Eastbourne House, London, 13 March 2014

My first time modelling at Eastbourne House in Bethnal Green, on 1 July 2013, was duo work with another debutant at the venue: Maurice. We were introduced a mere 15 minutes before stripping off to pose in a hall packed with artists.

There’s no knowing beforehand quite how these things may work out but happily we found an immediate rapport. Such was our success that we were brought back last Thursday for a fresh session together.

We worked through 12 poses for the first part of the evening, then took a 25-minute break for tea and snacks before closing out with a single long pose:

10 minutes

standing, shaking hands, my left hand on Maurice’s right shoulder

1 minute

standing facing each other as if throwing punches, dynamic

1 minute

both standing, me as if throwing a ball, Maurice as if about to bat it

1 minute

Maurice kneeling, me standing threateningly above him

1 minute

kneeling facing each other, wrestling around each other’s shoulders

1 minute

both kneeling side-by-side in prayer

3 minutes

standing, both holding sticks with both hands in combat, dynamic

3 minutes

both standing, bent over like old men supported by walking sticks

5 minutes

standing, both holding sticks in the style of a sword fight, dynamic

10 minutes

me laying, cringing, Maurice standing with a stick as if to lance me

15 minutes

seated at right angles to each other, shoulder to shoulder, me higher

20 minutes

standing facing each other, holding opposite ends of a single stick

40 minutes

both laying down, head by feet, one knee raised, one arm across chest

More great artwork from the session can be found on the MeetUp website.

Not a bad effort for two wholly dissimilar middle-aged men. It was suggested that the reason we worked so well is that we both come from the box marked ‘miscellaneous’ rather than from the ranks of “vanilla 20 to 30-somethings with ripped bodies”.

Given the choice I would probably rather have the ripped body of a 20 or 30-something. As it is, however, I shall continue to make the most of my uniqueness and the chance to work with great co-models like Maurice.