scorned and commercially vibrant, flourishes to an even greater extent here; where people who wish to receive, may do so in their own time and place. I am a voracious consumer of compositional erotica - written, painted, drawn and electronically created. At the same time I am a reader of history, a connoisseur of many art forms and a political activist for sex, gender and sexuality in all their forms.
As a result, my writing tends to stray from the strict erotic formula. Each piece I write is written with a different theme and motive in mind. I strive to write words the reader will love or hate, my greatest disappointment being an apathetic reader. If I succeed in evoking an emotion, my writing has reflected my intention.
Thank you for reading and visiting. As the reader, you are a critical part of this community: the reason we continue to create written words to distribute on the Internet. Take pride in your role as erotica consumer and continue to demand the best from writers and our publishers. Our most anticipated payment is your feedback. Please compensate us appropriately that we may continue to build this worldwide art form in the image of her people and their imaginations.
Best wishes,
Dale West
Writer's StatementI write erotica because it is the physical embodiment of our most primal emotions and urges. More than procreation, erotica embodies the human art of expression through our contact with others. Writing provides me the opportunity to share safely and without the 'second thought' which enters into most physical interactions with strangers. Through my work I hope to introduce others to ideas and emotions for either new or familiar exploration.
I began to use erotic painting as a physical outlet for exploring other bodies. Through my paints, brushes, canvas and other tools, I find painting allows the intimate discovery of human forms. Each painting finds in it a virginal experience of discovery as the forms on the canvas slowly reveal themselves. The majority of my work comes from imagined encounters and people with a significant amount of basis in my own sexual and personal experience.
The Gift (2002 - oil on canvas) - this piece was the brainchild of a practically unrelated experience. Most appreciators of erotica can imagine encounters that evoke sexual responses but are not experienced during sexual encounters. I had occasion to be blindfolded at work one day and the incident, while not at all sexual, evoked a response and this image. The title came from my husband as he was watching various stages of my pencil study. When the blindfold came into view he commented it changed the entire image, because until that point, it looked to him as though the robed figure was holding forward a gift. I liked the contrast of the word "gift" - commonly considered as receiving something - with sensory deprivation, which can on its own be like receiving even though things are technically taken away.
Succubus (unfinished 2024 - oil on canvas) - (Succubus - [def.] a demon assuming female form to have sexual intercourse with men in their sleep.) I tried to imagine what a female spirit engaging in intercourse while her "victim" slept might look like. I combined that with the common feeling of uneasiness in a bed when nothing feels right and we experience the sensation wherein even the sheets are attempting to strangle us. Our male "victim" here is at that point of not knowing whether he is uncomfortable or aroused. I wanted to commit this fleeting instance to timeless exploration on canvas.
Terpsichore (2024 - oil on canvas) - Terpsichore is the Greek Muse of dancing and choral song (shown here).
For twenty years Dale West has held in her heart two loves. One love is a man: her intellectual, spiritual and sexual counterpart, North Star and best friend. The other love is a woman: tormentor, conundrum and muse. Between the two she has plenty of material for several volumes of erotica.
She lives as though nothing is ever satisfying until it is more than she can bear. She has owned and sold a bar in a New England town and teaches at a local Community College. She is a graduate of Southern Vermont College and Champlain College as well as the School of Hard Knocks. Her friends range from bookies and other known criminals to elected officials and community leaders. She likes to sail, work on pinball machines and cars, ride her motorcycle in all weather, paint erotica, flirt with all genders, write programs for people and their enterprises on the Internet, solve math and social problems and generally live life to the fullest.
She lives in a sleepy, small New England town with her best friend and their dog - composing most of her stories during walks on the dirt roads around her house and motorcycle rides in the mountains.