Say hello to the lovely L.Shima or Shima for less-long. After you stop drooling over her fantastic curves you may have to do double takes to make sure you are looking at the same girl (her amazing breasts are a great help in this regard). Still, it's kind of hard to pin down her exotic look. That may be because her mother is half African American and half Japanese and her father is half Irish and half German. Actually it's definitely because of that. No matter, as far as we're concerned she's 100% hot. You may at first think she is a sweet but naive girl with nary a serious thought worrying her mind. You'd be wrong. Scan her Tumblr and you'll get a better picture but it takes a while to understand how determined, resourceful and strong she is. We can assure you, this is a woman who intends to get what she wants. Don't believe us? She asked us for this interview. Not that we're complaining about being wanted by such a stunningly smart beauty.

And now the questions..


1) What does the L stand for?
The "L" stands for my first name, Laura. But I prefer to go by Shima.

2) What sorts of things are you most likely to buy when you go to the thrift shop?
Ha! I will most likely by knick-knacks, clothes, and furniture. Along with my boyfriend, we've purchased 70% of our house, and since I was introduced to thrift stores, 80% of my clothes comes from them. Buying new clothes for so many new shoots can get pricey haha. Can't repeat looks too much or photographers will get mad! I was thrifting waaay before it became cool!

3) What was it like getting your first tattoo?
Technically, my first tattoo was my "jail-bird" tattoo which is on the bottom left  of my back. I was 15 around the time, and thought it would be an awesome idea to get a tattoo by a kid in my grade with a hand made gun.. It was a little painful, I won't lie. I was a teenager...

4) What was it like getting your favourite tattoo and why is it your favourite?
I actually have not yet got my favorite tattoo. I will be getting that this year hopefully. It will be of my dog Mercedes, who recently passed. I have had her since the age of 5, so it will be the first tattoo that means something to me.

5) How are the sewing lessons going? What sewing project are you most proud of?
Oh my! I haven't sewed in a while, since I have been working non-stop lately. I will eventually get back to it. I miss it soooo much!! As far as projects that I have sewn, I am proud of two so far. One was the first skirt I ever made: the lines, the fit, and  the overall skirt was perfect! The second project I was proud of was my Renaissance outfit I made about 4 years ago. It was the total opposite from the skirt. The lines were not perfect, and the fit was okay,  but what made me so proud of the outfit was the fact that I was able to created an entire, very complex, costume within a few weeks!

6) Do you spend a lot of time nude at home too or is that just a work thing?
Ha! It is actually more of a work thing. I love being fully clothed, even when I sleep! Don't get me wrong, nudity is awesome. But for whatever reason I feel more comfortable being fully clothed! Sorry to disappoint!!

7) Keeping fit is rarely as fun as getting unfit. What exercise do you hate the most?
I hate exercising period! I rather go dance, or play some type of sport instead of running or lifting weights. I'm still working on that aspect of my being a model: maintaining my figure. I'm known for my curvaceous/soft body but maybe one day that may turn into a shredded diesel tiny body when I find that activity I want to pursue!

8) In your videos and on tumblr you seem to want to genuinely connect with your fans and always take a positive approach. How do you do it?
I love engaging with my fans, and figuring out what they like. They are the reason why I am where I am at in my modeling! Plus I want to make sure I show the world that I am genuinely nice in real life,  and not a diva like many may assume a model may be. The business behind modeling is incredibly solitary and time consuming, so the socializing with fans is great!

9) How did you meet your dog Mercedes and how does Mercedes deal with your traveling?
Aw, the day I met Mercedes was when I was 5 years old. I was outside playing in my brand new school clothes with my friend in front of my house. I remember my mother and older brother getting home, and instantly calling me inside. I thought I was going to get in trouble wearing my school clothes outside. But as soon as I opened the door, I noticed my brother holding something in his arms wrapped up in a dog blanket. My eyes got super big, and I screamed with excitement once I noticed it was a dog. I love Mercedes with all my heart, and like I mentioned in the tattoo question earlier, she just recently passed away after 16 years. She dealt with my traveling as best as a dog could. I would have my boyfriend watch her while I was gone, and would talk to her on the phone almost every day haha. I mean she was with me pretty much all of my conscious life.

10) Like most beautiful models you of course like rock climbing :-|. Really?!? Why on earth do you like rock clmbing? Tell us something that only rock-climbers get to enjoy.
O golly, rock climbing is amazing. It hurts my hands like no other, but it is an awesome work-out and adrenaline rush, since you are climbing pretty high up! It feels like a genuine adventure and tests your smarts too because you really have to strategize your path. I haven't done it outside on real rocks, but one of these days I will definitely try it.

