The Beehive, London, 29 October 2015
It’s always a shade disconcerting when, quarter of an hour into a 25-minute reclining pose, one cannot be fully certain whether one has just woken oneself with one’s own snoring, or whether some external sound had impressed its illusion upon a wandering mind, or whether perhaps the whole thing was merely an improbable dream.
Only very rarely have I lapsed into sleep whilst life modelling, but this may have been one such occasion, at The Beehive pub for Tottenham Art Classes. I’d left myself susceptible with just four hours’ sleep the night before after an evening that included, amongst other things, trying some life drawing of my own. Life drawing, life modelling, life catches up with us all in the end.
Nonetheless, aside from the one possible drowsy aberration, this was a good focused session for fourteen artists. We began with three dynamic 1-minute poses followed by 2-minute, 5, 10 and 15-minute poses. The last pose before a break was the 25-minute recliner. In the final session, I passed 10-minutes standing on one leg, and 30-minutes seated upon the floor.
After this evening I faced the prospect of two intense days travelling up and down the country for some extraordinary life modelling and much splendidness in between. The likelihood of sleep seemed more remote than ever, but it’s a glorious way to burn out. Even as I made my way towards Tottenham, I received two further bookings by email. These are the days…
steve ritter 