The Finborough Arms, London, 7 February 2016

Sunday evening poses at The Finborough Arms near Earl’s Court; it was the end of a tiring week. I had modelled every night from Monday to Friday, each time after a full day’s work, and enjoyed a long Saturday in Oxford accompanying my partner to a life model booking of her own. I needed this to be a comfortable session.

Too many times during the week, I’d been set endurance challenges that had put me through prolonged periods of physical pain; other situations had even felt emotionally draining. There was no need to punish myself further. This group of seven artists plus The Moon and Nude facilitator, Mandy, could go without the inspiration of suffering.

Three standard dynamic poses of 5-minutes, 3-minutes and 1-minute got the session under way. Three further poses of 10-minutes, 10-minutes and 15-minutes took us to an interval. I varied my shapes and styles and directions, but otherwise made sure all parts of me were either in balance or supported, with no pressure points or numbing.

We finished with two half-hour poses after the break. Again, comfort was my primary objective but with some interesting turns of the body and limbs. All went to plan and some good art was produced. The only downside was leaving at the end without my wristwatch… but I was reunited with it at the pub two days later. Happy ending.