Bridge House, London, 26 June 2017

It’s been ages since I last planned all of my poses in advance of a life art session, let alone drew diagrams of them. I’d abandoned this approach very early in my modelling career as my intentions would invariably be scuppered by the unexpected requests of group organisers. Here at Bridge House, however, I was confident that timings of five ‘long’ poses would be as per my last visit, and that I would be granted full freedom of expression, working in the round for about a dozen artists.

It meant I could try some new variations. For the first 15-minute pose, it was all about the sustainability of an extended left arm; the second 15-minutes was the first time I’d held a favourite pose that long. A 30-minute reclining pose maintained the usual torso twist but with original arm positions. My gaze point was through a large bright window, and I found myself slipping into a delirium with blurry eyes discovering a running figure outlined in tree branches and leaves. Dreams and hallucinations took me to a break.

In the second half I tried a new 20-minute pose, with one fully extended pointing arm resting on a raised knee, and the other arm on the floor behind me, more for balance than support. I was seated on a high foot-rest for the final 20-minute pose. It was the only pose of the evening that felt a bit messy and achy. In the main, though, it was a positive session for a nice group, and very nice too to catch up with fellow model and organiser of Anerley and Penge Life Drawing, Tatiana….

– she approved of my quaint preparations!