The Library of Spanking Fiction: Wellred Weekly


Wellred Weekly
Volume 1, Number 10 : August 28, 2012
 
Articles
Items of interest regarding all things spanking

Paula Meadows: First Lady of Spanking
by Februs

"Serious and dedicated as an artist, she is also a humorous, fun-loving introvert who paradoxically, can transform herself into a grandiose exhibitionist."
Victor Arwas, art historian


In the dim and distant past when I first chose a nick to use in the spanking chat rooms and forums that were in existence at the time I readily opted to use the name of a UK spanking magazine, Februs, which I was a big fan of. I liked it because it had a touch of class about it but more than anything I liked it because it featured the wonderful spanking art of Paula Meadows, or Lynn Paula Russell to use her real name. But drawing was not the only contribution Paula has made to the world of spanking.

We are also personally indebted to her here at the Library of Spanking Fiction as our banners on the main library site, forum, short story challenges page and the Wellred Weekly itself all feature 'Flossie', one of Paula's creations, originally featured in issue 2 of Februs to illustrate the story, Flossie's List, by Delaney Silver. The library also features a number of articles written by Paula during her time at Februs magazine which she kindly granted us permission to load.

In her twenties, theatre played an important part in her life and for six years she was a professional actress playing parts mainly in small repertory theatres but also appearing on TV. During this time Paula experienced the magic, inspiration and adrenaline rush of performing. In the early 70s she joined the National Tour of Hair in which she appeared naked on stage for the first time and found the experience liberating.


A few years later Paula returned to her first love, that of painting, initially providing the illustrations for a children's book entitled 'Beyond the Midnight Mountains' which had been written by her husband, Frank Charles. She then went on to paint a series of portraits for stage actors and also covered West-End and Broadway shows but with the arrival of the 80s she found a new direction in erotic illustration. Widely recognized as an artist of great talent, her work has been exhibited at the Larmes d'Eros gallery in Paris and also in a number of group shows in London galleries.

By the early 1980s she had already discovered a deep fascination for "the mysteriously erotic world" of the Story of O, and had experienced what she termed "the intense thrill" of living out some of these fantasies. At 30 she had her first experience of the cane which she "took to like a duck to water" although she wasn't especially interested in school fantasy punishment. She had also sampled a number of other spanking implements by this time:
"I had already discovered my interest in the riding crop, the strap and the martinet, but now I found that I was not alone in my interest. In hindsight I would say that I was desperately trying to rid myself of all my sexual hangups which seemed to have a strong hold on me, no matter how hard I tried to fight them."
In 1980 she appeared for the first time in a sex video entitled Truth or Dare and her alter ego of Paula Meadows was born. Paula remarked:
"I did this film as a sort of self-challenge and did not really see it as the beginning of a new career. However, six months later, Tuppy Owens reviewed it favorably for the Sex Maniac's Diary, and this one video catapulted me into the business so to speak. In those days explicit films were illegal and the director was later arrested."
Some years later she also starred in Temptations of the Flesh directed by Lasse Braun, an adult film maker who was noted for his "lush photography, romantic situations, and fantasy-tinged sex scenes." A couple of other films, Lilith Unleashed and White Women, were made in New York with American director Henri Pachard. A summary on Excalibur Films describes her as "a fine actress as well as being a highly expressive, very erotic sexual performer" and that she "proved to be perfect for those kind of roles, bringing an earthy eroticism to the parts that fleshed them out and made them her own."


Paula also featured in two spanking films: You'll Love the Feeling in 1983 and then, five years later, the George Harrison Marks video, The Kane Assignment. In the latter she is spanked by another female spanking icon prior to participating in a lesbian sex session and is later whipped by the photographer she was supposed to be doing the shoot for.

In 1982 she appeared in her first photo-shoot for Janus, the pictures subsequently appearing in issue 13 of the magazine. Just three weeks prior to this, however, Paula had been in Amsterdam participating in a film in which she was on the receiving end of what she described as "the most protracted and painful whipping" of her life which had been delivered by a "selection of formidable implements".