11) So you are secretive about the "certain someone" that gave you the push to pursue modeling. Can you tell us about what they said or did that convinced you?
The certain someone was my boyfriend. On January 1st 2012, we were having brunch in Austin, TX after celebrating the new year. He was telling me he enjoyed my modeling, and asked why I stopped. I gave him a few reasons, and we ended up making a deal that if I try my hardest to pursue modeling, he would help me out. He is a professional illustrator and lived a very free life, and I liked the idea of pursuing a career where you are able to make your own schedule. Fast forward almost 2 years, and here I am now. I am thankful for that day, I will never forget it!

12) You tore your knee and ended up getting dental surgery on your last road trip. Uhmm wtf?
Oh my lord! Yes, it was pretty horrible. Before my Sept. 2012 road trip, I went to the dental office to get 6 cavities filled. The biggest cavity was in between my two front teeth. The doctor explained to me that I may need to get a root canal, but I should be fine for a while. The only catch was that I just might be sensitive to hot and cold items. I left for the trip and everything was fine, until one morning in Kansas City at the tail end of the tour, I had a bowl of cereal and the milk touched my tooth, and from then on this excruciating pain came shooting out from my right front tooth. I tried everything from oral gel, tapping it with my finger, to taking Advil and Tyelnol. Nothing seemed to work. I ended up making it to St. Louis with this terrible pain, and decided to head to the City Museum with the person I was staying with. I ended up going a little too hard while I was there and got my leg stuck in between two metal rods. My leg ended up being bruised so bad it hurt to stand. So the next day I decided I needed to cut my trip early and head back to Austin. I drove 14hrs straight that day with a mouth on fire and a black and blue leg... not that funnest story! I got to Austin at 4am and got into dental surgery at 6am.

13) You did some modeling for artistic figure drawing. How does it compare with doing a photo shoot?
Modeling for figure drawing is pretty intense. I am glad that I did it, because it allowed me to think of various poses, as well as learn certain angles that work best with my body shape. I would say figure modeling is a lot harder than photo shoots. You are constantly moving, thinking, and normally there is more than one person, actually a large group surrounding you, so you need to be comfortable with nudity. I also liked thinking of my body as an artistic shape, rather than a sexual object.

14) We're not big fans' of censoring nudity at sexyandfunny but your approach (sexy white scribbles) is pretty awesome and lets you promote your work on sites that don't support nudity for some insane reason (click here for an example). How did you come up with that awesome solution?
I won't lie, I actually saw the idea on another photo. It was brilliant! I was able to find a Photoshop brush that emulated that and now that's my thing. I've only had Facebook delete one photo of my for being too risque..pretty good record for how many nude images I post.

15) What's the criteria for a photo to make it into your portfolio?
It has to be memorable because of either composition, concept, posing, lighting, etc. It's so easy to forget the incredible number of modeling images we see every day, especially when you are talking glamour. I want to look good, but also touch on something else. I just did the math that I have personally released 400 some images in my career. I am designing my website now, and want it to include 30 pictures. That means 13% of the images I've released will make it. Now I've shot tens of thousands of images, so the pictures that make my port are probably at .05% Quality over quantity!!

16) So despite being 5'3" you were a great hurdler. What made you want to pursue hurdling?
Ha! It just looked fun at the time, and was. The hardest was doing the 300m hurdles. Jesus, that was not easy. I am more of a short distance runner than long. But I was in the top two of my school, so I managed ok.

17) You said you're comfortable on nude shoots now but you still occasionally get nervous on some of the more public projects. Tell us about one that made you nervous.
I always get nervous before every shoot, but I am more nervous when I have a shoot in public. I get awkward pretty easily, and I am naturally shy. When I am thrown into a situation where there are people around me that aren't part of the photo shoot, I start over thinking a lot of things mainly because they like to yell comments and I put trust into the photographer to calm those things. If he doesn't I become very annoyed. Hopefully one day I will overcome that fear, and tell the jokers to fuck off haha. Being nervous is good though, it keep you on your toes - excuse the pun!!

18) You've suggested that your photos are more about art and sensuality than eroticism. Do you ever just use your powers for sexy? When, where, why and how?
I actually never use my "sexy powers". At least, I never intentionally use them unless that is the point of the shoot. I don't think it is the best to use your looks to get ahead in life because then you depend on that, so what will you do when looks fade? I would rather be realistic and become intellectual and if somehow my sexiness gets me ahead, that's more on them than me. So I just sit back and act like a normal human being when it comes to getting things. To close this thought though, I do enjoy being desirable like any girl would, but I try not to let it define me.

19) Anything you want to tell us that we didn't ask you about?
I am about to leave on another modeling tour this October and November. Check out my social sites for my traveling flyer (click here), and feel free to contact me and set up a shoot! On top of that, I am planning a few crazy awesome projects in the future. So always be out on the look out for that!

Thanks for having me!!

Plug time:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lshima
Twitter: @lshima_model
Instagram: @lshima_model
Tumblr: http://lshima.tumblr.com
Model Mayhem: http://www.modelmayhem.com/2503368
Her Official Website: http://lshima.com