It was a match made in heaven.
Kasha Szot, a ballet dancer with the art of grace; Susie Ruddenklau and Karen Scott, artists with eyes for movement and beauty.
All Ms Szot (30) had to do at a Cromwell life-drawing class taught by Shaun Burdon was sit down and tie her shoe ribbons and the painters were reaching for their digital cameras and sketch pads.
And so a collaboration was born, along with a fresh, Central Otago take on the well-known Degas ballet paintings (Edgar Degas, French artist, 1834-1917).
"The atmosphere was fantastic. I love them [the life-drawing classes]. I keep counting the days until I can go back. We met about a month ago and it's been like best friends since," Ms Szot told the Otago Daily Times in October.
Ms Ruddenklau (55) and Ms Scott (51) could not agree more.
The pair have been firm friends themselves since meeting at a painting class several years ago and now Ms Szot is part of their fold, welcomed and kissed like a long-lost daughter when she walks in the room.
The two artists have exhibited together four times in the past and their next joint exhibition in December, "A Fine Line", will include two paintings apiece of Ms Szot, a former professional dancer from Poland who is now teaching dance in Wanaka.
The remainder of the exhibition, at the Dunedin Community Gallery from December 1-7, will feature up to 40 paintings on a variety of subjects.
In the meantime, the two artists have stashed away a treasure trove of photographs and sketches of the dancer for the future.
"I've kept a whole folder in my computer called "Kasha dance". There must be 100 photos," Ms Ruddenklau said.
The day they met, Ms Szot danced around the life-drawing class, demonstrating flamenco one moment, appearing in a tutu the next.
The artists' joy of painting a dancer's strong and powerful body was natural and unaffected.
Even a simple unconscious act like stretching was a pearl.
Ms Szot, a dancer since she was 8, had modelled before but had never danced for artists.
Initially she felt self-conscious.
"But dance - that's something my life was always made of. Dance is absolutely the biggest pleasure of my life.
"If I can share it with people who are sensitive to art and beauty, there couldn't be anything better," she said.
The biggest lesson she learned from the artists was to see herself dancing through other people's eyes.
Everyone saw her differently and they had given her ideas and emotions she was now translating into her performances.
For the artists, it was a joy to have an animated model involved in their sketches and not standing still in a detached or tense manner.
When Ms Szot was required to stand still for up to 20 minutes, the time flew.
"They would be saying, `Your fingers are going purple' and I would say `really?'," Ms Szot said.
"It is important for a model to be comfortable and relaxed. If there is any tension or self-consciousness, it is in the painting and we can't get away from it. That's why we love Kasha so much - because she is so in tune with dance," Ms Ruddenklau said.
The artists don't dance, but that has not stopped Ms Szot from encouraging them.
Ms Ruddenklau, who lives in Albert Town, has joined Ms Szot's regular dance stretch classes in Wanaka.
Ms Scott would, too, but for the fact she lives on a farm near Kingston.
Both artists have Southland farming backgrounds and spend as much time as possible painting, talking, partying and going to workshops together.
"It's just great, being an artist. I live in a relative isolation and I so look forward to getting together with Susie and other friends and sharing information . . .
"Working from people and outdoors - that gives you so much more information than just a photograph," Ms Scott said.
"Just like blokes who talk about fishing and tractors and cars, we talk about paints, new mediums, techniques.
"We learn from being with each other - I learn how to stand up straight with Kasha and how to paint with Scotty," Ms Ruddenklau said.
