Eastbourne House, London, 15 December 2016

Aside from a Christmas party booking on Monday and anything last-minute that might come up unexpectedly, this would be my last life modelling work of 2016. What better way to end the modelling year than with my beloved Esther at Eastbourne House on cheese-and-wine night, for one of the groups run by Adrian Dutton? I arrived early to find Esther, Adrian, and his partner Anya already there; such lovely people with whom to create art. We opened with a 15-minute pose, Esther sneaking up on me…

The first pose always allows time for latecomers to find a seat and settle down. By the time we followed it with short poses, there were between 30 and 40 artists drawing us. We continued with 1-minute, 2-minute, and 3-minute poses. Plenty of variation, taking turns to suggest an idea. For the next 5-minutes, I thought to repeat the pose we tried in Croydon the weekend before, with me laying down and Esther standing with a foot upon my chest. Next it was Esther laying down and me leaning on her for 10-minutes.

Earlier that day, Esther had been modelling at a hall where old theatre costumes were being discarded. She was invited to take some choice clothes, amongst which were a pair of hats. It’s usually tricky for me to find a hat that fits well but astonishingly these two could have been made to measure for us. We closed the first half wearing them in a 20-minute standing pose. During the interval that followed we partook of cheese and wine, and were delighted to find our friend Lily had made it across London to draw us.

The second half started with us sitting face to face very close together for 10-minutes. We were loving the space and, notwithstanding the scrutinising eyes of several dozen artists, felt a private tenderness in the moment. We got into more strenuous postures for the next 3-minutes, 2-minutes, 1-minute, before taking it easier for our final 15 and 25-minutes; albeit with an ache or two. It was a joy to see so many great drawings at the end – some inspired work.

Happy new year, Adrian, Anya and Bethnal Green artists! Hope we meet again soon.