Hubba, hubba: Island pinups
Last July, Kristen Leigh Conklin was looking for an art project to pursue on the Island.
Kristen Conklin and Gregory Bennett are young entrepreneurs and art directors of the new swimsuit calendar benefitting Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group. Photo by Ralph Stewart
Tonight, Ms. Conklin and her business partner, Gregory Michael Bennett, will premier Fish 'N' Chicks, a 16-month pinup calendar at a release party at the Oyster Bar Grill in Oak Bluffs. The party begins at 10 pm, open to the public.
The 11 by 17 inch swimsuit calendar, presented in the classic 1940s "Vargas girls" pinup design, features 20 mostly Island women, tastefully photographed by Ms. Conklin (aka Miss July 2010) at familiar Island locales from Tashmoo to the Menemsha dock.
In keeping with the theme, 20 percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group. The artists are also investigating ways to send the calendar to troops overseas.
"We are using a 16-month calendar so people can begin using it right away, beginning in September 2009 through December 2010. Instant gratification and beautiful girls - two things guys love," she laughed.
This image of Melissa Shellhamer reflects the 1940s pinup aesthetic. Photo courtesy of Vineyard Pinups
Ms. Conklin and Mr. Bennett set a grueling pace for themselves, taking more than 15,000 photos in three sessions, including some nippy late fall days. Ms. Conklin photographed 20 volunteer models under Mr. Bennett's art direction. Both are photographers and graduates of Ithaca College.
To support themselves, Mr. Bennett is a kayak tour guide and Ms. Conklin does wedding photography. They gratefully took a coffee break from their dual careers last week at Mocha Mott's in Oak Bluffs to discuss their company, called Vineyard Pinups (VP).
"I was looking for an art project to do on the Island, and Greg suggested a pinup calendar. He thought I wouldn't take it seriously," Ms. Conklin said. "But last spring I found an authentic 1940s magazine page of an illustrated Vargas girl and I just loved it. That's why I became so gung-ho about this project."
Alberto Vargas was a Peruvian-born painter whose life was dedicated to "glorifying the American girl," according to a biography. His work over six decades, most famously in Esquire during the 1940s, graced catalogs, Esquire and Playboy magazines, and major movie and Broadway show posters.
The fledgling entrepreneurs have painstakingly recreated the Vargas feel, including the use of a heavy, textured vellum stock that communicates color well. The artists use photography rather than illustration, enhancing their photos to impart an illustrated feel.
The calendar includes the top spiral binding and hook hangers used in pinup calendars of the period. The typeface and hatch design for month and days on each page is also a '40s recreation. The calendar is modestly priced at $20 from the creators, slightly more at stores. "Bringing back the good old days," Ms. Conklin said.
"We are going to work all the Island events. Some of our Island models will be on selling calendars at the shark tournament in Oak Bluffs this summer, for example," she said. VP has ordered 1,000 calendars in the first printing.
And as Vargas' work inspired offshoots of clothing and other products, the two friends are planning a clothing line next year. "Sexy, lingerie sort of things," Ms. Conklin said. And tonight, they will be showing stickers, tee shirts, and temporary tattoos of their logo and name, designed by Danny and Rocco, artists at Kaleidoscope tattoo shop in Vineyard Haven.
Beneath the glamour and glitz is a familiar undercurrent of Island people helping each other.
Marisa Walsh, an Islander who grew up in Chilmark, has two shots in the calendar. She is the cover model and Miss December. "My name is Billie in the calendar. We each got to pick a name and I picked my grandmother's name. She was a real model," said the 2008 graduate of Villanova University with a degree in film and media.
"My shoot was at Tashmoo, picking mussels, which I later ate," she said. Like many of the models, Marisa learned of the project through a network of Island young people.
"Kristen made us look great and Greg is a great director. I swear he has a hidden talent for it," she said, noting her friends made modeling in cold weather and in the water during horseshoe mating season "a fun experience. Usually I'm on the other side of the camera," she said.
She noted her friendship with Kristen also led Ms. Conklin to offer donations of calendars to the Walsh family charity, a July 23 auction benefiting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), from which her father, Dilly Walsh, suffers.
Longtime summer resident Juliet Mulinare is a friend of Kristen and Gregory, a graduate of Tufts University in child development. She became Miss September 2010 for her friend.
"A least, I think it's Miss September. We'll see on Thursday night," Ms. Mulinare said last week of the calendar that has been... well... kept under wraps until the release party.
Ms. Conklin said response to the calendar has been overwhelming. "People are calling us, asking, "Is so-and-so in the calendar?"
"They'll just have to come tonight and see," she said, adding that 18 Island women are featured in the project.
Ms. Mulinare waitresses at the Oyster Bar Grill and at Zephrus in Vineyard Haven, saving tuition money to pursue a master's degree in her field.
"We did two shoots, one on a dock in Vineyard Haven and another among lobster pots in Menemsha. Actually, it was a lot of fun, although it was freezing at one shoot," she said.
"I've never done modeling, though I auditioned for the TV show, 'America's Next Top Model' and got two callbacks from them. It's a lot more fun to work with Kris and Greg and get positive feedback than to have every one of my flaws pointed out for the world to see on TV," she said, laughing.
Modeling as a career? "Working on being beautiful and having your picture taken all the time? I wish," she said. "No. I want something more hands on, like working with kids. Modeling could be a side thing, I guess," she said.
"You know, I learned a lot. I'm normally self-conscious, but Kris and Greg helped me learn it's okay to let loose and do the model type things. It put a different spin on how I see myself," she said.
"I'll be as involved as I can be in this project. It's a great cause. They are helping out the shell fisherman and involving the community. It's a neat thing, entirely positive," she said.
After the party, Ms. Conklin and Mr. Bennett will hit the bricks, shopping the calendar to Island venues. "We'll do bookstores, tackle shops, lumberyards, retail and mechanics' shops," Mr. Bennett said.
"We plan to do this every year with a different charity and different models. It's a fun thing and a way to give back to the community," Ms. Conklin said.
Calendar Release Party, 10 pm, Thursday, July 9, Oyster Bar Grill, Oak Bluffs. Vineyard Pin-Ups Fish 'N' Chicks calendar. vineyardpinups.com.
Jack Shea is a regular contributor to The Times.
