Paula Meadows Part 1, The First Lady of Spanking by Februs
Paula Meadows: The First Lady of Spanking by Februs
From Wellred Weekly, Volume 1, Number 10: August 28, 2012. Shared anew, now showcasing refreshed images of Paula and her artwork.
Lynn Paula Russell aka Paula Meadows
“Serious and dedicated as an artist, Russell is also a humorous, fun-loving introvert who, paradoxically, can transform herself into a grandiose exhibitionist.” – Victor Arwas from his foreword to The Illustrative Art of Lynn Paula Russell published by The Erotic Print Society
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.
Paula Meadows illustration from Flossie's List by Delaney Silver
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.
Illustration by Paula Meadows for Pauline Réage’s Story of O, which appeared in The Illustrative Art of Lynn Paula Russell
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."
Paula Meadows in The Kane Assignment
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".
Paula Meadows as Lesley in her first appearance in Janus
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 Golden 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."
Paula Meadows illustration from The Man with the Golden Rod by Richard Manton
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.
Self portrait by Paula Meadows on the cover of Fessee
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!"