The film was called To Ride a Tiger and, presented in the style of a documentary, it featured famed Dutch dominatrix, Monique Von Cleef. Paula played the role of a young female artist who wishes to explore her interest in pain and the humiliation of men and throughout the course of the film underwent several sessions of domination, bondage and mild torture at the hands of Von Cleef. Paula observed:
"Becoming 'O' for a day was a tremendously liberating experience! Modelling for a photo-story in Janus was a natural progression and turned out to be great fun."
Following her appearance in Janus the editor subsequently asked if she would like to try her hand at illustrating a story and she agreed, illustrating the Richard Manton work, The Man with the Goldon Rod in issue 14. Of this first illustration Paula remarked:
"I delighted in it too and took great pains with this, my first drawing, endeavouring to give it the appearance of an old engraving."
First Janus photo-shootTo Ride a Tiger videoThe Kane Assignment

Paula continued to provide illustrations for Janus right up to issue 38 but in 1985 she visited New York, as she had done a number of times previously, intending to be gone for a maximum of 3 weeks. After a month, however, she was invited to stay on for further film shoots. Further activities followed including an interview for Midnight Blue on cable T.V. and a request to illustrate further magazines. She eventually returned almost six months later when her visa had almost run out. During her time there she visited the Hellfire Club but was not taken with it, preferring "to be taken to 'O''s chateau and strung up among the chandeliers of a beautiful house with marble staircases and fountains" than being subjected to "a dirty cellar with cockroaches and rats behind the plumbing."

On her return she wrote an account of her visit entitled Paula in New York which subsequently featured in issue 50 of Janus. This was to be her last contribution to the magazine.

In 1994, ten years after her last appearance in Janus, Paula met the magazine's owner who informed her that he intended to launch a sister publication to Janus entitled Februs and that he would like her to take charge of its design, illustration and overall editing.

Paula went on to be the editor of Februs for the following nine years and in 2003 when the final issue was published had been responsible for 48 issues. Unlike many of the other magazines, Februs focussed on the spontaneous and erotic aspects of spanking, rather than its use as punishment and provided for the first time a spanking magazine that was intended to appeal to women just as much as men.


In addition to her drawings for the spanking magazines: Janus, Februs, Kane and Fessee, Paula has also illustrated a number of books and strip cartoons. The books include Sexcitement which features 20 of her illustrations in colour, The Illustrated Book of Corporal Punishment which has text and several drawings by her and a variety of others, all published by The Erotic Print Society which is now known as Erotic Review Books.

Special mention should be given to Painful Pleasures which features an anthology of Paula's drawings that have previousy appeared within both Februs and Janus and also The Janus Collection, with over a hundred of her drawings, where she looks back over her years as illustrator and model for Janus.


At the end of 2003, when Februs ceased publishing, Paula decided to retire from the scene, both as an artist and as a player. In her own words:
"I felt I had delved so deeply into my sexual fantasies and now needed to withdraw so that I could contemplate and figure out what it was all about!"




 
24 comments:
mati said...
Thanks for this informative overview of such a multi-talented woman. Her drawings are everywhere present on the net, but I didn't know much about the rest of her life. I read some of her articles and found that her style sounds very normal and modest, in spite of all her success. She is surely an interesting woman and a positive example how someone can be independent, successful and submissive at the same time.
29 August 2012 08:36
bendover said...
Another great article, Febs. These people hold such interesting lives at times. They take the good with the bad. The pics were a great addition, too. :)
29 August 2012 16:51
Malahide said...
She has made a huge contribution over the years. Thanks for the insight Februs.
30 August 2012 05:49
PhilK said...
Paula's a lovely lady as well as one of the most talented spanking artists in the business. I had the pleasure of meeting her several times while I was writing for Februs (and appearing in the occasional photoshoot), and she was always delightful company, witty and engaging.

And once or twice, at spanking parties that she'd organised, I had the privilege of spanking her - and as you might expect, she was an utter joy to spank. There's an account of one of these parties that she wrote for Februs in the Library ('The Editor's Comment (Februs 38)'). Her description of me is a little flattering, but I'm not complaining....
31 August 2012 11:12
sixofthebest said...
I have always enjoyed Lynne Paula Meadows, graphics, of spankings. A premier festish artist all the way..
31 August 2012 13:39
KJM said...
Not much to add, except that I followed her carrier from the very first drawings through photo-shoots and her latest drawings which show what an incredible progress she made regarding technique and creating a very distinctive style. I also enjoyed her purely erotic books without spanking like “Sabina 1 and 2”.
1 September 2012 04:32
corncrake said...
What a great insight into into the life and motivations of a really fascinating woman. Like many others, I have always been aware of her and her talents and am grateful to you for filling in the background so well.
1 September 2012 12:25
islandcarol said...
This is a beautifully written and illustrated article chronicling the accomplishments of a great figure in the genre. Each scroll brought new delights akin to a box of expensive chocolates when each piece tates better than the last.
Yum!
2 September 2012 02:17
nowings said...
Thanks for the great article on Paula. And what can you say - Paula is fearless and wonderful - a talent and force of nature in giving all of us with this persuasion to embrace it and live it. I do love her work and her bravery.
16 February 2013 22:56
svanbeke said...
The nr. 1 spanking artist!
20 February 2013 01:19
jacobus2 said...
She takes erotic art to a higher level
29 September 2013 06:39
Ernest said...
What a wonderful talent she had!

Once in the 1980s, quite by chance, I caught a late-night chat-show with Paula on it. I watched fascinated. If I remember rightly, the programme was fairly discreet about what she actually did - described her as an 'erotic artist' rather than specifying her speciality - but I had read enough of Janus to be able to read between the lines, here!

Her work meant a lot to me at a time when i could barely believe that there were actual real live females who enjoyed spanking - and did such things as I read about - and for pleasure! It was particularly impressive that someone should double as a model and as an artist.

If you are in touch with her, do please pass on my thanks!
14 October 2013 01:38
TheEnglishMaster said...
Thanks - very informative, and revealing of just how versatile as well as pioneering LPR has been through her career. Written with clarity and a quiet respect.
20 October 2013 00:46
CliffordDorset said...
One cannot but agree about the pre-eminence of this lovely lady in her field. She is one of a handful of superb 'ticklers of the fantasy' in spanking, and she has the publishing record to prove it. Drawings of spanking participants are almost always more stimulating than photographs, because they leave more to the human imagination - acknowledged to be our greatest asset in eroticism. This can be seen even in rather incompetent drawings, but in Lynn Paula Russell's work she takes the phenomenon to its greatest possible height. Thank you for this well-deserved tribute.
20 October 2013 10:03
rollin said...
Her drawings are so evocative. It's an amazing talent, not only in the ability to commit to a canvas the scene with great accuracy, but the ability to compose. What I notice about her drawings is that every picture does indeed tell a story. Look at a Paula Russell drawing and you can see the tale in your mind's eye.
20 October 2013 19:35
carto75 said...
Truly the first lady of our genre, gifted artist, talented writer and most of all a true believer. I think she has been the outstanding person in the spanking world for many years and was instrumental in helping to move it from the "dirty raincoat" image into the mainstream of public awareness. We who have loved you from afar salute you and wish you well.
27 October 2013 13:37
galt54 said...
The lovely Lynn Paula Russell is the kind of woman I would have liked to have married! The woman I in fact am married to today has no interest whatsoever in spanking. She is strictly a vanilla (but I love her).

A confession: I sometimes have fantasies involving Ms. Russell!

Naughty boy, galt54! Please don´t tell my wife!
29 May 2016 02:36
Often123 said...
She was certainly among the best artists of spanking.
30 May 2016 21:22
ernalones said...
I have admired her art for several years and still do. I hope that her absence from drawing is merely temporary. Losing such an outstanding artist would be very sad.
So; come back soon Paula, please!
7 June 2016 00:41
Harry621 said...
I cannot believe that the iconic images thatvI remember so well seeing in Janus are 30 years old!
They are, to me, the most memorable and evocative images of our particular genre
H


7 June 2016 22:49
Richtea said...
What a multi talented lady she is. I too was deeply fascinated by the subject through the 'Story of O'. The quality of this story have rarely been matched since. But Paula and Janus for their stories, illustrations and photographs have to come a close second. I'm not knocking the authors we have in our library as there are many interesting stories, please continue as I love to read them too.

It would be brilliant to have the full collection of Paula's works within the library as detailed by Februs above.

15 June 2016 01:05
thomasonm said...
These magazines and her work were very important to me at the time. I discovered Janus in a small shop on campus in 1972. It opened a world to me.
19 June 2016 08:01
smartfulcodger said...
I am extremely envious of any of you who have actually met Paula or as in the case of PhilK have had the pleasurable occasion of looking down to see her sprawled bare bottomed across their lap, as depicted by one of her most famous drawings, "Spanker's P.O.V.". Now that real life experience alone would be quite inspiration enough to fuel my imagination to write a hundred spanking stories.
30 June 2016 17:02
Spankedjenny said...
In my travels through the internet I have seen a great many spanking illustrations and when I first came across those by Paula they stopped me in my tracks. I think she is the finest artist in this genre and I have found myself staring at her illustrations for minutes on end...her attention to detail is exquisite and the expressions on the faces of er subjects are excellent.
11 August 2016 05:07

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